Juncker: Greece should avoid ’wrong outcome’ in elections. He prefers "known faces"in governement ▻http://euobserver.com/political/126880 … #bananarepublic #bourrage_de_crâne #Greece ▻http://euobserver.com/political/126880
Juncker: Greece should avoid ’wrong outcome’ in elections. He prefers "known faces"in governement ▻http://euobserver.com/political/126880 … #bananarepublic #bourrage_de_crâne #Greece ▻http://euobserver.com/political/126880
#Frontex et l’#externalisation des #contrôles_migratoires. L’exemple de la coopération avec les #Etats_africains.
Depuis l’été 2006, Frontex, l’agence européenne pour la gestion de la coopération aux frontières extérieures des Etats membres de l’Union européenne, coordonne une opération de contrôle et de surveillance aux larges des côtes mauritaniennes et sénégalaises : HERA. Caractéristique des formes de coopération développées par Frontex avec les Etats hors UE (notamment les Etats africains), l’#opération_HERA permet de révéler le rôle de Frontex dans l’externalisation des politiques de l’UE et ses enjeux.
Estonia same-sex law breaks taboo in former Soviet states
▻http://euobserver.com/lgbti/125988
Estonia on Thursday (9 October) became the first former Soviet republic to grant equal rights to same-sex couples.
MPs in the Riigikogu passed the bill by a narrow majority of 40 against 38 with 10 abstentions.
The Cohabitation Act was backed by the Reform Party of 35-year old prime minister Tavi Roivas, the EU’s youngest leader.
It means that from 2016 gay couples will have the same rights as straight couples in terms of inheritance, access to partners in hospitals, or joint adoption of children.❞
Russia’s information war in Lithuania
▻http://euobserver.com/political/125893
It is hard to find anyone in Lithuania who does not believe that Russia’s propaganda campaigns in the Baltic EU member state have been growing in intensity.
There has been an increasing number of pro-Soviet commentary in the media, while Moscow has threatened to re-open criminal cases against Lithuanians who refused to serve in the Soviet army and the Lithuanian State security department recently warned citizens to beware of being spied on.
In the febrile atmosphere, some analysts even see actor Jean Claude Van Damme’s forthcoming visit to the country as part of Russian propaganda.
#Lithuania #BalticStates #Russia #InformationWar #Propaganda #EthnicRussians #Ukraine #SovietUnion #Espionage
Russkiy Mir in the EU ?
▻http://euobserver.com/regions/125739
Welcome to Latgale in south-east Latvia: If there is any EU region which looks like a soft target for Russian-manufactured separatism, this is it.
The street names may be in Latvian, but most people - more than 70 percent in the regional capital Daugavpils - are of Russian origin.
They lived here for generations or they were shipped here by Stalin.
Older residents speak only Russian. Old and young consume only Russian media, read Russian history books, go to see Russian plays, and celebrate Russian holidays.
They tend to work in Russian-language offices and many go back and forth across the Russian border, which is still being demarcated, without a visa.
#Daugavpils #Latgale #Latvia #UkraineCrisis #Russia #RussianLanguage #RusskiyMir
EUobserver / Euro not to blame for debt crisis, says commission nominee
▻http://euobserver.com/news/125912
The euro is not to blame for the sovereign debt crisis which forced several EU countries into multi-billion euro bailouts, the next commissioner for the single currency told MEPs Monday (6 September).
Speaking during his three-hour hearing with members of the Parliament’s economic affairs committee, Latvia’s commission nominee Valdis Dombrovskis commented that “we went through a crisis in Latvia without having the euro…the euro is the not the main issue to be blamed”.
Meanwhile, Dombrovskis deflected claims that, as a vice-president in the EU executive, he would effectively be the line manager of French commission candidate Pierre Moscovici.
#Valdis_Dombrovskis #Euro #EconomicCrisis #Latvia #BalticStates #EUCommissioners
EUobserver / Pro-Western government wins Latvia elections
▻http://euobserver.com/foreign/125907
Pro-Western government wins Latvia elections
06.10.14 @ 09:28
RELATED Ukraine crisis and euro biggest factors in Latvian EU vote Latvia heralds ’big opportunity’ as it joins eurozone
BY ANDREW RETTMAN
BRUSSELS - Latvia’s main Russia-friendly party scored worse than in previous elections and is likely to stay out of government.
