21st Year of Publication number 1050 22 - 28 sePtember, 2013 € 3.50

The European Commission Vice President, Joaquín Al-munia, delivered a blow to sep-

aratist movements across Europe, say-ing that breakaway regions or countries would not automatically retain their EU status should they effectively secede from the union, through their with-drawal from existing member states.

Speaking on 16 September, the Spanish commissioner said “if one part of a territory of a member state decides to separate, the separated part isn't a member of the European Union,” dur-ing a conference in Barcelona, the capi-tal of Spain's Catalan region.

In recent years, Catalonia has seen it's own independence movement swell in numbers, and Almunia's remark's were clearly meant as a signal to the re-gion, which is keen to break away from rule by Madrid.

However, despite the apparent re-luctance by the European Commission to support independence movements in members states, it is still keen to em-brace enlargement.

On 17 September, commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said that Albania could be granted candi-date status – the point at which formal negotiations to become an EU mem-ber can be opened – by the end of the year. On 1 July this year, Croatia was welcomed as the 28th member of the EU. Almost immediately, the country became embroiled in an argument with Brussels over its application of the Eu-ropean Arrest Warrant. The European

Commission has levelled proceedings against the country. On 18 September, it threatened to withhold €80 million of funding for the country until the matter is resolved.

Until now, the commission has been reluctant to directly address the issue of countries or regions voting to leave the union. However, recent com-ments by a senior commission spokes-person seemed to back Almunia's as-sessment of the situation, saying that they are “in line” with the commission's position, and legally, a breakaway region would not be covered by the existing treaties. The comments by Almunia have led to speculation that there is se-rious concern about possible Catalan

independence in EU circles. This is something officially denied by Brussels, which places this as a matter for indi-vidual countries.

The comments also come in the same week that marks a year to the in-dependence referendum in Scotland, which will be held on 18 September 2014. Speaking to New Europe, Scot-tish National Party MEP, Alyn Smith, played down fears that this would alter the outcome of the vote. Instead, he was confident that the debate will pick-up over the next twelve months, and result in an independent Scotland.

The MEP said that his party, who remain pro-EU, want an independent Scotland to be part of the EU.

Georgia bringing in deep democracy

Activists calling for the independence of Catalonia, currently a region of Spain, form a human pyramid during a protest on 11 September in Perthus, southern France. Independence-seeking Catalans marshalled their forces for a 400-kilometre (250-mile) human chain in a bold push to break from Spain despite fierce opposition from Madrid. |AFP PHOTO / RAYMOND ROIG

Georgia is introducing deep democracy in its institutions says their Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani, who previously spent a decade as a Senior Lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights. “This government will leave as its legacy a European democratic system that will be impossible to undo,” said Tsuluki-ani. It is “a system will survive any Minister or politician,” she added. The minister was vis-iting Brussels before Georgia’s Association Agreement with the EU is expected to be signed in November. Speaking to New Eu-rope, Tsulukiani said, “The very first day we came to power last year, we didn’t want to do the same as the previous government, who dismissed judges after the Rose Revolution.”

SECURITY Page 09

ENERGY Page 28 Page 07

Act. React. Smacked.We showed the information campaign for the Euro elections to some Mad Men, experienced advertising gurus. They were shocked at just how poor and information free the informa-tion campaign was.

KASSANDRA Page 32

'Hit me, but listen to me’

Chizhov talks Syria, energy

China focuses on Central Asia

EU needs updated digital legislation

PRIVACY Page 20

INTERVIEW Pages 12-13

POLITICS Page 05

DIPLOMACY Page 30

EU: Breaking Bad

(Page 3)

Croatia OK: Scotland, Catalonia out

02 ANALYSIS NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

Australia $3.4, Austria EURO 1.81, Balkans EURO 4, BelgiumEURO 3.50, Holland EURO 2.69, Central Asia USD7.5, Central

Europe USD5, Canada $5, Denmark: DKK 19,95, Eastern EuropeUSD7.5, France EURO 3.04, Germany EURO 3.57, Greece EURO4, Hungary HUF400, Japan Y900, Italy EURO 3.62, Nordic coun-

tries USD7, Paci�c Rim USD8.5, Russia USD 4, SwitzerlandSFr4, UK GBP 4.5, USA $2.95, all other countries EURO 6

Sweden to pay the “no” price

Despite the e�ect that the sympathy forthe death of foreign minister Anna Lindh- the head of the Yes campaign for Euro -Swedes voted overwhelmingly "no" to thecommon European currency. There is nodoubt the murder of Anna Lindh played arole but its impact it was enough to over-run he large majority of the no voters.

Editorial p. 2

Shell to developSiberian �eld

Shell made a further big move in cement-ing its Russian operations by announcing abillion-Euro investment to develop theSalym oil �elds in western Siberia. Theinvestment of 890 million Euro was "animportant step forward in the developmentof Shell's presence in Russia," Shell said.

p. 13

Munich Re networth boost up

Reinsurance giant Muenchner Rueck(Munich Re) said its drive to bolster its networth was going faster than originallyplanned, a development coming parallel tothe resurgence of the company's share onstock markets. p. 16

OEIAG sellsVoest shares

There will be a lightning sale of Austria'ssteel giant Voest this month, the stateholding company for industry, OEIAG,said recently. p. 17

Russia to arrangeSukhoi Log sale

The Russian Economy Ministry is about toput an end to months of uncertainty bydeciding on a date and a method for thesale of the right to develop the big SukhoiLog gold lode. p. 39

Azerbaijan unfolds economy

Azeri Prime Minister Ilham Aliyevannounced the government is making posi-tive strides in its plan to introduce econom-ic programmes, developed together with theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) andother world �nancial institutions. p. 43

Commission strives toretain power in Constitution

NOTEBOOK

Now what after the Cancun failure?The complete failure of the WTO CancunMinisterial meeting has prompted a largenumber of reactions in the EuropeanUnion. Apart from the fact that Europeaccepts a part of the responsibility for thisthere is a rather late awakening in Brusselsabout the future and of what is to comenext in the international trade arena. TheUnited States have begun to prepare for thisnew era of no rules in international traderelations, by signing bilateral trade agree-ments with practically all the South EastAsian countries. Now that the EuropeanUnion started to think about the samething, the only available position in this"bilateral relations" trade world, the onlyavailable place is the "second best". TheAmericans have taken up the �rst sit.

