In fact, "Barack" means apricot in Hungarian so activists meeting in the Hungarian city Tallya decided to produce and sell this jam labelled "Barack for Obama". The funds collected were given to local organizations that fight child poverty.

As Matyas Gati, one of the organizers, put it “This is a fun way of making a serious point. Barack Obama is very popular in Hungary because he is so charismatic and because he offers a real alternative to the Republicans who have made such a mess of things in America and abroad. We also wanted to show that we PES activists share the same democratic values and aspirations as Mr Obama. He embodies the principles and values we want to promote as PES activists. We support his ideas for change and the attitude of his politics.” Check the video with a shorter version of the interview.

And don't miss PES activists video showing how activists prepared the whole thing!

Au Forum de Vienne, de nombreux militants du PSE nous ont fait part de leur intérêt pour les jumelages entre sections et entre fédérations. Nous avons donc interrogé Frédéric Engelmann, militant PSE à Paris, sur la manière dont s’est organisé le jumelage de la section du douzième arrondissement de Paris avec la section de Berlin-Mitte.

Frédéric, comment est venue l’idée du jumelage, et comment l’aventure a-t-elle commencé?

En fait nos fédérations du PS Paris et du SPD Berlin ont signé un accord similaire il y a 5-6 ans. Elles soutiennent le fait que les sections de nos fédérations se jumellent entre elles.
Ce qui a été le cas pour le 11e, le 18e (je crois), puis plus récemment pour les 1er-2e-3e-4e en commun dans un troisième jumelage section à section. À cette occasion, j'ai rencontré le responsable berlinois des jumelages, sa section de Berlin-Mitte étant à la recherche d'un jumelage. À partir du moment où je me proposais d'organiser le jumelage côté français (je suis bilingue franco-allemand, cela aide pour la mise en relation...) et que nous avions veillé de part et d'autre à réunir une petite équipe pour s'y impliquer, il n'y a pas eu de réticence côté section. La première prise de contact ayant eu lieu en avril 2006, le jumelage a été officiellement signé lors d'une première visite d'une dizaine de militants en novembre 2007. Nous nous sommes fixés comme objectif une visite annuelle à Paris et à Berlin.

A ton avis, quels sont les ingrédients pour bien réussir un jumelage de sections?

Je pense que les ingrédients importants sont :

- un premier contact entre deux personnes section à section pour initier l'intérêt pour un jumelage de part et d'autre
- rassembler de part et d'autre un petit groupe d’une demi-douzaine de personnes par exemple, permettant de justifier l'intérêt et surtout la capacité à maintenir à moyen/long terme un jumelage ; impliquer éventuellement des élus locaux qui peuvent y voir de bonnes opportunités de rencontres et d'échanges d'idées pour des politiques locales – ainsi (au moins) que quelques bilingues.
- définir les objectifs réalistes et souhaitables, mais se donner du temps pour les atteindre un à un.

Peux-tu nous en dire plus sur les objectifs que vous vous êtes fixés dans l’accord de partenariat?

Le partenariat sert à atteindre les objectifs suivants:
- Echange sur toutes les questions de politique municipale, et sur toutes les questions politiques d’actualité qui ont un intérêt
- Information et discussion sur les positions politiques de nos deux partis
- Soutien aux campagnes politiques dans nos villes respectives
- Information par nos pages web respectives de l’actualité et échange d’expérience
- Organisation et conduite de voyages d’étude vers Paris comme vers Berlin.

Pourrais-tu nous décrire les grandes étapes du jumelage?

Ainsi, la période de prise de contact avant le jumelage a pris environ 1 an et demi, un deuxième temps (1 an) était plutôt consacré à mieux faire connaissance : organisation de visite de la ville, faire se rencontrer les militants, faire se rencontrer les responsables de section grâce à deux premiers voyages.
Maintenant, nous avons des groupes d'environ une quinzaine de personnes dans chaque section impliquée dans le jumelage, et nous arrivons dans une troisième phase, où nous souhaitons organiser, en plus des voyages d'échange, des échanges de débats plus politiques à entretenir par exemple par la mise en place d'un espace de blog ou autre. Nous nous limitons dans l'immédiat à deux sujets qui ont émergé :
- l'Europe (moi-même ainsi qu'un militant impliqué du SPD Berlin-Mitte sommes également animateurs de nos commissions locales Europe respectives)
- la politique locale/municipale (nos deux arrondissements sont tenus respectivement par le PS et le SPD, et nous avons donc de nombreux élus locaux intéressés)

Un très grand merci à Frédéric Engelmann pour avoir accepté de nous faire part de son témoignage. Propos recueillis par Cécilia Gondard, communication team.