The left-wing party, Saskanas Centrs, led by Riga mayor Nils Usakovs, got 23 percent of votes (Photo: Zigurds Zakis)
The left-wing party, Saskanas Centrs, led by Riga mayor Nils Usakovs, got 23 percent of votes on Saturday (4 October), maintaining its status as the biggest faction in parliament, but doing 5 points worse than in 2011.
By contrast, the right-wing and centrist parties in the ruling coalition - NA, Vienotiba, and ZZS - increased their share of seats by 14 points to almost 60 percent.
Turnout reached 70 percent in the Riga area, and was lowest in Latgale, a majority Russian-speaking region, on 47 percent.
Latvia is home to more than half a million ethnic Russians, but some 280,000 of them do not hold Latvian citizenship and did not get a chance to cast ballots
#Latvia #Elections2014 #Pro-Western_government #Russia #Citizenship
EU embassies should take asylum requests, new commissioner says
Dimitris Avramopoulos , the incoming Greek EU commissioner for migration and home affairs, wants offices set up at the EU’s foreign embassies to allow people to apply for asylum.
▻http://euobserver.com/justice/125826
#asile #migration #réfugiés #procédure_d'ambassade #ambassade #EU #politique_migratoire
EUobserver / Ukraine wary of EU’s Russia gas deal
▻http://euobserver.com/foreign/125800
Ukraine wary of EU’s Russia gas deal
29.09.14 @ 18:12
RELATED EU says No to Russia on rewriting Ukraine pact Russia threatens EU states with gas cut-offs
BY ANDREW RETTMAN
BRUSSELS - The EU is keen for Ukraine to accept a winter deal on Russian gas, but Ukraine is wary of the terms and of broader EU-Russia energy ties.
The deal - put forward by the European Commission in talks in Berlin last Friday (26 September) - currently exists as three sheets of paper with no legal status or signatures.
It is being discussed in Kiev and Moscow. Brussels hopes they will agree to it by the end of the week and turn into a “binding protocol” by the end of next week.
EU migrant mission will not replace #Mare_Nostrum
The EU border agency Frontex’s expanded role in the Mediterranean will be limited when compared to Italy’s own naval search and rescue operation, Mare Nostrum
#Frontex_plus #frontière #migration #asile #réfugiés #Méditerranée
International waters likely off limits to EU migrant mission
Plans to restrict the EU border agency Frontex operations to an area close to the Italian coast could jeopardise lives should Italy’s Mare Nostrum be phased out.
Gazprom to Build Gas Link to Austria Bypassing Ukraine With OMV
▻http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-N7OD1U6JTSFA01-5E71UFCBTG83MCJNNSLPA5J88L
Gazprom and OMV AG agreed today to create a joint venture to build and operate the 50-kilometer (30-mile) section of the South Stream pipeline in Austria at a signing ceremony in Vienna. They approved a final investment decision for the link, with capacity to carry as much as 32 billion cubic meters of gas a year, Gazprom said in a statement. That is about 20 percent of Russian exports to Europe.
(…)
The Austrian link is set to start operating from the end of 2016, under the 50-50 joint venture with OMV, Gazprom said in its statement. Miller said commercial deliveries will begin in 2017 and reach project capacity within 12 months. The agreement is legally binding, he said.
Mais qu’en est-il des contraintes de la Communauté européenne ?
The European Commission has called for Gazprom to allow access to South Stream in line with the EU’s internal unbundling laws, a demand that Russia and the state-run exporter have rejected. Earlier this month, the commission asked Bulgaria to suspend works on South Stream, citing concerns over a public tender processes.
EUobserver / Austria rolls out red carpet for Putin
▻http://euobserver.com/foreign/124742
The OMV-Gazprom deal is a direct challenge to the European Commission, which says EU states must renegotiate their intergovernmental agreements with Russia to fall in line with EU law.
Non seulement, tapis rouge mais bonnes blagues aussi…
Christoph Leitl, the head of the Austrian business lobby, joked that Austria has a territorial claim to Ukraine because part of it belonged to Austria in 1914, Reuters reported.
Putin replied with his own joke, saying: “What is that supposed to mean? What are you proposing?”
EUobserver / Nato says Russia funding anti-shale NGOs
▻http://euobserver.com/foreign/124680
Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has accused Russia of funding NGOs which oppose shale gas.
He made the controversial statement in a Q and A session at Chatham House, a London-based think tank, on Thursday (19 June).