This is a standard characteristic of the waythat things happen in European Union.Europe was very timid to accept that therewere not many chances of the CancunConference to succeed. So the Commission

refrained from pointing to the "bilateral"solution in the international trade relations.On the other side of the Atlantic, the UShad a much more realistic approach tothink and did not have any reservations onsigning bilateral agreements with everybodythat was willing to overpass WTO. And allthis despite the fact that the EU is the largestsingle trading entity in the world.

Despite the commitment of many compe-tent people, the WTO remains a medievalorganisation, said an EU commissionerlast week.

There is no way to structure and steer dis-cussions amongst 146 members in a man-ner conducive to consensus. But all thesedrawbacks of the WTO were there evenbefore Cancun. So this is not an excuse foranything. The failure of the WTO CancunMinisterial meeting is a very serious thingand many people in Brussels must nowchange their attitude.

TThe European Commissioncalled for changes to bemade to the draft text of theplanned EU constitution,

with Commission President RomanoProdi warning that the bloc could face"serious problems" if changes were notadopted. Calling the IntergovernmentalConference (IGC) starting in Rome onOctober 4 to avoid setting in stone itsprovisions, Prodi said: "The Conventionhas taken us a long way along the roadto a Constitution. Now, the Intergov-ernmental Conference has the politicalresponsibility to make some improve-ments to the Convention's text so thatEurope can work e�ectively and demo-cratically".

Prodi also said in a statementissued in Brussels that if the EuropeanCommission was to be e�ective andcredible it must include a full represen-tative from each of the future 25 EUmember states.

The draft constitution called for areduction in the size of the commission,which most EU member states hadrejected. "I can imagine a situationwhere Germany has no voting right,"Prodi said.

The Commission also called on EUgovernments to consider majority vot-ing, which would do away with the cur-

rent right to national vetoes. "It is notthe commission that su�ers (from thesevetoes) but the citizens," said Prodi.Commenting on the subject, Commis-sioner Antonio Vitorino said: "Anational right of veto will spell paralysis

for the enlarged Union. National horse-trading never brings good Europeandecisions. Majority voting is particular-ly important for the next round of bud-getary negotiations."

p. 2

www.new-europe.info11th Year, Number 539

THE EUROPEAN WEEKLY

September 21 - 27, 2003

New EuropeEstonianods, Latvia followsSixty-seven percent of Eston-ian voters on September 14backed their country's entryinto the European Union andapproved a constitutionalchange to make it possible.About 33 percent of votersopposed the entry, electiono�cials said when theyreleased provisional results.Estonia, along with nineother countries, is to o�ciallyenter the EU on May 1, 2004.The 67 percent "yes" resultfell short of the projected 70percent "yes" vote. The Euro-pean Commission congratu-lated Estonia last Monday onits decision to join the EU.European CommissionerRomano Prodi said in a pressrelease issued in Brussels,"yesterday's decision clearlymarks Estonia's return to itsrightful place in Europe".In a related voting theprospect of European Unionmembership faced a tenthreferendum last Saturday asLatvians decide whether tojoin the 15-nation block.Latvia would, in the event of apositive result, join othercountries who have voted"Yes" in building a 25-nationEuropean superpower.

(p. 7, 30)

cyanmageyelloblack

Romano Prodi, President, European Commission

Prodi reiterates commissioners for all member states

Ukraine, EU unveil plan to strengthen relations

U kraine and the European Commission will soon startwork on an Action Plan to bring Ukraine closer to the

European Union, to be ready by spring next year, the Euro-pean Commission member in charge of EU enlargement hassaid.

Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told reporters thatUkraine's remaining an independent, politically stable andeconomically developing country serves the EU's strategicgoals. He was speaking after negotiations with UkrainianForeign Minister Kostiantyn Hryshchenko, who said anagreement was reached at the talks to have more contacts inBrussels.

"We foresee a very active dialogue at all levels, includingthe highest level," Hryshchenko said. "I believe that Ukraineis facing practical European prospects, which to a consider-able extent depend on us as well. It was extremely importantfor me to hear from the high representative of the EuropeanCommission that these opportunities are open to us," headded.

Verheugen also said Ukraine's plan to enter a commoneconomic space with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan mightsigni�cantly in�uence its relations with the EU. p. 40

The Shooting Gallery

Advertising is all about location, location, location

The Commission president was promising a com-missioner for each member state, a move that 10 years later is looking a little... brave. Now we’re figur-ing out how to reduce the number. But there was a quote to remember, “I can imagine a situation where Germany has no voting right,” Prodi said.Who can imagine that now? In reality, the question is, does any country but Germany have a voting right?Two thirds of Estonians voted for EU membership, while the Swedes decided not to take a chance on the euro. Ukraine and Europe were working on a deal, but at least the EU looked like a model of ef-ficiency compared to the WTO, whose record of inconclusive meetings continues.

ne 10 YeARS

AGO

MMPavlos Fyssas was murdered in Greece on 18 September.He was a musician and noted left-wing activist. He was killed by a man who admitted to be a member of the far-right Golden Dawn ; which has brazenly adopted the apparel and tactics of the 1930s. They are not simply a neo-Nazi organisation – they represent Nazism reincarnated. Like Jobbik in Hungary, they are not simply a thuggish, mar-ginal movement so easy to dismiss, they are an organised party, whose uniform – and, yes, they adopt the clothes and tactics of the past – is an obvious visual indicator of their political views. They have seats in the national assembly, and have their eyes on returning candidates to the European Parliament in May next year. With the general rise in populist, extremist, and perhaps more pertinently, anti-political feeling in Europe right now (es-pecially in economically marginal countries like Greece), the rise of parties like the Golden Dawn makes some kind of sense. It used to be a crass generalisation to accuse someone of being “a Nazi” if they had vaguely right-wing views, but in certain, newer, cases it appears that has become the case. It is as if the famous maxim by George Santayna has horrifically come true, “those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” It seems that the past has been forgotten; not just in terms of the longer historical view of European wars, but also in the fact that the post-war ideal that brought about European integration in the first place, and which stemmed from a desire to escape the kind of horrendous political ruptures that divided the con-tinent, should be put t an end. Sadly, there is an upsurge in the opposite feeling.Greece and Hungary are the most visible examples; but other illustrations exist. In the Netherlands, for instance; in Denmark and Finland also. The National Front in France is already mak-ing moves to secure a political group (and with it, therefore, more speaking time and funds) in the European Parliament. They crave respectability. Sadly, there are those who are seem-ingly only too willing to give it to them. There has been some talk about the Greek government mov-ing against the Golden Dawn. Maybe this is the, for want of a different cliché, the smoking gun. The fears are genuine from the political establishment; that the party (which mobilises lo-cal support horribly efficiently, hence their ongoing recent suc-cess). But without a willingness to engage in a proper political debate, the threat is useless. The current political establishment – and Greece should not be signalled out by any means – is not willing to do this. It would only expose their own lack of ideas. On a local level, this happened in Italy with Beppe Grillo, and that didn’t last long, you can only stretch a joke so far. But par-ties like the Golden Dawn, Jobbik, True Finns and the rest, are not a joke. As the murder of Pavlos Fyssas expose, there agenda is not political engagement but murderous contempt for the current system.The current system is flawed. But murder is no solution. Ban-ning political parties is one solution, but maybe, and this would require a huge effort on behalf of those in power who quiver at the thought of rhetoric, rather that recognise it as the greatest weapon in their arsenal, we might just remember the words of Germaine Greer: “To kill a man is simply murder; it is revolu-tion to turn him on.”

