Romanians non grata at Paris summit
As it continues to expel hundreds of Roma back to Romania and Bulgaria, Paris has decided to organise a summit on immigration for September 6, reports the EUobserver. Invitees includes interior ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Greece. “But the list is notable for who is not on it,” the Brussels based news site notes. “Neither Romania or Bulgaria have been invited – the destination for Roma currently being deported from France.” The summit has been publicised by Italy's interior minister Roberto Maroni of the immigrant baiting Northern League Party, who has said that "if anything, it's time to go a step further". Further steps include “the mandatory expulsion of EU citizens who cannot sustain themselves financially”, EUobserver reports.
As Greece pimps its ancient monuments to bring in the tourists, lovers of cultural heritage are up in arms. But the country is only doing openly what the whole of Europe is: looting historic sites to drum up more ready cash.
Asserting national values is central to the political project of the Hungarian PM. Since the start of the year, fifteen paintings, specially commissioned for an exhibition in the Castle of Buda, have been putting this ambition on show.
The game has gone on for nearly two years: Athens pretends to comply with the demands of its creditors and partners, and they pretend to believe in Greece’s commitments. As the spectre of default comes nearer, however, the Greek bluff cannot go on much longer, writes an El Mundo editorialist.