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Europe

Anger in Europe as Obama scraps missile defense

2009-09-17

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US is to shelve the plan, which was first mooted by the Bush administration and has been a source of friction with Russia ever since. KORAX: Of course, I'd say that the United States deserves Captain Obama. We like him. We really do. The move would be a cause of celebration in Moscow but of real concern to Eastern European countries which have looked to Washington for support against their former imperial master Russia. The US has said the shield is to guard against attacks by rogue states, such as Iran. The former Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, said: "This is not good news for the Czech state, for Czech freedom and independence. It puts us in a position wherein we are not firmly anchored in terms of partnership, security and alliance, and that's a certain threat." The Polish deputy foreign minister, Andrzej Kremer, saidthat Warsaw had heard from different sources there were "serious chances" the anti-missile system would not be deployed. Russian officials said they did not want to immediately comment on media reports that cited unidentified US officials. "We are waiting for confirmation of these reports," a source in Russia's foreign ministry said. "In principle, such a development would help the development of our bilateral relations with the United States." The newspaper said the decision followed a review ordered by Mr Obama. He called the current Czech prime minister Jan Fischer on Wednesday night to discuss missile defence. Mr Obama, who is due to meet the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev next week in New York, says he wants better ties with Russia so that the two former Cold War foes can co-operate on Afghanistan and reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation. He may also have been reassured by Moscow's growing willingness to discuss further sanctions against Iran. KORAX: That idiot couldn't lead his people out of a paper bag. Half the continent knows it. That's why they're learning to speak Russian ...

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-Lurid Crime Tales-

The Playboy Berlusconi villa.

2009-06-06

The second photograph shows two topless women, one standing and one lying on a sun lounger in the Sardinian sunshine. The woman standing is wearing nothing except a skimpy set of "thong" bikini briefs. But the third picture is the most stark, showing a fully naked man leaning over the edge of a swimming pool. El Pais said the pictures were examples of the approximately 300 which were blocked from publication in Italy at the weekend at Mr Berlusconi's request. Some of the photos were reportedly taken during a party held at the villa for a visiting Czech delegation under the leadership of former Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. Mr Berlusconi has been under pressure to explain his relationship with Ms Letizia since his wife, Veronica Lario, said last month she was divorcing him after he had attended her 18th birthday party and gave her an expensive necklace. He has denied having an affair with her.

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Europe

EU calls for shorter work week to create jobs

2009-05-08

EU leaders on Thursday called for a shorter working week and extra state-funded retraining programmes as recession threatens millions of jobs. However, the results of a special EU meeting on the continent's labour crisis failed to impress union leaders who are increasingly concerned about mass lay-offs. With the recession expected to wipe out 8.5 million European jobs over two years, top officials from the Czech Republic, Sweden and Spain -- the current and future EU presidencies -- agreed to focus on identifying job opportunities, upgrading skills and encouraging labour mobility. "We haven't signed up to those conclusions. They are not enough, it's very general," John Monks, secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation, told AFP. The talks also revealed more philosphical rifts as the free-market friendly approach of Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and Sweden's Fredrik Reinfeldt clashed with calls for a social market economy from European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso. "We all agree on the goals, but we may not always agree on the means," Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said. In one of the more specific conclusions, the EU said in a statement that member states should "maintain as many people as possible in jobs, with temporary adjustment of working hours combined with retraining and supported by public funding." Always with more public funding. As we all know, that never runs out ... While EU Labour Commissioner Vladimir Spidla told AFP the measure was "reasonable and efficient," his compatriot Topolanek warned against excessive public spending and protectionism. "The EU should work with the idea of an active individual, not a paternalist state that will take care of everything at the cost of debts and higher taxes," he said. "We have to work through businesses and employees to try to develop our welfare model and create an atmosphere conducive to investment and jobs," added Reinfeldt, whose country will take the EU presidency on July 1. The meeting proposed stepping up training for young unemployed, less red tape and more encouragement for people to move to where jobs can be found. Barroso highlighted the "changing social situation" and added "there can be no economic recovery on the foundations of social collapse just as there can be no social progress in an economic desert." The "troika" style meeting was a much-reduced version of the full-scale EU jobs summit with all 27 heads of state and government that the Czech Republic had envisaged. Union leaders said the shrunken attendance was a sign of a lack of interest. "It's a pity it's not the major social summit which we would have preferred," said Wanja Lundby-Wedin, European Trade Union Confederation president. However Spanish Labour Minister Celestino Corbacho declared that "this is the first time during the crisis that we are going to deal specifically with the issue of unemployment." Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister and chairman of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, warned recently that the EU faced a "social crisis" if EU leaders failed to respond to the economic slump and job cuts. Lamenting that the summit had been downgraded, Juncker said: "Even if you don't have any ideas at this stage, that doesn't mean you should not get down to tackling the problem." How .. European ... The European Commission forecast on Monday that Europe was set to see unemployment rise to the highest levels since World War II with 8.5 million Europeans expected to lose their jobs in 2009 and 2010.