When right is wrong

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03ANALYSISNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

By Cillian Donnelly

It is wrong to think of the intention of the independence movement in Scot-land as being motivated by the desire

to simply “break away” from the European Union, a Scottish MEP has said.

Alyn Smith, a member of the pro-inde-pendence Scottish National Party (SNP) told New Europe that recent comments by European Commission vice president, Joaquín Almunia, which have fuelled speculation about the place of secessionist movements in Europe only serves to de-flect from wider arguments for independ-ence.

Speaking on 16 September, in com-ments clearly directed at the Catalan inde-pendence movement, Almunia said “if one part of a territory of a member state decides to separate, the separated part isn’t a mem-ber of the European Union.” His comments echo an earlier statement by commis-sion president, Jose Manuel Barroso, that seemed to suggest that Scotland would not automatically be allowed to remain in the EU if it voted to leave the United Kingdom.

Scotland will vote in an independence referendum on 18 September 2014.

However, the pro-EU SNP, which is in a strong position to increase its represen-tation in Brussels at next year’s European Parliament elections, retains its ambition to remain firmly within the union, says Smith. The party, he says, wants a brand of independence that keeps the country “within the EU trademark, in a government that represents ourselves.”

“Catalonia is Catalonia, Scotland is

Scotland,” he says. “Each case is based on individual circumstances. Each case is very, very different.”

The comments made by the Spanish commissioner, while directed at a domes-tic audience, have wider implications for countries or regions with ambitions for in-dependence.

The European Commission has been reluctant to address the issue directly, and private sources have acknowledged that Almunia’s comments do not represent EU policy. Officially, independence move-ments are treated as an internal matter for individual member states.

According to Almunia’s analysis, break-

away regions would have to re-apply to join the EU, a process that requires unanimity from the other member states in council. The SNP “has always recognised that the EU is a community-based instrument,” says Smith, adding that the party does not see this as a hurdle to them remaining a member of the union.

More broadly, and with a year to go to the independence referendum, the SNP and its supporters are “feeling good right now,” says Smith. It will also be the first time that 16 and 17 year-olds will be en-franchised. “People are now thinking about this in earnest; and it is a justifiable vote. I think people are up for it.”

Scotland ‘up for independence’SNP express keen desire to remain in EU

The Scottish Saltire hangs in Edinburgh in August during the annual Festival Fringe. With around a year to go before Scotland’s historic referendum, which could see the 5.5 million-strong nation move to split from the rest of the UK, a string of shows on the festival programme tackled the thorny issue of independence. |AFP PHOTO/ANDY BUCHANAN

The European Commission’s vice president, Joaquin Almunia, threw a curveball into the raging debate over Catalonia independence by warning that this north-east region of Spain will be forced to forfeit the European Union if it declares independence.“If one part of a territory of a member state decides to separate, the separated part isn’t a member of the European Union,” he said. His strong statement came as a surprise. Or did it? Even though Almunia is a prominent Span-ish politician, he was speaking as a European commissioner. But instead of easing the ten-sion created by the growing calls for Catalo-nia’s independence, his warning may have stirred more controversy - throwing more oil on the fire.Let’s briefly consider the reasoning behind Almunia’s decision to make this statement. As a member of the Spanish Socialist Party, his statement is clearly political. Now let’s put the debate in context. Spain has been hard hit by the economic crisis and has been scarred by unemployment - the

second highest rate in the entire 28-member bloc. One can argue that it is this crisis and the harsh austerity measures being imple-mented by officials in Madrid that has once again fuelled Catalonia’s bid for independ-ence and renewed calls for a referendum to decide its fate once and for all. So, the economic crisis has made the prob-lem more acute than ever before.But there is also reason for a widespread concern that must be addressed. Scotland also wants independence from the United Kingdom. And there are other regions in Europe that feel the same and could follow suit if Catalonia separates from Spain. The big question now is whether Almunia was right to warn that separation means a one-way ticket out of the EU. Absolutely not. Those who support Catalonia’s independ-ence are asking only that the region be al-lowed to cut ties with the distant capital. As regards integration with the European Un-ion, they don’t want less, but more of it.One can also argue that it is wholly incom-

prehensible that the EU, which is struggling to hold onto member states facing huge fis-cal problems and is even proceeding with the accession of new countries, would even consider expelling those who seek inde-pendence. Even if this can legally be done, it could backfire on the EU. Logic says that a union like the EU - a union that takes great pride in convergence and integration and hails the Euro currency as the first step toward a truly unified Europe - cannot shun regions just because they decide (for historical, eco-nomic or political reasons) to secede from the state to which they belong especially if separation comes after a peaceful referen-dum. And let’s not forget that in the case of Catalonia, those who support separation also support the European Union. It is clear that the 21st century presents plenty of new challenges that need to be addressed in a new way. History has taught us that failing to find solutions to new prob-lems will create even more problems and fail to bring the desired results. TB