“I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations – environmental organisations working against shale gas – to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas. At least that’s my interpretation and it adds a new aspect to that information campaign,” he said.
#la_main_de_Moscou, le retour…
On notera la formulation particulièrement alambiquée.
Y a des copains qui m’ont dit que… En tous cas, c’est comme ça que je l’ai compris… et je tenais à vous le dire.
Et ce n’est pas une position officielle de l’OTAN.
Nato officials later told media the views on shale are Rasmussen’s own and do not reflect the alliance’s official position, but it published an audio file of his Chatham House remarks on its website.
C’était en réponse aux toutes dernières questions.
L’intégralité de la transcription sur le site de l’OTAN
▻http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/opinions_111132.htm
En réponse à une question d’une journaliste de l’agence de presse officielle turque (Anadolu) sur l’extension de l’OTAN. Question reformulée par le modérateur
MODERATOR: So in other words, have we… have we con— have we contributed somewhat to… to… to the Russian reaction, in other words…
ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN:
(…)
So let me stress that we have not accepted new members of NATO as part of any aggression against Russia. On the contrary, we have for more than 20 years now tried to include Russia in a constructive cooperation.
But apart from all that, we adhere to a fundamental principle, namely that each and every nation has a fundamental right to decide itself its security policies and Alliance affiliation. Actually, that’s also enshrined in the OECE Charter for European Security, which was adopted in 1999 and also signed by Russia. So Russia has subscribed to that principle, that each and every nation has a right to decide itself.
So NATO’s open-door policy follows from our NATO Treaty, Article 10, which states that we may invite any European country that is in a position to improve Euro-Atlantic security and further the principle upon which we have built our societies. Each such European country may be invited to join our Alliance.
And these two things in combination, our open door and the right of every country to decide itself, has led to an expansion of NATO from 16 to 28 nations. That’s not directed against Russia. But it’s based on some fundamental principles, and of course our goal to create a Europe whole, free, and at peace. And we will not accept new dividing lines in… in Europe.
So I… I completely dismiss that allegation, that our open-door policy should be a provocation against Russia.
And just have a look also at economic figures — trade, investment, and other things — you will see that Russia has profited immensely from that zone of security, stability, and prosperity we have contributed to create in Eastern and Central Europe.
So basically, it’s in Russia’s interest.
So… but it goes beyond my imagination how the Kremlin thinks, actually.
Ce qu’exprime la toute dernière phrase de ce passage semée effectivement avéré. Et me semble particulièrement inquiétant vues les fonctions de M. Rasmussen…
Greenpeace : on fume quoi au QG de l’OTAN ?
Greenpeace dismissed Mr Rasmussen’s comments as “preposterous”.
A spokesman said: "Greenpeace had thirty of its people locked up in Russian prisons last year, threatened with fifteen years in jail.
"The idea we’re puppets of Putin is so preposterous that you have to wonder what they’re smoking over at Nato HQ.
"Mr Rasmussen should spend less time dreaming up conspiracy theories and more time on the facts.
"Fracked gas will probably cost more than Russian imports, there’s little chance fracking will generate more than a small fraction of Europe’s gas needs and it won’t even do that for at least ten years.
“Greenpeace has detailed plans for energy policies which would remove the need for any Russian gas imports to Europe entirely.”
▻http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/fracking/10911942/Russia-in-secret-plot-against-fracking-Nato-chief-says.html
EUobserver / Bulgaria freezes work on South Stream pipeline
▻http://euobserver.com/foreign/124527
Bulgaria has frozen construction on Russia’s strategic South Stream gas pipeline due to EU and US pressure.
Bulgarian PM Plamen Oresharski announced the move on Sunday (8 June) after meeting three US senators in Sofia.
“We discussed South Stream and the EC’s [European Commission] request regarding EU legal procedures. I pointed out the project will go forward only after we resolve all the issues which Brussels has”, he said.
“I have ordered to stop construction until the procedure is agreed with Brussels”.
The commission has taken legal action against Bulgaria on grounds that public tenders for South Stream contracts broke EU rules.
#European_Commission #South_Stream #Bulgaria #USA #Energy #Dependence #Vladimir_Chizhov
#russie #ue #nabucco #southstream #gaz #guerre_des_tubes #bulgarie #énergie
Radvanyi disait sur France culture il y a quelques semaine : « ça va être très intéressant de voir ce qui v se passer [à propos de Southstream en Mer Noire] » . Et en effet, ça ne fait que commencer :) (il faudra aussi refaire toutes les cartes...)
