Zone 3- Euro-Americas Summary Week # 121

Week # 121 – Dated 23-30 May, 2010

WESTERN EUROPE

The run up to the forthcoming Dutch election is showing a slide from anti-Muslim and im

migration sentiment to economic concern. Wilder the conservative anti-Muslim and Islam politician is facing a challenge from other contestants taking up economic agenda, a popular priority issue to rally around.

The newly formed British coalition government is struggling with the carryover issue of illegal public spending that characterized the Brown’s government. PM Cameron has vowed to purge out irresponsible conduct of cabinet members.

The International Criminal Court is geared at taking the challenge of criminalizing state aggression on other states, a move that has received mixed reactions. Critics say it will portray the court as political.

The Spanish parliament has approved austerity measures similar to those introduced by Greece. The move is likely to be met with resentment as has been the case across Europe.

The Spanish city of Lleida that has a 3 % Muslim population out of which only a handful of Muslim women wear face-covering niqab garments, the city hall recently baned the veil within its premises. The ban is historic, the first of its kind in Spain and a reminder that the veil issue is snowballing across Europe.

A German High Court has dismissed allowing a separate room to a Muslim student for worship. The court overturned the ruling of a lower court granting a private room as guarantee for religious freedom. The high court holds that a single student’s right should not override public good.

Meanwhile more reports are unfolding on scandalous practices in Catholic Church’s schools across Europe. The latest development unveiled that about 205 former students claim to have been sexually or otherwise abused in Jesuit schools in Germany.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

Political impasse lingers on between the Albanian ruling and opposition parties. The latter accuses the former of electoral irregularities in June 2009 election. The opposition insists that the June ballot boxes be reopened, an option unaccepted to the government. Meanwhile U.S Ambassador to Tirana John Withers said the problem in the country is not political but governmental.

After a long parliamentary debate, Croatian ruling and opposition parties have reached compromise to allow Croats in diaspora (particularly in Bosnia) to cast their votes only at diplomatic and consular missions, and the diaspora will be entitled to three representatives in the Croatian parliament. Meanwhile Croats parties in Bosnia regret the compromise as discriminatory.

EULEX, UNMIK and the Kosovo authority have all rejected election planed to be held in the north of Kosovo. Serbian leaders have been campaigning in the Serb populated north with the hope of strengthening Serbia rule there. The act irked Kosovo authority and has requested EULEX to stop Serbian leaders and their political campaign in this supposedly parallel structure. Serbia is also threatening to slash its cooperation with EULEX on the premise that the latter is taking side with Kosovo.

Meanwhile, both Belgrade and Pristina expect to hear the ICJ nonbinding ruling on the legality of Kosovo’s independence by end of July.

Montenegrins went to the polls for municipal elections that came out favorable for the ruling coalition government. Meanwhile, the country celebrated its fourth year independence after a referendum that separated Montenegro from the state union with Serbia.

Romanian government risks a no vote of confidence in the parliament on the 15^th of June amid a protest by the public against government’s plan to implement tough austerity measures, which the government thinks will expedite the economy.

Kosovo has reached an agreement of 110m-euro loan from the IMF. Similarly, the financial institution has given conditional consent to disbursing the next 380m-euro tranche of its 2.9 billion-euro standby loan to Serbia as well.

The Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) has observed that Kosovo enjoys one of the best legislations for minorities, but the implementation of these documents remains a challenge. The group has urged that the non-Serb minority should also be given equal representation.

Meanwhile people generally in the region and Serbia in particular celebrated the birthday of Josip Broz Tito, the Yugoslavian communist leader; who despite his communist ideas and stronghold on power, is still remembered for the level of freedom he permitted as compared to other communist dictators.

Serbs are reacting with mixed feelings over a new legislative declaration by the Serbian parliament which condemned crime committed against Serbs during the 1990s war. Some Serbs hold that separating crime against Bosniak and Muslim from that of Serbs is inappropriate and shows disparity of concern. However, others agree on the distinction. The parliament wants the governments in the region to acknowledge the crime against Serbs as the basis for final reconciliation in the Balkans.

Bosnia and Albania are closing up their bid for the EU visa liberalization scheme upon the approval of the European Council recommendations. The recommendation, though positive, is conditional, and requires both countries to address a number of unresolved issues. BiH will have to boost efforts against corruption and crime, create an electronic police database and harmonize domestic criminal codes with those in the region. The EC is requiring Albania to spell out a reintegration strategy for returning refugees, ensure effective application of the 2009 law on confiscating criminal assets, and boost efforts against organized crime and corruption.

Croatia is expected to open more EU chapters that will drive the long standing country to the door of EU. The judiciary chapter is expected to be open amid the cooperation between Croatia and the UN war crimes tribunal.

Serbia is also optimistic of EU enlargement process in the Balkan and hopes the Sarajevo submit will give a new momentum on EU-Balkan integration.

Serbia and Bosnia have called on Ankara to help in softening their separate stiff stances. Serbia does not want the cancellation of the historic visit of Bosnian Presidency Chairman Haris Silajdzic to Belgrade, on the other end, Silajdzic insists on seeing wartime criminal Ilija Jurisic in prison, a plea not satisfactory to Serbia.