Catalonia’s homage to EU

By Alex Beaulieu

Throughout Europe there are various regions hop-ing to secede from the larger country they are tied to. These movements are all at different stages with different degrees of demand. While some of these di-visions may have been caused by the tensions of the recent economic crisis, many of these secessionist movements come from deeper conflicts found in cul-ture and history, perhaps exacerbated by recent devel-opments. A common theme for all of them, however, is the shared desire to be autonomous. One of the most well known separatist movements is found in Spain. The region of Catalonia has been fighting for independence for years. For the people of Catalonia, Spain has suppressed their culture since the times of Franco. While the movement to secede has been in action for years, it continues to gather momentum. Catalonia is now attempting to push through a referendum regarding its independence. Similarly, there is growing support for the secession of Scotland from the United Kingdom. There is a planned independence referendum to take place in September of 2014. While Scotland does not have the same overwhelming support for secession that is found in Catalonia, there are many people who feel Scotland is no longer fairly represented in the British Parliament. Another well know separatist movement can be found in Belgium. Between Flanders of the north and Wal-lonia of the south, Belgium is split in two. The desire to partition the country stems partially from cultural and language differences and partially from economic differences. The tensions between these two regions continue to increase and the demands for separatism have only gotten stronger. There is another struggle for independence occur-ring in the Basque region of Spain. Compared to the other separatist movements, the desire for independ-ence in Basque country has an additional element of violence. The Basque country previously faced a four-decade period of armed violence against Spain and France. While the majority of the violence has come to an end, the separatist movement is still at the forefront of regional politics. Previously, there has also been separatist behavior in northern Italy. The area of South Tyrol began de-manding independence not long after the beginning of the economic recession. While nothing directly came from these demands, some of the separatist sen-timent still remains.In Romania, the area of Transylvania has been calling for independence. The tension between Transylvania and the rest of Romania comes from both issues of economics and the fact that Transylvania is home to a large population of ethnic Hungarians. That particu-lar area, in fact, has belonged to bother Romania and Hungary at different points in history. While techni-cally part of Romania, the people of Transylvania rep-resent a different culture and ethnicity even today.In 1993, the country of Czechoslovakia was parti-tioned into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Fol-lowing the split, both countries were able to become members of the European Union in the enlargement of 2004. If any of the current separatist movements succeed, however, it is difficult to determine how EU membership will proceed.

Secessionist Movements in Europe

04 ANALYSIS NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

By Cillian Donnelly

The European Union is failing to protect its LGTBI citizens through inadequate legisla-tive safeguards, human rights campaigners are warning.

According to a new report by Amnesty International, hate crime based on sexual ori-entation or gender identity continue to blight Europe.

In addition, according to recent report by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency, in the past five years one-in-four LGTBI people have been attacked or threatened with violence in Europe, while around 70% say that they cannot discuss their sexuality for fear of prejudice. Ac-cording to a recent EU-wide study, 80% of hom-ophobic violence is not reported to the police, because of a fear of institutionalised prejudice.

While there are legal protections in the EU against prejudice, such as the Framework De-cision on Racsism and Xenophobia, currently under its five-year revision, there does not ex-ist specific EU-legislation against hate crime against members of the LGTBI community. Protection in individual member states also var-ies. “Hate crime is everywhere in Europe,” says Marco Perolini, an Amnesty International re-searcher on discrimination in Europe, “In Rus-sia, Ukraine, Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece, for example. But also in places where gay couples

can be legally married, like Belgium and UK.” “The state’s response to these crimes are

often inadequate,” he says, speaking in Brussels on 18 September, “and people often have the impression that their complaints are not taken seriously. Victims of this kind of hate crime do not report because they fear prejudice, or don’t think the police are competent.”

The report highlights several case studies across Europe where victims of violence have come up against inadequate police responses to attacks , in some cases murder both in terms of investigation and in follow-up support services.

What sets these crimes apart, says Pero-lini, is the hate element. However, the current EU framework does not address homophobic violence directly, he says, despite the fact that in the past five years 70 transsexuals have been killed through hate crime in Europe, 20 of them in Italy.

EU member states, he says, should adopt “strong policy measures” that tackle hate crime directly. Countries should also refrain from adopting laws that have an effect on discrimi-nation, such as a recently-enacted law in Russia that sought to ban education on gay issues un-der the guise of “protecting minors.”

“In most European countries, there is leg-islation prohibiting hate crime on the grounds of race ethnicity,” says Marco Perolini. “But there are still legislative gaps in Europe. The

problem at EU level is that there is a provi-sion in the framework decision 913 on hate-motivated violence, but not secificaal related to sexual orientation, or, for that matter, on disability.”

The report is calling on the EU and mem-ber states to close these legislative gaps, as well as for a review of the current framework deci-sion to ensure that it covers hate crime on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identi-

ty. “There continue to be problems at both na-tional and EU level,” says Perolini. “There are existing laws on discrimination in the EU, but what we are calling on is different. This relates to hate-motivated violence. The EU does not recognise hate crimes based around sexual ori-entation. This is unacceptable, because sexual orientation and gender identity are protected on grounds of discrimination in international human rights law.”

‘Banking needs the human factor’

Last year, the cover of The Economist highlighted Moody’s decision to strip France of its triple-A rating, which fol-

lowed on the heels of a series of downgrades affecting large economies. At the same time, analysts estimated that Greece’s debt would be close to 200 percent of GDP for the next two years. Pressed by social unrest and prob-lems throughout the Eurozone, the troika of international lenders agreed to cut Greece’s debt by EUR 40 billion by 2020.

However, concerns reigned over whether Greece would be able to attain this target without significant social turmoil, regardless of the technicalities of the debt-reduction agreement.

Moody’s downgrade of France and the uncertainty surrounding Greece generated unrest among much of the restless European population.

Today, these events force us to confront

a neglected, but nevertheless crucial, aspect of modern policymaking, an aspect clearly demonstrated by Mr. Ben Bernanke’s uncer-tainty with regard to recent FED monetary policy. On-going economic crises have driv-en some central banks to focus equally on economic growth and price stability. Howev-er, the replacement of the single price with a dual-task mandate did not prompt the debate about modern central banking. Rather, two recent events have given rise to this debate. The first, the March 2012 Argentinean cen-tral bank law, paved the way for an ambitious, multi-task approach.

The second was the willingness of Ben Bernanke and Mario Draghi to buy bonds and keep interest rates low. A number of prominent economists have applauded these new courses of actions, but we should discuss whether a multi-purpose monetary policy might be much too ambitious and difficult to accomplish in the end.

