Presseurop |

Middle East | Europe stuck in the middle of the road (An-Nahar, Beirut)

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:41:00 +0100

In offering an alternative to the U.S. position on recognition of a Palestinian state, the EU is exposing itself to criticism and pressure from both the Palestinians and the Israelis. (Article)

Diplomacy | EU to take seat at UN

Wed, 04 May 2011 11:25:01 +0100

President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy "will now be able to address the United Nations no differently from US president Barack Obama, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez or Russia's Dimitri Medvedev,” reports EUObserver. The EU will now be symbolically given “almost all the rights” enjoyed by fully-fledged states including “the right to speak, the right to make proposals and submit amendments, the right of reply, the right to raise points of order and the right to circulate documents”.

Until now the EU has only had observer status at the UN. A similar move to give the EU something near full member status, put forward by Belgium, was last year rejected. The new status will allow EU foreign policy chief, high representative Catherine Ashton and her officials to speak on the floor. Ms Ashton was "delighted" by the move she says ‘will in future enable EU representatives to present and promote the EU's positions in the UN,’” reports the Brussels based news service.

According to EUObserver, in order to win the platform the EU has agreed to changes in how the UN is structured, transforming it from “an assembly of nation states into a body that also offers representation rights to regional blocs as well, including potentially the African Union, the Arab League and the South American Union”.

(News in brief)

Ivory Coast | Exit Gbagbo, with French nudge

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:35:46 +0100

"Gbagbo’s fall is a victory for France and the UN," announces Le Figaro, in the wake of the arrest of the former Ivory Coast President by troops loyal to his internationally recognised successor Alassane Ouattara, who has benefited from military support from France, the former colonial power in the country. For the conservative daily, Gbagbo’s arrest, which brought an end to a four-month long crisis, "will highlight a basic universal message: election losers must hand over power. It is a message that is especially relevant in Africa, and France was right to demonstrate its wholehearted commitment to what was an international consensus." However, Le Figaro’s left-wing rival Libération warns that "Sarkozy the African’s risky strategy" could result in accusations that France is once again resorting to “interventionist tactics” it has used in the past, even if the daily acknowledges that "doing nothing was not an option." Libération quotes an African and Middle East specialist who remarks that "Paris will now be judged on its relations with a new regime that will have to contend with accusations of massacres and ethnic cleansing by forces loyal Alassane Ouattara, which have been revealed a number of investigations including one by Human Rights Watch."

(News in brief)

France | Another French front in Africa

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:29:11 +0100

"France goes to war," announces the front page of Libération, in the wake of intervention by the 1,500-strong French Licorne (Unicorn) force in Ivory Coast. In response "to a request from the UN," on 4 April, helicopters from the French air force and and the UNOCI mission in the country bombarded several positions manned by forces loyal to outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to hand over power to his rival, Alassane Ouattara, the internationally acknowledged winner of the 2010 election in the country. "This intervention jointly conducted by the UN and the former colonial [Ivory Coast became independent in 1960] is without a doubt the first of its kind since the end of the colonial period," writes Libération.

The newspaper notes that justification for the operation has been provided by Resolution 1975, adoped by the UN Security Council at the end of March. “Although President Sarkozy is unwilling to admit it, France has taken sides and is trying to unseat Gaddafi and et Gbagbo by force,” writes Libé. The daily goes on to argue that even if these operations are motivated by humanitarian concerns, there is no denying that “Sarkozy has involved France in two dangerous missions.” It also wonders “why this desire to protect civilians was not sufficient to prevent the massacre in Duekoue, in the west of the country which was apparently perpetrated by forces loyal to Ouattara.” The left-wing daily concludes that the populations in Libya and Ivory Coast are not likely to forget the fact that “government opponents drove to power in trucks belonging to a foreign army.”

(News in brief)

Kosovo | Hashim Thaçi, the big fish of Pristina (The Guardian, London)

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:09:04 +0100

As the Council of Europe prepares to demand an investigation into the shady underworld dealings of Kosovo PM Hashim Thaçi, secret Nato documents leaked to British daily The Guardian provide more shocking revelations about a prized Western ally. (Article)

Morocco / Spain | News blackout lifts in Western Sahara

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:18:42 +0100

"Morocco keeps tight control of Laayoune using network of informers," headlines the daily El Mundo, reporting on Rabat’s “iron grip” on the capital of Western Sahara in the wake of riots prompted by the dismantling of the Gdem Izik Sahrawi refugee camp on 8 November. The violence led to the deaths of 11 members Moroccan security forces and an unspecified number of Sahrawi civilian victims (between 2 and 4 according to Rabat, 36 according to representatives of the separatist Polisario Front). The daily looks back on the news blackout imposed by Morocco, which was finally lifted on 21 November. Rabat insisted on keeping foreign journalists away from the former Spanish colony annexed in 1976, claiming that they were supporters of the separatist political movement – a move that heightened diplomatic tensions with Madrid. However, in the interest of preserving good relations, the Spanish government stopped short of condemning the Moroccan attack on the camp.

(News in brief)

Greece | Turkey | Armed EU to keep out migrant flow (The Guardian, London)

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 11:22:22 +0100

The numbers of immigrants seeking passage through the porous Turko-Greek border has quadrupled in the past year. With the Greek government unable to cope, Frontex, Europe’s external borders agency is to deploy armed guards to the region. (Article)

United Nations | Europe's fading voice on human rights (The New York Times, New York)

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 11:37:54 +0100

Could Germany and Portugal's election to the U.N. Security Council revive Europe's declining influence in the world? Don't bet on it, argues the New York Times. (Article)

Diplomacy | Portugal and Germany take UN seats

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:56:37 +0100

Portugal has been elected a temporary member of the UN Security Council “with a record number of votes”, applauds the Lisbon daily Público. Süddeutsche Zeitung observes that Germany, which has also been handed a seat on the Council, “will have a say in the next global policy chapter of the years to come”. The two countries were selected for a two-year stint by the UN General Assembly on 12 October. The Munich daily notes that both countries initially were pitted once against the other for a single seat. MEP Martin Schulz complained, “Germany and Portugal have put themselves in confrontational positions”, which goes to show “once again that the EU doesn’t speak with one voice”.

