European Union

How austerity is killing Europe

by News Sources 01.07.2012

Jeff Madrick writes: On the last day of 2011, a headline in The Wall Street Journal read: “Spain Misses Deficit Target, Sets Cuts.” The cruel forces of poor economic logic were at work to welcome in the new year. The European Union has become a vicious circle of burgeoning debt leading to radical austerity measures, [...]

Read the full article →

Iranians fear war, deprived of life-saving medicines — Washington satisfied

by News Sources 01.06.2012

The Obama administration’s definition of diplomacy with Iran is that it does not talk about “regime change.” Instead it talks about “tightening the noose.” As the rial collapses and Iranians die because they can’t afford life-saving medicines, no doubt they feel deeply grateful for America’s kind attention. The Washington Post reports: At a time when [...]

Read the full article →

Banning Iranian oil

by News Sources 01.06.2012
Read the full article →

Depression and democracy

by News Sources 12.12.2011

Paul Krugman writes: It’s time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression. True, it’s not a full replay of the Great Depression, but that’s cold comfort. Unemployment in both America and Europe remains disastrously high. Leaders and institutions are increasingly discredited. And democratic values are under siege. On that last point, [...]

Read the full article →

Radical eurozone shakeup could see Brussels get austerity powers

by News Sources 12.07.2011

The Guardian reports: The European commission could be empowered to impose austerity measures on eurozone countries that are being bailed out, usurping the functions of government in countries such as Greece, Ireland, or Portugal. Bailed-out countries could also be stripped of their voting rights in the European Union, under radical proposals that have been circulating [...]

Read the full article →

Russia promotes a “step by step” diplomatic initiative with Iran

by News Sources 11.15.2011

Zvi Bar’el reports: It appears that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can rest easy for now, as voices coming from the European Union suggest a military operation is not in the offing. Not only do Syria and China reject such an attack, but on Monday, Germany, France and Turkey added their voices to those objecting to [...]

Read the full article →

Greek anti-austerity movement lacks electoral strategy

by News Sources 11.12.2011
Read the full article →

Europe’s glaring democratic deficit

by News Sources 11.09.2011

Larry Elliott writes: Financial markets rallied last week when the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, announced he was dropping plans for a referendum on the terms of his country’s bailout. Bond dealers liked the idea that the government in Athens could soon be headed by Lucas Papademos, a former vice-president of the European Central Bank. [...]

Read the full article →

Nicolas Sarkozy calls for air strikes on Libya if Gaddafi attacks civilians

by News Sources 03.11.2011

The Guardian reports: Nicolas Sarkozy has called for targeted air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime if his forces use chemical weapons or launch air strikes against civilians. As the EU foreign policy chief, Lady Ashton, warned that a no-fly zone could risk civilian lives in Libya, the French president told an emergency EU summit in [...]

Read the full article →

Permanent temporariness

by News Sources 03.09.2011

Alastair Crooke writes: It was in 2003 that I realised something fundamental had changed. The door to the room in which I was sitting flew open. In stalked a figure still dressed in a dark overcoat and scarf. He evidently could contain himself no longer. I was in Downing Street with the prime minister’s foreign [...]

Read the full article →

WikiLeaks: US government, acting on behalf of Monsanto, targeted EU over GM crops

by Paul Woodward 01.03.2011

[Updated below] Make no mistake: Monsanto poses an infinitely greater threat to the world than al Qaeda. The US government still marches in lockstep with this corporate behemoth which is intent and already frighteningly successful in its campaign to claim ownership over the global food supply. The Guardian reports: The US embassy in Paris advised [...]

Read the full article →

Israel takes urgent action to counter Palestine’s rising diplomatic status

by News Sources 12.21.2010

Haaretz reports: After reports reached Jerusalem that the Palestinian Authority is trying to persuade about a dozen European Union member states to upgrade the PA’s diplomatic status, the Foreign Ministry on Monday ordered every Israeli envoy abroad to begin “urgent” diplomatic activity. The aim is to thwart Palestinian efforts at drafting a United Nations resolution [...]

Read the full article →

Israel faces tougher line from EU after former heads call for Palestinian state

by News Sources 12.11.2010

The Guardian reports: Twenty-six European grandees have urged the EU to adopt a tougher stance towards Israel including taking “concrete measures” and exacting “consequences” over continued settlement building on occupied land, which they say is illegal under international law. The former EU leaders said that in the face of “the ongoing deterioration of the situation [...]