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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Obama "Oui Oui" to French in a Town Hall Meeting

2009-03-27

Barack Obama, heading overseas for the first time as president next week, aims to use a combination of summit protocol and campaign flash to corral support for his programs. Facing political headwinds but with a European public still on his side, Mr. Obama will attend three high-profile international events -- the meeting of Group of 20 nations that kicks off Wednesday evening in London, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting at the end of the week, and a European Union-U.S. summit in Prague on April 5. But Mr. Obama also intends to extend his efforts beyond official meetings. He will hold a town hall-style meeting at a sports arena in Strasbourg, France, European diplomatic officials said. TOTUS just has to be so excited! He'll get some Euro current (easy on the 220V) and maybe even get a foreign language upload. And the White House is looking for a site in Prague for the first public foreign-policy speech of Mr. Obama's presidency, according to Petr Kolar, the Czech Republic's ambassador to the U.S. Turkish press reports say Mr. Obama's visit to Istanbul after the Prague summit will include a stop at the Hagia Sophia, a Byzantine-era church converted to a mosque under the Ottomans, and a stop at the national Sultan Ahmed Mosque. The emphasis on including public events, a deliberate nod to Mr. Obama's successful tour through Europe as a presidential candidate, stands in contrast to the divisions that have opened on policy since he took office. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who resigned on Thursday after an earlier parliamentary vote of no-confidence, this week called Mr. Obama's economic prescriptions "the road to hell." Paris and Berlin have been openly hostile to the U.S. president's calls for more fiscal stimulus. And his pleas for more troops for Afghanistan have given way to more modest calls for help in propping up Afghanistan and Pakistan's civilian governments. A senior administration official shrugged off those concerns. "If there's a positive receptivity to the president, it does help enhance America's image abroad and moves along the agenda," the official said. "We're not afraid to be a world leader, and people want to be seen with our president. That's a good thing." Mr. Obama spent much of his campaign lamenting his nation's diminished status and influence after eight years under President Bush. On his trip, President Obama will meet leaders from more than 40 countries and will see first hand whether the damage he spoke of is there and lasting. "President Obama has been talking for many months, if not a year or more, about the need to restore U.S. leadership around the globe," said Reginald Dale, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Europe program. "This trip is the first chance, actually, to start doing something about that."

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Economy

Czech PM: US bailout 'way to hell'

2009-03-26

Mirek Topolanek, the Czech prime minister, has described the United States' stimulus packages as a "way to hell", one week before he is due to meet Barack Obama, the US president, at the G20 summit. Topolanek, whose country holds the European Union presidency, told the bloc's parliament in Strasbourg that Obama's plans to stimulate the US economy would "undermine the stability of the global financial market". His comments, which come a day after the Czech government collapsed after a no-confidence vote in parliament, highlight growing differences between the EU and Washington on how to deal with the global economic crisis. Several European leaders, including Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, are in favour of tighter financial regulation, while the US is pushing for larger economic stimulus packages. Referring to Obama's high-spend plans to lift his country out of recession, Topolanek said: "The United States did not take the right path. All of these steps, these combinations and permanency is the way to hell. We need to read the history books and the lessons of history and the biggest success of the [EU] is the refusal to go this way". The US plans to pump $1trillion into its financial system by buying up treasury assets and mortgage securities, along with a $787bn economic stimulus package of tax rebates, health and welfare benefits. But many EU leaders have urged member states to exercise fiscal restraint on government spending, rejecting calls from the US for more stimulus deals. There is speculation that the contrast between European and US economic policies could come to a head at the G20 summit in London next week. Obama has insisted that his massive budget proposal is moving the nation down the right path and will help the struggling economy grow again. Gordon Brown, the British prime minister and host of the conference, is unlikely to add to the number of critics, after praising Obama for his willingness to work with Europe on reforming the global economy. On Tuesday, Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, cautioned Brown against further significant government spending to stimulate the economy.