In the wake of the realization that govern-ments are powerless to manage production and labour markets in difficult times, a no-tion has emerged notion that central bankers can deliver price stability, re-establish the conditions for economic growth, and per-form other great fiscal feats.

This belief might indicate that we are trapped in simplistic rules – according to some, fiscal or monetary easing might fix problems across the economic spectrum. However, the crucial behaviour of the “hu-

man factor” and the need to make smart choices seldom enter the paradigm of these debates, in which current faults are attrib-uted to “ill-written” central bank laws or to fiscal austerity. We suggest that these expla-nations do not suffice.

Careful management is necessary in to-day’s context of global macro structural chal-lenges because such complexities require sensible choices and precision, for central bankers and governments.

No statute can automatically introduce good courses of action, or transform poor banking supervision and bad monetary tim-ing. In fact, even fiscal leeway might suffer from poor management or bad timing. In today’s macroeconomic models, even at-tempts to find the underlying causes of high unemployment are signals of economists’ profound difficulties.

Another debatable assumption is that central banks can always pursue “equitable distribution” and “sectorial credit allocation”, as stated in the recent Argentinean mandate. However, how can central banks achieve a wide range of objectives if they cannot antici-pate banking and financial turbulence? How could one imagine that a multipurpose cen-tral bank law enables leading central bankers to meditate setting a GDP target as Ben Ber-nanke was willing to introduce, but he ulti-mately did not?

Bernanke forcefully argues that helping public-debt management by buying up to

USD 40 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities per month supports a “stronger economic recovery”. This does not necessar-ily signal that a central bank can manipulate the economy and create jobs whenever he or she desires.

Furthermore, it is unrealistic to believe that good central bank laws or quantita-tive easing automatically work. At the same time, economies cannot sustain expanding debt burdens forever –the debt-management scheme will eventually fail.

Modernizing central banks’ laws and setting a range of duties that appear to be in perfect balance will not necessarily facilitate countercyclical monetary policy or lead to the prioritization of forward-looking actions. If this were the case, only a few new words would be needed in any central bank’s statute to ensure success.

A central bank’s rules do not explain how to spur monetary policy when interest rates fall close to zero and public debt climbs. This point is relevant because central banks are pledging to keep interest rates close to zero to control the economy, while fiscal deficits and public debts are so high that central banks should be concerned about potential turbulence ahead.

The human component is crucial for harmonizing macroeconomic strategies – regardless of central bank laws. Clearly, only dazzling money and public finance managers can achieve the most important objectives.

Gay rights activist holds rainbow flags and posters as they take part in a gay pride event in Saint Petersburg on 6 September. The poster reads: “No To Homophobia in Russia !” |AFP PHOTO /

INTERPRESS / PETR KOVALEV

EU must change homophobic crime laws

By Mark Esposito and Bruno S. Sergi

Mark Esposito Grenoble Graduate School of Business and University of Cambridge

Bruno S. Sergi University of Messina and Harvard University

05ANALYSISNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

By Nicos A. Rolandis

W e have reached a point, where peo-ple have started wondering how it could have ever been worse.

Where will this bumpy road lead us. How will the wounded grassroots react, now that they re-alise that the past five years have brought about the pulverisation of their dreams.

There are people who offer part of their possessions to soothe the pain. I do not know whether this will be sufficient. Poet and philos-opher Kahlil Gi- bran writes in his “Prophet”:

Probably some people have really given of themselves as well. Probably…

I was 20 years old, when the people of this country commenced searching for their tar-gets and their dreams. In general terms they didn’t make it. Almost all the assessments and decisions reached, were proven to be wrong. The people had upgraded the word “NO” to a symbol of heroism. They could not tell be-tween real heroism, which difficult national decisions require, and the heroic stupidity of populism. They gradually ruined the country and their lives.

I would like to go back into history:

1From the year 1948 until 1958 we had 4 proposals for the solution of the

Cyprus problem, which were all better than what ensued: Consultative Assembly (1948), Harding Proposals (1955-56), Ratcliffe Con-stitution (1956), Macmillan Plan (1958). We shouted “NO” to all of them. We opted for the armed struggle with the target of enosis (Un-ion with Greece). A target of which Greece herself had no approved. We had great, really heroic acts during the struggle. But the objec-tive was not achieved. Amongst other things, we caused the uprising of the Turkish minor-ity of Cyprus (18% of the population) which

until then was satisfied with a “second violin” role – with their rights safeguarded. We gave them power and status and we converted them into a “community”. So, we ended up in 1960 with the Zurich-London Agreements and the Republic of Cyprus. And we cried out with joy: “We have won”.

2In 1963 we said “NO” to the 1960 joy-ous achievement. We committed the

fatal blunder of pursuing a revision of the 1960 Constitution on very sensitive issues touch-ing upon the rights of the Turkish Cypriots (against the advice of Greece). We thus plant-ed the seeds of partition.

3The 1963-1974 period was rife with “NOs” to logic. We were aiming at the

unattainable. We were again and again after enosis, contravening the constitution. I was not in politics at that time, but as an entrepre-neur-industrialist I was following events with a lot of uneasiness. Turkey started threaten-ing with “invasion” since 1965. I was amongst the very few who feared that this might hap-pen – we were the “danger-mongers”. Nobody would believe us. Finally in 1974 we had the Greek and Greek Cypriot coup d’ etat, which fully opened the gate for the Turkish invasion. This happened despite the many theories that Turkey could not invade, because we were a sovereign state, a member of the United Na-

tions, a member of the Council of Europe, a member of the Non-Aligned, a country which had signed in 1972 an Association Agreement with the European Communities (EEC). It had never occurred to our leaders, that this is a world where “interests” and “power”, not “principles” prevail. We thus lost more than one third of our country.

4From 1978 to 2004 we shouted “NO” to all important initiatives for the

solution of our problem (which were get-ting worse and worse as time went by): The Anglo-American-Canadian Plan (1978), the Indicators (1983), the Consolidated Docu-ments (1985-6), the Set of Ideas (1992), the Troutbeck-Glion Initiative (1997), the Annan Plan (2002-4). In short, we, ourselves, buried the Cyprus problem.

5By the 1983 (Indicators) “NO”, we paved the way for the unilateral decla-

ration of the Turkish Cypriot “state”. We had many warnings. I warned myself as well. But our top leadership did not pay any heed. That is when I resigned from the post of Foreign Minister.