Read the full article →

Hamas welcomes EU proposal to monitor crossings

by Paul Woodward 06.06.2010

The Ma’an news agency reports: Hamas officials have supported a proposed EU plan to monitor Gaza crossings and life the Israeli-lead siege on the coastal enclave, statements issued Sunday indicated. Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil called statements by Spanish Minster of Foreign Affairs Miguel Ángel Moratinos, whose country currently holds the head of the rotating EU [...]

Read the full article →

EU calls for immediate end to Israel’s siege on Gaza

by Paul Woodward 05.29.2010

(Click the image above to watch livestream video from the Freedom Flotilla.) EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Friday called for an immediate end to Israel’s Gaza blockade, as an aid flotilla prepared to set sail for the enclave despite the embargo. “The continued policy of closure is unacceptable and politically counterproductive,” she said [...]

Read the full article →

Jewish lobbying fails to stop EU support for Goldstone report

by Paul Woodward 03.10.2010

On Tuesday, a headline for Haaretz declared: Jewish lobbying sways EU against support of Goldstone Gaza report The article said: Members of the European Parliament have backtracked from their plan to pass a resolution demanding implementation of the Goldstone report, in response to pressure from European Jewish leaders, Haaretz has learned. After leaders of all [...]

Read the full article →

Dutch anti-Islam leader is major winner in polls

by Paul Woodward 03.04.2010

Reuters reports on the latest display of European Islamophobia: Dutch anti-Islamist leader Geert Wilders scored major gains in local authority polls Thursday, making him a serious challenger for power in a June national election, preliminary results showed. In the first test of public opinion since the collapse of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s coalition government [...]

Read the full article →

Will Dubai issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu?

by Paul Woodward 02.18.2010

Update below Dubai’s police chief has now fingered Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, as being responsible for the murder of , on January 19, Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim told The National: “Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of al Mabhouh. It is 99 per cent, if not 100 per cent [...]

Read the full article →

Keeping Turkey out of Europe

by Paul Woodward 01.07.2010

Keeping Turkey out of Europe By David Cronin, The Guardian, January 6, 2010 [Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel's] opposition to Turkey’s bid for EU membership is explained by what a columnist in the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet accurately described as “basic facts not pronounced openly” on Monday. “Turkey is a Muslim country,” Mehmet Ali Birand wrote. [...]

Read the full article →

EU: East Jerusalem is occupied territory

by Paul Woodward 12.18.2009

Statement by EU High Representative Ashton at the EU Parliament debate on the Middle East Peace Process European Parliament, Strasbourg, December 15, 2009 You have invited me here today to talk about our political work but also about the situation in East Jerusalem. This is an area of deep concern for us. East Jerusalem is [...]

Read the full article →

When will it be our time?

by Paul Woodward 12.16.2009

When will it be our time? By Mustafa Barghouti, New York Times, December 16, 2009 I have lived my entire adult life under occupation, with Israelis holding ultimate control over my movement and daily life. When young Israeli police officers force me to sit on the cold ground and soldiers beat me during a peaceful [...]

Read the full article →

Turkey’s shifting diplomacy

by Paul Woodward 11.27.2009

Turkey’s shifting diplomacy By Alastair Crooke, New York Times, November 28, 2009 While the United States and Europe have been struggling to find a path forward in the Israel-Palestine conflict, Afghanistan and Iran, the strategic ground upon which their assumptions about the region rest has begun to shift dramatically. Most significantly, Turkey has finally shrugged [...]

Read the full article →

Europeans say U.S. lacks will on climate

by Paul Woodward 09.21.2009

Europeans say U.S. lacks will on climate By John M Broder and James Kanter, New York Times, September, 2009 As world leaders gather in New York for the highest-level conference yet on climate change, European leaders are expressing growing unease about the United States’ stance in international talks aimed at reaching a global agreement in [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS: EU and UN call on Israel not to cut services to Gaza

by Paul Woodward 09.20.2007

EU calls on Israel to reconsider sanctions against Gaza Strip By Barak Ravid, Haaretz, September 20, 2007 The European Union joined on Thursday a United Nations call for Israel to reconsider its move to declare the Gaza Strip “hostile territory” and appealed for it not to cut key services to the Hamas-run territory. Israel announced [...]

Read the full article →