Loin de n’être qu’un objectif en soit du gouvernement français, le contrôle de l’immigration (passée, présente et future…) est en fait devenu un outil bien pratique pour s’attaquer à la culture, au mariage mixte, à la famille.

Cet été, après le groupe de musique Konono n° 1, ce fut au tour du groupe Kasai All Stars d’annuler sa tournée en raison des difficultés d’octroi de visas. Alors que la politique du « cas par cas » ignore le principe de l’égalité de droit, le projet de loi Sarkozy s'attaque à la mixité, à la famille.

Côté mariage, le projet de loi Sarkozy sur l’immigration, rend difficile aux français d’épouser des non-européens. Auparavant, on obtenait une carte de séjour suite au mariage et à condition d’être entré légalement sur le territoire français. Si le projet de loi passe, l’obtention de la carte de séjour sera subordonnée à l’obtention d’un visa de 3 mois et sans visa, pas de vie commune! Or pour acquérir la nationalité française(article 59), il faudra avoir vécu sur le territoire français trois ans non –stop… Bref, c’est mission impossible pour les couples mixtes!

Loin de ne s’attaquer qu’aux couples mixtes, la loi met en danger la famille : Le regroupement familial devient quasi-impossible. Le ressortissant qui souhaite faire venir sa famille, devra avoir vécu 18 mois sur le territoire français, et surtout, devra démontrer qu'il peut la faire vivre des revenus de son travail, les minima sociaux et allocations de logement étant exclus du calcul des ressources. Dans un pays où le salaire médian est le SMIC, il faudra être « plus riche que les français » pour avoir le droit de vivre en famille. Quant aux fichiers ADN….no comment.

1. Right defends economic interests of the elite, while the left defends the common interest
2. The left defends human security and public services, good health care and education for all
3. The Left defends minimum social standards, like the minimum wage
4. The Left is in favour of diversity, as our support for an anti-discrimination directive shows, while the right neither is against immigration and gender equality
5. The Left distinguishes itself from the Greens by being in favour of cheap and fast public transport, supporting using taxation on airlines to fund public transport and financing fast, cross-European rail transport.

Team 2 on Social Europe made seven recommendations for the PES to include in its manifesto:
1. Taxing financial transactions.
2. The EU should develop more controls over multinational companies.
3. Parents should have 100% paid maternity leave for 18 months, with one third of the time allocated to mothers, one third to fathers, and the remaining third to be shared according to the wishes of the parents.
4. There should be an EU fund for social housing for families with three or more children who are homeless.
5. There should be lower labour taxes on women, older and younger people to encourage their employment.
6. Universities should organize one-year internships in companies for all students and there should be a 6-month ERASMUS programme available to all university students, including incentives for programme take-up.
7. Lifelong learning should be available to all. More work needs to be undertaken on how to implement this in practice.

Team 3 on European democracy and diversity made four recommendations:
1. There should be gender equality in politics, with 50% of the European Parliament made up of female MEPs after the next European elections. The PES should be the first political party to achieve this.
2. Voting cards should feature the age of candidates.
3. We should make clear the differences between the Left and our opponents, for example by increasing conflict with the Right, in order to highlight the relevance of voting in the European elections. There should be less emphasis on compromise in the European Parliament. The PES should go to the press to reveal how the right-wing has been voting in the Parliament.
4. We should be concrete in our proposals for the elections, for example how we intend to lift people out of poverty, ensuring health care, stopping the two European Parliament seats (in Brussels and Strasbourg).

Team 5 on Climate change made four recommendations:
1. There should be an individual approach to the fight against climate change to encourage people to feel more personal responsibility for the environment. For example, the PES could propose for every product to feature how much CO2 was emitted to produce it, or to promote energy-saving light bulbs.
2. There should be free public transport in Europe
3. The transport of goods should be made more expensive in order to dissuade wasteful uses of transport in production processes. For example, there could be higher road tolls for companies. Companies may try to pass on these costs to consumers, but this would probably only happen in the short term as companies would not want to raise costs above those of their competitors. Another possibility would be to reduce tax on locally-produced foods; however, this could conflict with development goals for third world, food exporting countries.
4. Higher taxes on cars in urban centres once there are sufficient, alternative modes of transport.

Do you agree with any of these recommendations? What are your views on how we can win the next European elections?

After Georgia's separatists my bet is that in Europe Transnistria could be the next breakaway province. Let's look this maybe next new state closer:

Pridnestrovie - also known by the unofficial name, Transnistria - is a new and emerging country in South Eastern Europe, sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine. Although widely seen as part of Moldova, historically, Pridnestrovie and Moldova were always separate. Throughout 2500 years of history, the Dniester River forming the current border has been a traditional border between Slav lands (Scythia, 450 B.C.) to the East and Romanian lands (Dacia) to the West.