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Home Front: Politix

EU Presidency: Obama Plans 'a Way to Hell'

2009-03-25

STRASBOURG, France -- A top European Union politician on Wednesday slammed U.S. plans to spend its way out of recession as "a way to hell." Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told the European Parliament that President Barack Obama's massive stimulus package and banking bailout "will undermine the stability of the global financial market." A day after his government collapsed because of a parliamentary vote of no-confidence, Topolanek took the EU presidency on a collision course with Washington over how to deal with the global economic recession. Most European leaders favor tighter financial regulation, while the U.S. has been pushing for larger economic stimulus plans. Topolanek's comments are the strongest criticism so far from a European leader as the 27-nation bloc bristles from recent U.S. criticism that it is not spending enough to stimulate demand. They also pave the way for a stormy summit next week in London between leaders of the Group of 20 industrialized countries. The host of the summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, praised Obama on Tuesday for his willingness to work with Europe on reforming the global economy in the run-up to the G-20 summit. The United States plans to spend heavily to try and lift its economy out of recession with a $787 billion economic stimulus plan of tax rebates, health and welfare benefits, as well as extra energy and infrastructure spending. To encourage banks to lend again, the government will also pump $1 trillion into the financial system by buying up treasury bonds and mortgage securities in an effort to clear some of the "toxic assets" -- devalued and untradeable assets -- from banks' balance sheets. Topolanek bluntly said that "the United States did not take the right path.". He slammed the U.S.' widening budget deficit and protectionist trade measures -- such as the "Buy America" -- and said that "all of these steps, these combinations and permanency is the way to hell." "We need to read the history books and the lessons of history and the biggest success of the (EU) is the refusal to go this way," he said. "Americans will need liquidity to finance all their measures and they will balance this with the sale of their bonds but this will undermine the stability of the global financial market," said Topolanek. Obama insisted Tuesday that his massive budget proposal is moving the nation down the right path and will help the ailing economy grow again. "This budget is inseparable from this recovery," he said, "because it is what lays the foundation for a secure and lasting prosperity." Obama also claimed early progress in his aggressive campaign to lead the United States out of its worst economic crisis in 70 years and declared that despite obstacles ahead, the U.S. is "moving in the right direction."

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Europe

Czech government fails in no confidence vote

2009-03-25

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech parties will have a hard time agreeing on a new government after Tuesday's no-confidence vote and an early election is difficult to achieve, leaving the country to face protracted political wrangling. Four defectors from the Czech ruling three-party minority coalition voted alongside the opposition leftists in the vote, bringing the government down halfway through its six-month term as EU president and more than a year before an election scheduled for mid-2010. President Vaclav Klaus, a eurosceptic estranged from Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's Civic Democrats, will now have the right to pick the next prime minister. Topolanek said he wanted Klaus to give him a new mandate to try forming a new cabinet, a hard task given that neither the left nor the right commands majority in the lower house. The balance of power lies with a handful of independents who have defected from both camps. The left may also try to lure over some deputies and form a majority, which would include the far-left Communists, but that may be difficult given the parliamentary numbers. Klaus has in the past refused to allow the Communists any share of power.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas vows to rearm after Gaza offensive