6In the years 1996-1998, with the active involvement of Greece, we said NO

to logic and ignored the Turkish military su-premacy and we ordered the S300 missiles. I

was the only one in Cyprus who dared ques-tion the above decision. We eventually wast-ed S270m on the missiles which now rest in peace thrown away on the mountains of Crete.

7In the years 2000-2001 we said NO to the rules of the economy and the mar-

kets and we created a stock market “bubble”. When it burst the financial and social balances of the country were turned upside down.

8From 2008 to 2012 we had a fiscal deficit of more than €6 billion, through

non-existent financial planning. Our banks lost €4,5 billion on the Greek Government bonds. €5 billion were transferred to Greece, which were used for uncollateralised loans. We lost our credibility which is now equivalent to “junk”. We were thrown out of the markets. “Looking proudly ahead” we said “NO” to the basic rules of the economy. We blew up our country. And our European partners, acting fiercely in an unprecedented way, gave us the coup de grace.

As stated above, when the search for our dreams began, I was 20 years old. Today I am 78. In the 58 years which have elapsed we were bankrupted nationally, politically, militarily and financially.

In almost all the above years I was one of the very few, who kept warning that we were gradually ruining our country. Nobody would listen. The stupid “NOs” became a symbol of our lives.

Roman politician and thinker Cicero had once stated: “To stumble twice on the same stone is a great shame”. We have stumbled more than 20 times on the same stone in 60 years.

Now that I have reached the mature years of my life, I would like to give once more a piece of advice about the dangers emanating from natural gas, the efforts for which I first commenced as competent Minister in 1998.

Natural gas constitutes a huge wealth of a probable value of hundreds of billions of dollars. It is a blessing, which may turn into a nightmare if we are not cautious. Because a “prey” of hundreds of billions has always many dangerous predators. We should not forget that most of the wars today are due to oil and gas.

Turkey has been threatening for many years. She invokes the rights of the Turkish Cypriots and the fact that she has not signed and is not bound by the Law of the Sea Con-vention of 1982.

We invoke our sovereign rights, which are recognised by all countries. It should be noted that we were invoking these very same rights before 1974 as well – and we had their recognition by all countries. However nobody came over here in 1974 to stop the invasion or extend a helping hand. I remember, many people were waiting for Europe, the Non-Aligned, the Soviets, the Americans, to move. At the end of the day nobody came. We were left alone, with our “rights” and our fate. Forty

years have elapsed since then, and not a single square kilometre out of the 3500 occupied by Turkey was ever returned to us.

Furthermore we should not forget the continuous admonitions we have from Eu-ropeans, Americans, Russians and others, that we should not overlook the rights of the Turkish Cypriots. The most recent statement came from our friend the Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov, who said on the 17th April 2013: “Any exploitation of the natural resources must be based on consent, so that all Cypriots, without any exception will benefit”.

I am not presenting a fictitious risk and I never did so in my life. I am a realist. If my advice was adopted in the past we would not be where we are today. I am not suggesting that we should negotiate under pressure. I am simply suggesting that we should not put up another heroic “NO”, because I am afraid that we shall pay for it much more dearly than ever before.

We must not stumble once more. We should use natural gas as a catalyst in the effort to solve the problem of Cyprus and probably the wider problems of Greece and Turkey as well. I have been suggesting this for the past 6-7 years.

To some friends or opponents who would rather follow the course of the past, despite its disastrous results, I would repeat the words of general Themistocles to admiral Eurybiades, in 480 B.C. before the sea-battle of Salamis: “Hit me but listen to me”.

General Themistocles to Admiral Eurybiades, 480 B.C

Nicos A. RolandisCyprusMinister of Foreign Affairs 1978-1983Minister of Commerce, Industry & Tourism1998-2003Member of the House of Representatives 1991-1996President of the Liberal Party 1986-1998Vice-President of Liberal International 1994-1998

‘Hit me, but listen to me’

You give but little when you give of your possessions it is when you give of yourself that you truly give”.

06 ANALYSIS NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

Back in 1998, European public opinion was shocked by the rise of Hungary’s far-right Justice and Life Party. Led by

Istvan Csurka, the party celebrated its biggest electoral victory, opening the door to the par-liament. The realisation that an anti-Semitic and ultra-nationalist party could participate in the country’s coalition government sparked an immediate response by the European Un-ion. The alarm bell was sounded and it soon became clear to Hungary that this could jeop-ardise the country’s EU accession. Heeding the warnings, Hungarians limited Csurka’s electoral gain to just 5.47% of the votes and 14 seats in the parliament.

Ten years later, however, another extreme-right party - described by political analysts as the most populist and demagogic party in Hungary - began its rise in politics. The Move-ment for a Better Hungary, also known as the Jobbik party, was formed in 2003 by Gergely Pongratz, a veteran and a prominent freedom fighter of the 1956 Revolution. He forged the main ideological lines at the party’s founding conference.

What makes this party different from other far-right parties in Hungary is that its founder Pongratz had spent more than 30 years in exile (mostly in the United States). His rivals - lead-ers of other far-right parties, however, had re-mained in Hungary and had accepted the idea of cooperating or at least compromising with the communist state.

Pongratz, did not see things this way. His opposition to communism awakened nation-alist sentiment and drew support from young Hungarians and the poor.

In December 2003, the Jobbik party launched a nationwide campaign to erect crosses - the best-known symbol of Christi-anity - in order to remind Hungarians of the true meaning of Christmas. Christian values became a leading part of this radically patriotic Christian party’s controversial rhetoric.

The Jobbik party also adopted the Arpad stripes as its symbol, just like various other ultra-nationalist and national socialist parties, such as the Arrow Cross Party, did several dec-ades ago.

Today, Jobbik is openly opposed to what party members call “Globalised Capitalism” in Hungary and its agents - namely foreign inves-tors and Jews.

Jobbik members have been frequently ac-cused of anti-Semitism and racism. For exam-ple, the Magyar Garda (Hungarian Guard), an extreme-right paramilitary group with strong ties to Jobbik, was banned in 2009 by the Met-ropolitan Court of Appeal in Budapest. The court ruled that its activities were against the human rights of minorities as guaranteed by the Hungarian Constitution.

