EU vies for special status at UN
The United Nations General Assembly is to vote next month on a resolution granting special status to the European Union, reports Rzeczpospolita. Until now, the EU has only had observer status in the UN, without the right to vote. Changing this is a “very delicate matter”, stresses the Warsaw daily. EU members France and Britain, loathe to lose their influence on the UN Security Council, were initially highly reluctant about the idea. Ultimately, they have agreed to a compromise under which the head of EU diplomacy, Catherine Ashton, will have the right to speak on the EU’s behalf only in the General Assembly but not in the Security Council. Still, the outcome of the September vote remains unknown because other organisations, such as the Arab League or the African Union, could also apply for special status, notes Rzeczpospolita.
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.