The population is some 550.000. The inhabitants of Pridnestrovie are for the most part Slavic. This is in stark contrast to Moldova, on the other side of the Dniester River, where 4/5ths of the population are of Romanian descent and where ethnic Russians and ethnic Ukrainians only make up 6 to 8 percent, respectively.

Pridnestrovie meets the requirements for sovereign statehood under international law, as it has a defined territory, a population, effective elected authority, and the capability to enter into international relations. It is currently seeking international recognition of its de facto independence and statehood.

The economy of Pridnestrovie is a mixed market-based economy. Following a large scale privatization process, most of the companies in the country are now privately owned. The economy is export-oriented and based on a mix of heavy industry and manufacturing. According to the latest data from the nation's Customs, Pridnestrovie - which is also known as Transnistria, or Transdniester - now trades with 99 foreign countries.

Source and more info about Transnistria e.g. from http://www.tiraspoltimes.com

More Caucasus conflict: http://arirusila.wordpress.com

To read more, click here

Now Berlusconi’s coalition partners – the Lega Nord – has proposed a law requiring local referendums before planning permission for mosques can be given, and an outright ban on minarets!

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) policy . Some times I ask if it is EU, only UK or ex-Sovjet lapdogs the 51st state of USA. To me it is alarming, that this US policy has been made both during democratic and republican US presidents. Future shows if the change will come with new president, will he change old advisers also. And will US succeed to gain support for these actions either through the use of NATO or by persuading the European Community or the newly emerging states of Central and Eastern Europe to get on side. I hope that change will come and different actors both sides of Atlantic could have debate from more equal base than before.

More about Balkan politics e.g. in BalkanBlog which address is: http://arirusila.wordpress.com

Moscow and quite a few other capitals considered the move a serious step toward the degradation of international law and the triumph of arbitrary approaches to the resolution of global problems. Nonetheless, Russia has chosen a course of compromise. Russia’s leaders could not ignore what happened in the Balkans, but they chose not respond by recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, even though they believe that after Kosovo was proclaimed independent they had every right to do so.

Pandora box starts to open

• Armenian political expert Stepan Grigoryan says that Yerevan should recognize Serbia’s Kosovo province as a precedent for its recognition of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh.
• The Silesian Autonomy Movement has sent a petition to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk asking him to allow all regional communities to gain autonomy status. If he does not agree, the Silesians say they are ready to raise the issue of separation, according to media reports. The movement officially declares its support for the autonomy of Silesia. The association was founded in 1991 and is based mainly in the Polish part of Upper Silesia.
• On May 4, the oil-rich department (province) of Santa Cruz held a vote on autonomy - that is, declaring its independence from the rest of Bolivia. Bolivian government calls the actions of separatist movement as the Kosovo strategy - an American attempt to destabilize a national government it cannot control.
• The potentially destabilizing consequences of this precedent have been much discussed with reference to other unhappy portions of other internationally recognized sovereign states with strong separatist movements practicing precarious but effective self-rule, such as Transniestria, Bosnia’s Republika Srpska, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Kashmir, Tibet and Kurdistan.

Exit strategy

The root of the problem is that the international community cannot agree on rules for the independence of small regions. Russia said that granting independence to Kosovo would set a dangerous precedent. I agree with those who said, that Kosovo status - as well other conflicts - can be determine only by negotiations, not by imposition.

From my point of view the best exit strategy from Pandora box is to return to Kosovo case from where all today’s development started. The steps forward could be following:

1. Starting real negotiations between local stakeholders with support interested Great Powers and without determined outcome (which was not the case with Status Talks lead by Ahtisaari nor Troika).
2. Accepting the deal made by local partners be it anything they can agree.
3. The international community (and donors) should then support implementation of this deal made by negotiations.

Similar steps could be applied other conflicts also. The possible outcome can be based e.g. to Westphalian order (Westphalian sovereignty is the concept of nation state sovereignty based on two principles: territoriality and the exclusion of external actors from domestic authority structures).

Results can vary from case to case. The form of deal can be e.g. independence with or without partition, federation, confederation, some of autonomy models such as Aland (Province of Finland) or Hong Kong model. At its best the solution can be like”velvet divorce” of the Czechs and Slovaks. And also the worst scenario probably is better than situation today.