NATO has downsized its troops in Kosovo from about 14,000 to 10,000 in January and hopes to reduce it to just 2000, a move that might indicate the recognition of Pristina’s independence.

Macedonia government reiterates its intention to continue talks with Greece on settling name dispute, but recent poll in the country suggests that 60% of Macedonians believe that their country could join the EU and NATO without changing its name and should abandon the talk. Although 79% Albanian Macedonian believes talks should continue.

It is yet unknown whether Montenegrin authorities will release former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra holding a Montenegrin passport to Thailand. Shinawatra is charged with terrorism and suspected of involvement in recent violent anti-government street protests that left more than 80 people dead.

A widely respected former Polish prime minister, Marek Belka, has been nominated to head the country's central bank — six weeks after its former chief was killed in a plane crash along with the nation's president.

Also in Poland bridges across the Vistula River, which runs through the heart of Warsaw, were packed last week with sightseers coming to get a look at the most serious flood in more than a century, part of a widespread natural disaster that has inundated parts of the south of Poland and is now moving north.

Meanwhile the Home Office figures show that more European migrants, from countries including Poland and the Czech Republic, are leaving the UK than arriving. It marks a reversal in movement for the first time since large-scale immigration in Europe began.

A group of politicians and experts from Poland were in Tbilisi as observers of local elections in Georgia last week, the first local election since the end of the Russian-Georgian conflict over Southern Ossetia. Meanwhile Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili celebrated his country’s independence day last week with the first military parade since Russia routed Georgia in a brief 2008 war and a new round of verbal cannonade against Moscow.

The Czechs elected a new parliament on May 28-29.

Slovakia passed a law May 26 that will revoke the Slovak citizenship of anyone who is granted citizenship by another country. The law comes on the heels of a Hungarian law which eases citizenship requirements for ethnic Hungarians living abroad wherein applicants for Hungarian citizenship will not need to have permanent residency in Hungary and will only be asked to demonstrate proficiency in the Hungarian language and evidence of Hungarian ancestry. The citizenship dispute is at the center of rising tensions in Central Europe. EU members Slovakia and Romania, as well as non-EU member Serbia, have significant Hungarian minority populations and are wary that the new citizenship law could lead to increased influence from Budapest on their domestic affairs.” While Slovakia’s new law could endanger the citizenship of its roughly 520,000 Hungarians.

Meanwhile 6 EU states have offered assistance to flood-hit Hungary. Germany has offered 1,270,010 sand bags to increase its flood containment capacity of the country. The Czech Republic has offered 100,000 additional sand bags, the same amount offered by the Netherlands and Croatia; Austria has offered 250,000 and Denmark too offered 300,000 additional bags.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh colleague agreed last week to launch a customs union as their Belarusian counterpart failed to show up at a trilateral summit. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan were in talks to create a customs union that collapsed last week when the prime ministers said they could not resolve sticking points like car duties.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko says his country is willing to give Russia full control over Belarusian pipelines in exchange for cheap gas and oil.

Ukraine shelved its bid for NATO membership last week. Since taking power three months ago, Mr Yanukovich and his allies have conducted intense negotiations with Moscow on a wide range of issues, signaling the new president’s determination to reverse his predecessor’s policy of aligning Ukraine with the European Union and United States. However Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has said that European integration remains among priority directions in the country’s foreign policy.

Estonia's unemployment rate leapt to an all-time high of 19.8 % in the first quarter from 15.5 % in the previous quarter.

RUSSIA

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Russian support for new UN sanctions against Iran is unacceptable and called on President Dmitry Medvedev to rethink his support for Washington’s stance. Iran was snubbed by Russia and China last week when, just hours after it offered to ship some of its enriched uranium abroad, Washington announced that all five members of the UN Security Council backed a new sanctions draft. Meanwhile the US administration has dropped sanctions against the Russian state arms export agency and three other Russian entities previously found to have transferred sensitive technology or weapons to Iran.

According to reports the Russian government has studied the new strategic arms reduction treaty (START) and proposed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to submit the document to parliament for ratification.

Meanwhile the Foreign Ministry broke its silence last week about the United States' deployment of Patriot missiles in Poland, criticizing the move as not helping security or trust. Russia is wary about the deployment of U.S. troops and military hardware near its borders, though its Defense Ministry in January denied suggestions that it might boost its Baltic Fleet in response to the Patriot deployment in Poland.

A US federal court has ordered the Pentagon to set free from Guantánamo a former Russian Army ballet dancer turned devout Muslim, Ravil Mingazov, 42, an ethnic Tartar, captured in Pakistan in 2002 and turned over to U.S. forces.

Amnesty International unveiled its annual global report on rights abuses last week, which states that President Dmitry Medvedev has failed to deliver on his promise to uphold civil society and protect human rights activists.

The government forecast of Russia's GDP predicts a growth of 3-6% annually from 2011.

The Shuttle Atlantis has completed its mission and delivered the Russian Rassvet (MIM-1) research module and spare parts to the International Space Station (ISS).

