Published Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 14:53
by
arktika 
in Debate (59 views and 0 comments)
During last
twenty years war for humanitarian reasons has came quite popular
in political vocabulary e.g. in Balkans and now with Georgia
case. The ideal to use power in the service of ethics is good.
The problem is the low level of ethics when US is using her power
in world. I remember their actions in Chile to establish
dictatorship, their support to killing squads in middle and south
America. In 1983, U.S. troops invaded Grenada because it – a tiny
island with 110,000 inhabitants - represented a military threat
to the USA. In Balkans US made alliances first with Serb leaders
(who later came ICTY wanteds) and after with KLA (which before
was described as terror organization), al Quida (1st
ally then one element in “axis of terror”) etc.
US started to bomb Serbia – without UNSC approval and based purpose-oriented reports from field - supporting separatist movements. Later US repeated the same in Afghanistan and Iraq (again based false reports). Before 9-11, the US was supportive of the Chechen rebels, suddenly after 9-11 radical Islam, was the new enemy. This is regardless of whatever Chechen terrorists were doing to Russia on their own.
In Europe the Kosovo question highlights the core problem of EU - uncritical following of US foreign (cowboy)...
read morePublished Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 15:31
by
arktika
in Debate (439 views and 0 comments)
As today’s headlines were dominated by news that the European Commission is to withdraw hundreds of millions of euros worth of EU funding to Bulgaria and to withhold their right to manage such funds, Ari Rusila asks how much of the misuse of EU funds is really down to corruption and organised crime?
Ari claims that perhaps the real crime is preoccupation with details and bureaucracy, and that EU officials are the culprits.
The European Commission is set to withdraw the
accreditation of two Bulgarian agencies and bar them from using
EU funds after details of a European Commission report on
Bulgaria’s fight against corruption and
organised crime will be officially issued on
July 23. Two agencies under the Ministry of Regional Development
and Public Works and the Finance Ministry will lose their permits
to operate with EU funding under the bloc’s
pre-accession programme PHARE. This
could deprive Sofia of about €600 million. Two other
agencies/programmes could meet the same fate.
The average reader may think that some clever crocks have
pocketed a nice sum because the report highlights corruption,
organized crime and economical fraud activities in Bulgaria.
Undoubtedly these kinds...
Published Friday, July 11, 2008 at 17:46
by
Editor
in Debate (616 views and 2 comments)
The last war on Iraq
showed until which extent Europeans may become divided when it
comes to external policy. Core theme of the manifesto, “Europe in
the World” was also one of the topics discussed in one of the
sessions during the Vienna Forum!
Jean Asselborn (LSAP, Luxembourg), key-note speaker, stressed the role played by the Balkan region to stabilize Europe. The region must be stabilized in the frame of a peaceful Europe. Moreover, the failure of the “Balkan project” will have as a consequence the failure of Europe as a peace project.
Asselborn defended that the EU must assume a role in the Middle East. On the one hand Israel has the very right to exist, but it must stop its settlement policy and the blockade of the West Bank. The key to world peace lies in this region of the globe.
Piero Fassino (DP, Italy), the second key-note speaker on this session, underlined that what is lacking in Europe is not transparency – the procedures are very clear – but democracy! Citizens feel that they do not participate in the construction process of the EU.
Additionally, immigration will increase in the...
read more
loading...