More about Balkans? You are welcome to visit http://arirusila.wordpress.com

A few days ago I gave a presentation at the ECOSY summer camp (ECOSY is the European Young Socialists which gathers socialist youth movements from all over Europe) where I suggested four basic principles which, in my view, should guide the 'transition' from visionary manifesto process to succesful campaigning. Here goes:

• Define and get to know your target group
• Develop one appealing key message
• Consider your resources
• Identify the right media

It's pretty basic, but sometimes, after a period filled with big and visionary thoughts, 'back to basics' can be useful! Do you agree or am I just babbling here? :-)

In the presentation I also argued that social networking sites - such as Facebook or MySpace - can be very powerful tools for youth organizations. For three main reasons: Social networking tools are - for a large part - free to use, they're powerful means of reaching young people and they're based on dialogue rather than one-way communication. The latter is perhaps the more interesting point. With traditional media such as TV and radio audiences are passive and have no opportunity to respond. Social networking sites are interactive and allow people to answer to messages or to start a conversation with you as sender. Here, I would argue that socialist grassroots are important assets to their own campaigns! You are energetic and sympathetic campaigners - so using a communication tool which will allow people to meet and discuss with you will definetely be an advantage! It's attractive to be part of a network filled with energy and enthusiasm.

For those interested I have attached my hand-outs from Saturday's session at the ECOSY summer camp. Agree? Disagree? Comments are - as always - appreciated!

Portuguese PM José Sócrates                         French PS leader François Hollande

Romanian PSD leader Mircea Geona Danish SD leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Flemish SPA deputy leader Caroline Gennez.

During the Camp several workshops themed "Social Europe for Everyone"were organized; campaigning was not forgotten as the European elections approach.

Zita Gurmai, President of PES Women, participated in one of the conferences and had a discussion with women representatives from ECOSY member organizations about the working conditions that young women endure in Europe.

PES press and campaign advisor, Julian Scola, spoke at a workshop on media work and campaigns, and at the PES stand 180 young people signed up as PES activists.

With the freedom of movement that citizens enjoy within the European Union there are thousands of PES member party members living, working or studying in other European countries. With the right to vote in their country of residence, what better time than the European elections for socialists and social democrats from different European countries living in the same city to come together? The PES sees enormous potential to mobilize in their country of residence party members and supporters abroad. Many of our member parties agree, and want to work together to get all socialist and social democratic party members to work together regardless of their nationality. Already parties such as the Portuguese PS and Romanian PSD are working to integrate their members abroad into local party sections in their countries of residence, already parties such as the French PS actively welcome sister party members into their organization. In some cases it is about being in touch with, and being welcomed by, the local party in your country of residence. In other cases members from different parties living in the same city might set up a PES activist group. In the coming months the PES will work to put our member parties in touch with other party members in their country. At a recent meeting set up to discuss this work party representatives’ enthusiasm was clear ...

Read the rest of this article here

La Fédération du Parti socialiste de Loire-Atlantique contribue au manifeste du Parti Socialiste Européen pour préparer les élections de 2009. Notre contribution adoptée au Conseil Fédéral de mai porte sur deux aspects.

D’une part, nous demandons que le PSE et ses représentants, lors de la prochaine mandature, mettent en place un statut d’association européenne afin de permettre aux citoyens de l’Union qui le souhaitent de pouvoir librement s’associer.

D’autre part, nous faisons une contribution demandant le renforcement du rôle de l’Union

Européenne dans le domaine de la cohesion territoriale qui doit se faire en cohérence avec la politique de cohésion sociale. L’intervention de l’Union européenne ne pourra se faire que si le budget de l’Union est à la hauteur des ambitions que nous avons pour l’Europe. Au-delà de cette contribution au débat entre les socialistes européens qui doit concrètement aboutir à la mise en place d’une plate-forme commune PSE pour les élections de 2009, nous devons travailler à la concrétisation de notre militantisme européen.

Nous proposons de créer en Loire-Atlantique un “City Group” ou “Groupe local PSE”. Ce groupe de militants sera en lien direct avec le PSE et pourra relayer ses campagnes transnationales. Ce groupe pourra être particulièrement impliqué sur la dimension européenne de la campagne de 2009 en participant, par exemple, à des operations dans d’autres pays européens. Il pourra aussi participer, d’une manière ou d’une autre, au prochain congrès du PSE.

“L’Europe ne se fera pas d’un coup, ni dans une construction d’ensemble : elle se fera par

des réalisations concrètes créant d’abord une solidarité de fait” : Robert Schuman.

Karine DANIEL

Secrétaire Fédérale Europe International

Cyril HUNAULT

Délégué Fédéral Europe

PS : Les contributions de la Fédération de Loire-Atlantique sont disponibles sur le site de la fédération et visibles sur le site du programme électorale du PSE.

Si vous voulez faire partie du City Group, merci de vous signaler à la fédération.