Jobbik is also known for its homophobic rhetoric. In a recent interview to Russia Today, the party’s leader Gabor Vona said: “When gay marriage becomes a central issue in the politi-cal sphere, there is a big trouble”.

Gabor Vona, who is the leader of the Job-

bik party, is a young university graduate (he studied history and psychology). Born in 1978, he is considered charismatic leader who has made a profound impact on young peo-ple. As Jobbik’s leader, he took the helm after party infighting forced the former president and two other prominent members to resign. The cause for the infighting was about how Magyar Garda, which was actually founded by Vona himself in 2007, had acquired significant power inside the party.

After Magyar Garda was dissolved by the courts, it returned as a foundation formed by strong and intimidating men who don black army pants, white shirts, a black vest and black caps. Members hold rallies and are widely ac-cused of violence targeting Roma and gays.

Volna, himself, even arrived to parliament in 2010 wearing the Magyar Garda uniform.

Of course, this is nothing new. In 1931 when Zoltan Mesko (one of Hungary’s leading national socialists of pre-War Hungary) was elected to parliament he arrived wearing a Nazi paramilitary Sturmabteilung uniform.

Meanwhile, as Jobbik’s influence grew si-lently, political analysts in Budapest were rath-er shocked when the party won three seats in the European Parliament in 2009. The party’s electoral campaign slogan, Hungary Belongs to Hungarians, was a vote grabber. One year later in 2010, Jobbik celebrated a success run in the parliamentary elections, winning 47 seats.

Historical overviewThe nationalist sentiments in Hungary

date back to the 19th century when the then autonomous Kingdom of Hungary applied the policy of “Hungarisation” of non-Hungarian

ethnic groups. In essence, this was an effort to assimilate large German, Jewish, Slavic, Roma-nian and Roma (Gypsy) populations.

After War World One, however, things changed drastically. The Treaty of Trianon, which was signed with Hungary in 1920, de-fined the country’s new borders. Hungary lost a huge chunk (nearly three-quarters) of its territory and some three million ethnic Hungarians. The Treaty of Trianon, which was criticised as unfair, fuelled nationalism in Hungary. In addition, the Communist revo-lution of 1920 and the fact that some leaders were of Jewish origin, triggered a large wave of anti-Semitism.

After 1920, an authoritarian regime with a far-right stamp was established under Ad-miral Miklos Horthy, who was the regent of the Kingdom of Hungary between the First and Second World Wars. At that time, a large number of men of this regime were openly in favour of Italy’s Mussolini and shared deep na-tionalist and anti-Semitic feelings.

Another prominent politician of the inter-war period was Guyla Gombos, who served as prime minister between 1932 and 1936. He worked to build a one-party regime and intro-duced a series of anti-Jewish laws.

In the period between the two wars, far-right and openly fascist and pro-Nazi parties were formed in Hungary. Among the various national socialist parties, the most radical and violent was the Arrow Cross Party.

The Arrow Cross Party, a close ally of Nazi Germany, was formed in 1939 after several nationalist and pro-Nazi parties merged. The party’s anti-capitalist rhetoric brought it no-table support from working-class people and poor peasants.

It is likely that Hungary’s attraction to Ger-man and Italian regimes was largely due to a growing sense of injustice and the hope that these new “friends” would help Hungary re-gain all that it had lost with the Trianon Treaty.

Hungary was a partner of Nazi Germany during World War Two.

The Arrow Cross Party was allowed by Nazi Germans to form a government, which basically installed a regime of terror under which up to 15,000 people, mainly Jews, were massacred. As many as 80,000 others were de-ported. The victims of this regime included 28,000 Roma.

During the communist period, powerful nationalist and anti-Semitic sentiments were controlled by the new authorities. But this all changed in 1989, when nationalism, anti-Semitism and racism reared their ugly head in Hungarian politics.

For a long time, it was hoped that the cen-tre-right Hungarian political party Fidesz (the Federation of Young Democrats), which is now in power, could absorb and neutralise the electoral body influenced by these ideas. How-ever, Viktor Orban’s government disillusioned nationalists, among others, when he voted for Romania’s entry into the EU. The result: the rather unexpected success of Jobbik.

Jobbik’s foreign policy is clear. The party is against the world around Hungary which is de-fined as the Euro-Atlantic Region. The party also argues that Israel is taking over Hungary. And even though it does not openly demand for the Treaty of Trianon to be abolished, it does argue for the national ‘revendication’ of Romania and the Ukraine. Jobbik also de-mands territorial autonomy for the Szekely Land in Transilvania and nothing less than an independent district in the Transcarpathian area of the Ukraine.

What is more, Vona doesn’t try to hide his admiration for Turkey and Russia. In an in-terview he gave in September to the Voice of Russia, he declared that Turkey has “a strong and independent economy which cannot be colonised the same way as the Hungarian, Romanian and Slovakian ones were”. Turkish companies, he said, are strong and their mar-ket is well protected.

Speaking about Russia, he said: “I con-sider Russia as a country of key importance. Besides Turkey, I believe Russia is the other Eurasian power that could spearhead a real political, economic and cultural resistance against the Euro-Atlantic bloc”.

As regards the European Parliament’s upcoming election in 2014, it is now more evident than ever before that the far-right par-ties will make significant gains at the ballot box. The economic crisis and a deep lack of confidence of the mainstream politicians are feeding these parties and movements. Anti-Semitism, racism, revisionism, nationalistic and revenge sentiments could be a painful de-velopment - one that could very well snap the spine of the EU. Their rise to power will also mean that a large amount of EU money will be made available to them – money that will help them to feed their propaganda machines.

How the Kapital circle

Supporters of the radical nationalist party For A Better Hungary Movement ‘Jobbik’ in Budapest, Hungary, 15 March 2010. It is now more evident than ever before that the far-right parties will make significant gains at next year’s European Parliament elections | EPA/IMRE FOELDI HUNGARY OUT

By Theodoros Benakis

Hungary’s Jobbik: for better or for worse?

07RELATIONSNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

By Andy Carling

Two years on, South Sudan is beginning to build a nation, both in institutions and in the hearts of its people. There is a lot of hard work ahead and although the future is not assured, there is a real chance for the fledgling state, but it will need the continued support of the EU to develop.

This is the key message of Toby Lanzer, Deputy special Representative of the UN secre-tary General. He spoke with New Europe about what needs to be done and how the best way of building a nation’s future is through education.