Bulgaria’s ugly underside : ’containing’ a refugee crisis
“The Bulgarian guards found us, pointed their guns at us and started beating us,” the 25-year-old Afghan said, describing what happened to him on 11 January.
▻http://euobserver.com/opinion/124181
#migration #frontière #asile #Bulgarie #réfugiés #Forteresse_Europe
EU border surveillance system not helping to save lives
Launched in December to help prevent boat migrants from drowning, the EU’s border surveillance system, Eurosur, has yet to deliver amid a sharp increase in the number of sea-crossing attempts.
“Unfortunately for the time-being, it [Eurosur] does not fulfil this service,” said Gil Aria Fernandez, deputy director at the EU’s border agency Frontex, in Brussels on Wednesday (14 May).
The Warsaw-based agency is tasked with analysing the “European situational picture” - information collected and inserted into the system by member states.
Eurosur is also set to accept satellite images in the near future, but will not offer any additional help when it comes to rescue missions, said Fernandez.
“This would not be even useful for preventing tragedies because the satellite images will be available to the border authorities hours or even days after,” he said.
►http://euobserver.com/justice/124136
#frontière #surveillance_des_frontières #Eurosur #Frontex #migration #asile #réfugiés #mourir_en_mer
EU border surveillance system not helping to save lives
Launched in December to help prevent boat migrants from drowning, the EU’s border surveillance system, #Eurosur, has yet to deliver amid a sharp increase in the number of sea-crossing attempts.
“Unfortunately for the time-being, it [Eurosur] does not fulfil this service,” said Gil Aria Fernandez, deputy director at the EU’s border agency Frontex, in Brussels on Wednesday (14 May).
The Warsaw-based agency is tasked with analysing the “European situational picture” - information collected and inserted into the system by member states.
Eurosur is also set to accept satellite images in the near future, but will not offer any additional help when it comes to rescue missions, said Fernandez.
“This would not be even useful for preventing tragedies because the satellite images will be available to the border authorities hours or even days after,” he said.
►http://euobserver.com/justice/124136
#frontière #migration #UE #réfugié #asile #mourir_en_mer #Forteresse_Europe
Crimea invasion could be just a beginning
EUobserver / Nato chief: Crimea invasion could be just the beginning
▻http://euobserver.com/foreign/123545
Russia invaded and annexed Crimea on the pretext of protecting the ethnic Russian majority in the Ukrainian region.
It has long complained that ethnic Russians in Estonia and Latvia are also mistreated. But the Russian diplomat on Wednesday linked the situation in the Baltic states to what Russia is doing in Ukraine.
According to minutes of the meeting seen by Reuters, he noted that “language should not be used to segregate and isolate groups,” adding that Moscow is "concerned by steps taken in this regard in Estonia as well as in Ukraine.”
#Baltic_states #Latvia #Crimea #Russia #EU #NATO #Ethnic_Russians
Les têtes de liste de l’Europe
▻http://www.taurillon.org/les-tetes-de-liste-de-l-europe
Alors que les élections européennes approchent à grands pas, les partis se mettent en ordre de bataille. Six mois avant les élections, les décisions les plus importantes ont déjà été prises. Qui sont les hommes et les femmes qui, dans les mois à venir, lutteront pour remporter des voix ? Un bref aperçu par David Zajonz. Les membres du Parti socialiste européen (PSE) se sont déjà décidés. L’Allemand Martin Schulz devrait réussir à passer du poste de président du Parlement à celui de président de la (...)
#Élections_européennes / #Européennes_2014, #Commission_européenne
▻http://euobserver.com/political/121906
▻https://twitter.com/2014Europarl/status/405379613893066752
▻http://greenprimary.europeangreens.eu/debate
▻http://www.euractiv.com/eu-elections-2014/alexis-tsipras-greek-proud-lead-interview-531929
Latvia - 18th eurozone country
Latvia has joined eurozone and now is 18th country in EU which has euro currency.
EUobserver.com / Headline News / Latvia heralds ’big opportunity’ as it joins eurozone
▻http://euobserver.com/news/122622
Joining the currency is “a big opportunity for Latvia’s economic development,” Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said as he became the first Latvian to withdraw euro banknotes in Riga.