Russia is sending warships for drills in Far East, during which warships of the three Russian fleets will conduct live firing at naval and aerial drones and practice combat interoperability and repelling simulated attacks by hostile submarines and aircraft. Meanwhile President Dmitry Medvedev is to send a group of Russian experts to South Korea to examine the results of a probe into the sinking of a South Korean warship.

An ammunition plant being built by Russia in Venezuela will have the capacity to produce over 50 million rounds for Kalashnikov assault rifles per year. Under the contract, Russia is building an assembly line for AK-103 assault rifles and an ammunition plant to produce 7.62-mm ammunition for the rifle.

Russia has inked a deal to extend waterway lease for Finland, under which Russia will continue leasing its stretch of the 43-kilometer Saimaa Canal that connects Finnish lakes to the Gulf of Finland after the current 50-year contract expires in 2013.

US/CANADA

Few jobless American could still avail jobless benefits as the U.S House extends the expiring date, though leaving millions losing out from the benefit. The final say is though expected from the Senate which it is on recess.

On the defensive more than five weeks into Americas worst-ever oil spill, President Barack Obama insisted last week that his administration, not oil giant BP, was calling the shots in the still-unsuccessful response. "I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down," Obama declared at a news conference.

A leaked letter which shows the understanding reached between Obama, da Silva and the Turkish leader over Iran’s nuclear swap has been in the news lately. The Obama administration has dismissed the issue, which some believe to be a face saving tactic. The letter showed a different White House that has persistently called for a tougher sanction on Iran. Also the letter was reportedly released in Brazil, because the Brazilian leader was angered that his diplomatic effort on the Iran issue was snubbed by the White House.

In its summer reliability assessment, North American Electric Reliability Corp has said the weak economy would result in reductions of 2.2 % in peak demand this summer from last year in the USA and Canada.

Canadian leaders are jammed in debate over the security arrangement and spending for the forthcoming G20/G8 summit. The ruling party deems it necessary to provide adequate security for both Canadians and visitors, contrary to the liberal opposition stance that Canada cannot afford to spend $1 billion in 72 hours for the summits.

Recent polls have been showing the fluctuation in Canadians’ view for the ruling and opposition parties. The minority ruling government is facing opposition yet opposition parties have not been able to outpace it in public support.

Canadian government is moving towards having a single national securities regulator that will oversee stock and bond markets, replacing the existing agencies overseeing the 13 provinces. Canada currently is the only industrialized country that does not have a single regulator. According to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty it would cut costs and make it easier to crack down on white-collar crime.

LATIN AMERICA

Argentina has celebrated the 200th anniversary of its revolution, which brought independence from Spain, with lavish parades in Buenos Aires and a phalanx of visiting heads of state and dignitaries.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has launched TV Brasil, a new Portuguese-language network based in Mozambique's capital Maputo and tasked with "saying good things" about Brazil. The channel will be broadcast to more than 40 countries, mostly in Africa and Latin America.

Meanwhile Brazil's ruling party presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff rose to a dead heat with opposition hopeful Jose Serra in the latest Datafolha poll released last week. Rousseff, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's former chief of staff, climbed 7 points from Datafolha's April voter survey, to win 37 % of the 2,660 voters' questioned across the country

A Chilean court has again sent the Pakistani Mr. Saifur Rahman to jail, labeling him a danger for the society. Mr. Saif was released after the US embassy’s investigation did not found any links between his case and the Time Square’s incident; however later a local court of Chile reversed the ruling.

Mexican police has arrested the mayor of Cancun state on the charge of supporting drug cartels and money laundering. The mayor belongs to the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution and was set to contest the election for the governorship from a Caribbean state. Meanwhile president Obama is spending US $500 million on US-Mexico border for its security along with deploying 1,200 National Guards troops on the border. Also US government has pledged to give $1.4 million to Mexico which will be spent on new equipments and to train Mexican forces to counter drug related cartels.

Mexican government has asked Canadian diplomats to get visa permission before coming to Canada, in retaliation to a similar move on part of the Canadian authorities. Officials have called it a temporary change. The immigration issues are to be discussed in the next NAFTA meeting in August in Mexico.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chaves has threatened to nationalize a private food company Polar if it continues the practice of hoarding food. Meanwhile Venezuelan government has started crackdown against illegal currency traders who are accused of causing inflation in the country.

Industrial production plunged 9.9 % in Venezuela amid power shortages and inflation raised much as compare to the last 7 years.

AUSTRALASIA

Australian Archbishop Mark Coleridge believes the recent scandal in the Catholic Church was engineered by multiply reasons. He linked the cause of the crisis to the Catholic culture of prioritizing sin and forgiveness rather than crime and punishment.

Australian minister of information has taken on Google for its breach of customer’s privacy. The search engine giant was accused of storing private data through its Street View campaign. Google is pitted in similar case in Europe, where German and British governments challenged Google for privacy violation.

Australian government has expelled an Israeli diplomat from the country linked with the passport forgery used in the killing of Hamas leader in Dubai. The action was similarly to what the British did, and the expulsion remains indefinite and damages Australia-Israel relations. .§

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