Friday, June 12, 2015

Eurosphere agenda: “IMF breaks off talks with Athens…”EU Parliament puts off TTIP debate…

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The IMF representatives pulled out of talks with Athens in Brussels on Thursday. A spokesman for the organisation complained that the differences of opinion were too great. It is unclear when the negotiations will be resumed. In the end the creditors won’t abandon Greece to its fate, commentators write, still convinced that an agreement is possible.

Greece crisis: Tsipras’ impossible position
Greek PM squeezed between creditors and home supporters
Greece state broadcaster back on air
Greece’s state broadcaster ERT goes back on air, two years after being closed down under austerity measures.

The EU Parliament postponed the planned TTIP debate on Wednesday. It was clear in advance that an agreement would not be reached due to the large number of proposed amendments. After a tumult in the plenary session Parliament President Martin Schulz decided to put off the debate. Schulz has violated the principles of democracy, commentators criticise, and see the discussion about the free trade agreement increasingly falling victim to populist manoeuvring.

What might a Grexit mean for EU Reform and Brexit?

What might a Grexit mean for EU Reform and Brexit?

If the right-wing opposition parties win the Danish general elections next week, Denmark’s EU affairs policies will become more Eurosceptic, and will support British Prime Minister David Cameron’s call for EU reforms, the parties confirmed on Thursday (11 June).

 

Spain passes Jewish citizenship plan
Spain’s parliament approves a law to ease the path to citizenship for descendants of Jews who fled the country more than 500 years ago.
Race, Caste and Gender in France

Criminalizing Islam in the name of feminism is fundamentally paradoxical: Anti-racism and anti-sexism must work together. 

 

protest march on immigration centre

bosnianroma

Photo by Mirko Pincelli for the PCRC/PINCH media project ‘’Bosnian Roma’’. Used with permission.

Victor Ponta’s leftist government easily survived a no-confidence motion in Romania’s parliament as expected on Friday (12 June), securing the prime minister’s political immunity in a corruption investigation.

 

In the conflict over Athens’ debts Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande will meet for discussions today in Brussels. Some commentators accuse Tsipras of continuing to defend the privileges of Greek public servants. Others say the EU should give up the project of reforming Greece.

For the International Monetary Fund, five years of playing junior partner in European bailouts for Greece has been a “never again” experience, and the worst may be yet to come.

The European Parliament failed on Tuesday (9 June) to agree a unified stance on a proposed trade deal with the United States, postponing a vote that was meant to cement its support for the biggest accord of its kind.

Was G7 summit worth the effort and expense?
Was the G7 worth the effort and expense?

Six months before the climate conference in Paris, the participants at the G7 summit in Bavaria have agreed on sweeping climate targets and tougher sanctions against Moscow. The media praises the climate protection goals but finds the summit format outdated.

Are Syriza progressive reformers or cynical populists?

Syriza’s approach to both European and domestic issues has shown the party more interested in power and self-preservation than in reform.

Flickr/Georgios S. All rights reserved.

Hungary’s problem with extremism
The continuing rise of Hungary’s nationalist Jobbik party
24M: It was not a victory for Podemos, but for the 15M movement

An open letter to our friends in Podemos.

Click image to enlarge. autoconsulta.org.The propaganda has spread far and wide, and we are concerned to note how many analysts, particularly foreign media outlets without local correspondents, are giving Podemos undue centrality.

Nagorno-Karabakh: European dreams

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has managed to pursue a dynamic European and global foreign policy. Not bad for a country that doesn’t officially exist.

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. Wikimedia. Public domain.Even before the polls closed, reactions from the international community came in. A spokesperson of the European foreign policy Chief Federica Mogherini stated that ‘the European Union does not recognise the constitutional and legal framework of the elections’. The United States State Department indicated that ‘it will not accept the results of the elections’. Romania’s foreign ministry labelled the elections ‘illegal’. For Spain they were illegitimate. Ukraine stated that the results of the elections cannot have ‘any legal consequences’.

European Union officials on Tuesday (9 June) swiftly dismissed new Greek promises of economic reform, saying the proposals were not enough to unlock funds that Athens urgently needs to avoid defaulting on its debts.

Vía Erkan’s Field Diary http://ift.tt/1Hzhw5a


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