(News in brief)

Diplomacy | UN General Assembly snubs EU

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:09:40 +0100

"The European Union was hoping that its voice would now be heard at UN General Assemblies, but it didn't happen", notes Le Soir. On September 14, the General Assembly rejected a resolution put forth by Belgium on behalf of the EU27 which would have allowed the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, or the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, a more active role. Currently, the EU has only "observer" status, and therefore does not participate in General Assembly debates and votes. "The EU was not (even) asking for a 'real' seat with the right to vote", continues the Belgian daily, but "the adoption of the resolution would have allowed the EU to further (the projects) of the new institutions that have come out of the Treaty of Lisbon". The paper quotes a European diplomat who observed, "Even if there is no particular anti-European sentiment, certain countries are hardly inclined to grant even more privileges to the Europeans, who are already quite well represented".

(News in brief)

CO2 | Emissions impossible? (European Voice, Brussels)

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:21:37 +0100

The UN emission trading scheme is coming under fire for its lack of effectiveness, which may also have a negative impact on Europe's so far successful ETS. The European Commission is starting to take action. (Article)

Diplomacy | EU vies for special status at UN

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:47:25 +0100

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.

(News in brief)

Denmark | Government - no racism here

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:49:22 +0100

Critics of the Danish government have accused it of “hiding evidence of racism.” Jyllands-Posten explains that controversy is focused on a report submitted by the Danish government to the UNHCR Committee on the Elimination of Racism, which is to conduct an evaluation of Denmark in August. In its response to the findings of the report, the independent Racism Documentation and Advice Centre claims that the government deliberately ignored important evidence of racism including 560 cases of assault that figure in official statistics, in which the motives for violence were either racist or sectarian. On 26 July, the Centre will submit an alternative report to the UNHCR committee.

(News in brief)

Belgium-DR Congo | Atrocities report spoils celebrations

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:42:14 +0100

Even as Belgium and its former colony seek to resume long-severed relations, a scathing UN report on atrocities committed by DR Congo armed forces has put a spanner in the works, notes De Morgen. The report, to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on 18 March, confirms that members of the armed forces, the police and intelligence forces are responsible for “summary executions, sexual violence, torture and ill-treatment” and that the Congolese authorities are doing nothing about the situation, which is getting worse every year. The report comes shortly after King Albert II announced plans to fly down to attend the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the DR Congo’s independence (on 20 June) and the Belgian defence minister suggested inviting Congolese army brass to attend the Belgian national holiday festivities on 21 July.

(News in brief)

Haiti | A manmade disaster (The Guardian, London)

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:29:11 +0100

As the international community scrambles to the aid of Haiti after the January 12th earthquake, Peter Hallward in the Guardian points out its complicity in the island’s enduring economic devastation, which leaves hundreds of thousands all too easily exposed to large-scale natural disaster. (Article)

Turkey | Learning to get over the EU (Sabah, Istanbul)

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:31:17 +0100

In its annual report on Turkey's membership bid, the EU has encourage Ankara to keep pushing forward with reforms and democratisation. In Turkish daily Sabah, however, columnist Erdal Safak writes that Turkey's future is as much Asian as it is European. (Article)

United Nations | Why not a permanent seat for the EU? (La Stampa, Turin)

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:16:27 +0100

The new German government no longer wants a permanent seat for Germany on the UN Security Council, but plans to obtain one for the European Union instead. Meanwhile, Italy's former ambassador to the UN, Francesco Paolo Fulci, explains how the EU could exert greater influence on Security Council decisions. (Article)

Afghanistan | Germany's good war unravels (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich)

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:31:19 +0100

After German-ordered airstrikes on two fuel tankers in northern Afghanistan caused massive civilian casualties, European coalition partners are heaping censure on the Bundeswehr. Premature and risky reproaches, says the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which nonetheless go to show that the war finally has to come to the fore in the upcoming electoral campaign. (Article)

Cyprus | Unity hopes suffer another blow

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:14:27 +0100

The Republic of Cyprus is commemorating the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Turkish invasion of the northern part of the island. At 5 am on July 20, the daily Phileleftheros reports, sirens wailed throughout the country, to remind the population of the day 40,000 Turkish soldiers seized 37% of Cypriot territory. Ankara was acting in retaliation for a Greek Cypriot coup. The daily observes that peace talks are stalled, despite the impending opening of a new border crossing between the two parts of the island in Limnitis. Optimists are betting a new unification plan, followed by a referendum in 2010, will finally do the trick. "Tiny steps on a tightrope," the daily headlined.

According to the Phileleftheros reporter, Nicosia is exploiting the anniversary to point the finger of blame at Turkey. The "key to resolving the Cypriot problem" would be for Turkey to put an immediate halt to its intentions to prospect for offshore Cypriot oil. President Dimitris Christofias has called on the United Nations and the European Union to intervene.

(News in brief)

Iran | Not just a physical gulf (ABC, Madrid)

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:27:43 +0100

For several years now the EU has sought to negotiate between Tehran and the West. But the Iranian regime’s current crackdown shows the limitations of this soft-diplomacy approach and belies all hope of democratic change in view of the deep divide between political cultures. (Article)