2009-01-20

(AKI) - The Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas movement has vowed to rearm - only a day after agreeing to a ceasefire to bring an end to Israel's three-week-old military attacks in the territory. That's because waving weaponry and hollering has worked so well for them... The Islamist movement announced its intentions on Monday despite pledges by several European countries to stop weapons smuggling in Gaza. "Do whatever you want. Manufacturing the holy weapons is our mission and we know how to acquire weapons," said Hamas' military wing spokesperon Abu Ubeida. "We will not surrender to the pressure applied on us. Our rocket force was unaffected by the fighting," he said. Abu Ubeida also defended Hamas' right to bring weapons into Gaza, saying that the group's members are merely resisting an occupying power. "Bringing weapons into Gaza is not smuggling. The natural situation is for weapons to be brought in officially by all Arab and Muslim countries and from other free peoples of the world in order to confront the Israeli occupation." "Even while the world denies it, we believe that it is our right to bring in weapons as we see fit." But Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said that if Hamas resumed Qassam rocket attacks, Israel will launch a fresh attack against Hamas in Gaza. "If Hamas fires a Qassam at Israel, it will get slapped down again, as it got it now and they know this," Livni said. Hamas' announcement took place three days after Israel signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States calling for increased intelligence-sharing and political commitments to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas One of the requests in the MoU is a ground penetrating radar or GPR, to detect tunnels, as well as supervision to stop the alleged smuggling of arms from Iran. On Sunday, European Union heads of state met Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem in a further bid to help stop arms smuggling into Gaza and maintain peace in the region. The top-level delegation included Czech prime minister and EU president Mirek Topolanek, German chancellor Angela Merkel, British prime minister Gordon Brown, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Prior to the meeting with Olmert, France, Germany and the United Kingdom pledged their naval support to prevent the delivery of weapons to Gaza during a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where they met Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Also on Monday, aid workers and doctors from around the world entered war-ravaged Gaza with medical supplies, food and blankets. Injured Gazans were also allowed to cross into Egypt through the Rafah crossing point, while other inhabitants began returning to their homes, surveying the damage and attempting to recover some of their belongings.

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Europe

Czech Cabinet might collapse over BMD radar

2008-06-20

The Czech government is on the verge of a crisis. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said his Cabinet might collapse in the fall. He admitted the Cabinet lost a firm majority in Parliament over the possible deployment of a high-frequency radar of the U.S. third positioning strategic missile defense area in the Czech Republic. Environmentalist deputies did not even want to hear about it, while others insist on a nationwide referendum, which the government cannot win because 68 percent of the population is emphatically against the deployment. No problem. Don't deploy the system; cancel it. If Europe does not wish to defend itself, we are under no obligation to defend it for them. Those days are gone. I don't want to see the BMD system become the new wedge in our relations. Cancel the plans, keep the system at home, and work on our own BMD.

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Europe

Sarkozy to continue pushing his European agenda amid crisis

2008-06-16

(Xinhua) -- Only three days before a crucial European Union summit in Brussels, President Nicolas Sarkozy continued with his European tour to prepare for the French presidency of the 27-member union, despite a crisis that has been precipitated after Irish voters said "no" to the Lisbon Treaty. "President Nicolas Sarkozy had worked hard to win over skeptic European leaders on the need for the treaty that was aimed at reforming the EU following the rejection of the draft constitution treaty in successive referendums in France and the Netherlands," said one European diplomat, adding: "the leaders will have to go back to the drawing board." In a move that, according to observers, is calculated at giving the sign that there is no crisis following the rejection of the simplified European treaty, President Sarkozy was expected to visit Czech Republic capital of Prague. Initially conceived as a simple presentation of the priorities of his mandate, the French head of state's visit to Prague has since Friday took the appearance of crisis meeting between the two countries that are expected to take turns at the helm of the EU between 2008 and 2009, according to analysts. Since the outcome of the Irish vote was made public, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek have issued statements conceding that the no vote was "a problem" or a "complication" for the European Union, nevertheless seeking to play down its repercussions.

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Europe

Czechs at centre-stage as EU troublemaker, US ally

2008-03-17

Prague - For years, Poland was the European Union's prickliest post-communist nation. Now that role seems to be shifting to the Czech Republic, its smaller neighbour. With strong support for missile defences in Eastern Europe and a unilateral deal for Czechs to travel visa-free to the United States, the Prague government is on track to overtake Poland as the region's top US friend. "Most people expected that the Czech Republic will progress towards Europe and Poland against it," said Piotr Kaczynski, an analyst at the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies. "Now it is the other way around." By securing a separate US visa deal in Washington, the eurosceptic Czech government showed the 27-member EU's fragile unity and undermined the bloc's efforts to negotiate common travel rules with Washington. In effect, the Czechs gave up on Brussels after repeatedly asking the European Commission, the EU executive, to lobby the US to abolish visa requirements for US-friendly EU newcomers in the former Soviet bloc. "The Czechs have have become a US guinea pig in Europe that indicates how far it is possible to go," said political scientist Jiri Pehe, who heads New York University's branch in Prague. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek signed the visa deal in Washingon last month, pledging in return to help US efforts to track airline passengers. Estonia and Latvia followed Wednesday with US visa deals of their own. Good! EU officials in Brussels were infuriated. Double-plus good! Poland was far from thrilled and refused to join the rush, although it also has pressed the US for visa-free entry for its citizens. Czech Vice Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra says the Poles, once the region's top US ally in supporting the Iraq war, should be thankful for Prague's initiative. "What we did will be - from a mid-term perspective - good for Poland as well," said Vondra, who also holds the European affairs portfolio. The shift is also apparent in Czech and Polish talks with Washington on hosting facilities for a US missile defence system. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has sought to mend relations with Brussels after the previous government's confrontational stance, has slowed down Warsaw's negotiations with the US. He is seeking US aid to modernize the Polish army in exchange for allowing 10 interceptor missiles to be placed in Poland. He's not saying no, he just wants a good deal. It's business. No such conditions are sought by the Czech Republic, where the US wants to set up the system's tracking radar. In fact, Czech officials now claim that the radar would improve security - even without the Polish-based missiles. "They are changing the message because they want to sign the agreements right now," Kaczynski said. Five years ago, Prague and Warsaw stood together in backing the US-led invasion of Iraq, driving a wedge through Europe. Both countries contributed forces - Czech troop numbers peaked at some 400, Poland's at 2,500. Poland emerged disillusioned from the Iraq experience, questioning whether it got enough in return from Washington. Tusk, who came to power after a sweeping election victory last year, reflects that mood. Topolanek, in a speech to a conservative Washington think tank during his recent visit, staunchly defended the US missile plan as a test case for keeping Russia's influence in its former satellites at bay. But loyalty has its limits. After a US State Department human rights report this week criticised the Czech Republic for its treatment of Roma and other points, Topolanek sniped back. "The country that enables torture of prisoners can hardly teach me abouthow human rights are being violated here," the Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper quoted him Thursday as saying.

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Europe

Czech Senate to propose Masin brothers for state decoration

2008-02-28

Prague- The Czech Senate will again propose members of an anti-communist resistance group led by brothers Josef and Ctirad Masin for state decorations this year, for the fifth time in a row, Senate Chairman Premysl Sobotka (senior ruling Civic Democrats, ODS) told. The fact that Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek (ODS) will present a prime minister's medal to Josef Masin at the Czech embassy in Washington today changes nothing about this, Sobotka said. In the past, the awarding of state decorations to the Masin brothers was repeatedly supported by ODS senators, senators from the Open Democracy Club and from the SNK (Independents) group, while left-wing senators were against it. Senator Martin Mejstrik (for Path of Change) told CTK today that he would certainly vote for the awarding of six members of the group. However, he added that he did not expect President Vaclav Klaus to change his view and endorse the proposal for their decoration. Josef and Ctirad Masins and Milan Paumer, a member of their resistance group, managed to fight their way from Czechoslovakia to West Germany in the autumn of 1953. On the run they killed two policemen and a cashier in their homeland and later three East German policemen. Czech society is still divided on the Masins. Their critics often call them killers for this, but their supporters point out that sometimes it is necessary to fight for freedom and democracy using arms. Both Masin brothers have been living in the United States for a long time. They have not visited their homeland since the fall of the regime in 1989 because they say the Czech society has not yet reconciled itself with its communist past. The Czech communists are going nuts over this, of course. The Wikipedia article on the Masin brothers is here.

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