First of all, he explained the situation, “This is a country where everything needs doing. This country inherited nothing, no civil service or functioning state institutions. There are politi-cal challenges, humanitarian challenges, rights, development.”

Not the easiest of tasks to try to solve. “It’s daunting. When I wake up in the morning every day feels like the first day. I take solace in listen-ing to people who have been engaged here for so many years. They tell me that it’s a lot better than

it was a few years ago. They mean that slowly and surely, there is a semblance of state authority in the 10 state capitals.”

Another sign of the beginnings is education. “There are more and more children in school. When the peace agreement was signed there were 300,000 children in school. Now there are 1.4 million. It’s true there are one million kids who are not in school, but it’s a glass is half full, not half empty situation.”

Lanzer also tells of roads being constructed and being safe with the militia gunmen and oth-ers who ‘collected taxes’ no longer to be found in many of their old haunts. One person reported to Lanzer on a trouble free visit to a remote town, almost adding as an afterthought “Oh, and there were no mines.”

Violence has dropped and fewer civilians are dying says Lanzer, “There is one stark exception to that, Pibor county in Jonglei, where there is an intractable situation that is leading to displace-ment, violence and continues to make people’s lives unsafe and insecure.”

“There is some light at the end of a very long

tunnel,” is his conclusion. “Building a state is go-ing to take decades,” says the humanitarian, but there are surprising stories in the new nation.

Lanzer talls of Guor Marial, a runner who fled the country after no less than 28 of his rel-atives were killed. Now he’s back and compet-ed in the 2012 London Olympics, under the flag of the International Olympic Committee, because there wasn’t a national organisation in South Sudan.

Although he didn’t win his event, the mara-thon, he did become a hero and inspiration in the country.

While the bean counters and policy experts may be looking at institutional capacity, Lanzer knows that people like this single athlete can help build a nation in the hearts of the people.

One aspect that brings hope, is the role of women, who hold around 25% of ministerial posts and Lanzer is impressed by their commit-ment and energy. “These are strong women with clear views and taking important portfolios. I’m a big believer in empowering women incoun-tries like this because they do more of the caring.

This sounds trite, but it is true.”He continues, “There is no guarantee that

South Sudan will succeed. But, with hard work and discipline it could be like Kenya or Uganda in a couple of decades time.”

It takes time to transform a place that is in-credibly poor to one there people have a roof over their heads, kids go to school, the sick can get treated in a clinic and you’ve got roads that youcan use for trade. This, in an environment where you don’t get shot at during the night, well these are great accomplishments,” he says, while noting that “in Brussels and other cities, some-times people have forgotten the basics that are crucial to moving things forward.”

There is talk, in some political circles, that aid should be cut during austerity. Lanzer is dis-missive. “I can give you the moral, the ethical solidarity argument. I can give you the argument that it makes sense if you want to expand your markets, I can give you the self defence argu-ment, there are lots of good reasons why the in-ternational community have to engage.”

South Sudan has the curse and blessing of oil. “The oil sector is absolutely key, for funding projects like road building, but also for develop-ing a sovereign wealth fund, for the costs of run-ning a state when there is no oil. Oil is vital for people today and generations to come.”

South Sudan is building a new nation Troubles remain but it is in our interest to support new state

Georgia bringing in deep democracyBy Andy Carling

Georgia is introducing deep democracy in its institutions says their Justice Min-ister Tea Tsulukiani, who previously

spent a decade as a Senior Lawyer at the Euro-pean Court of Human Rights.

“This government will leave as its legacy a European democratic system that will be im-possible to undo,” said Tsulukiani. It is “a system that will survive any Minister or politician,” she added.

The minister was visiting Brussels before Georgia’s Association Agreement with the EU is expected to be signed in November.

Speaking to New Europe, Tsulukiani said, “The very first day we came to power last year, we didn’t want to do the same as the previous government, who dismissed judges after the Rose Revolution.”

The minister argues that they are now re-forming justice, but to remove political interfer-ence. “We decided to reform in stages and the first has just finished. This was about freeing judges from prosecutorial pressure and from dif-ferent leverages from various outside actors.”

“We also freed the High Council of Justice from politicians,” she adds, “politicians would sit there and decide judicial issues which was not right.”

“When you free the judge, it complicates lives, the prosecutors need to learn to use evi-dence, rather than dictate to the judges and judg-es need to realise that they are definitely free.”

The next phase has been announced, with new rules to come on appointing judges al-

though the minister stresses the future changes will not affect judges already in position. There will be a limit placed on the powers of the court presidents in the second stage.

“Every judge is afraid of their president be-cause they can initiate disciplinary procedures, which we would like to give to people more im-partial. We need to strengthen judges so they can elect their own presidents,” said the minister.

Our goal has been to create in Georgia, something that could be called institutional democracy, institutions that could survive any government. My cabinet is working for future governments of Georgia, not just for

ourselves,” she says.Tsulukiani agreed that this was the same ap-

proach Cathy Ashton has mentioned in her con-cept of “deep democracy” a lot more to do with structure and institutions than just an occasion-ally elected parliament.

“We want to have something that works in a democratic way,” Tsulukiani says, “up to now, we have had strong personalities as leaders, but once they were gone, life was messy. We don’t need persons, we need institutions.”

The minister’s experience looks like a good match for her task, but her softly speaking man-ner is supported by the strength of her commit-

ment and argument. Indeed, one of her main motivations for heading into the then troubled world of Georgian politics was her work at the European court of Human Rights.

“I worked as a lawyer at the court for ten years, and I was dealing with the Georgia cases,” she says, “These cases showed me the human rights situation was not at all well. Although I was a pernament employee, I quit to go back to Georgian and enter politics.”

It was in 2010, well before Mr Ivanishvili entered politics,” she explains.”I joined the Free Democrats. It was a time without hope because the United National Movement (UNM) was omnipresent.”

She continues, “The small opposition parites were not able to fight efficiently, we were deprived of finances and we were not even able to pay for our own office. This was a period, how to say, without hope.”

Then, Ivanishvili arrived and built his coali-tion, “I hope that we are together for the elec-tions,” she adds.

However, the Gerogian Premier has an-nounced his departure from politics.

He said in the beginning, ‘I’m here for only one or two years’ and nobody believed him,” says Tsulukiani, adding, “Now he’s laughing at us, say-ing you didn’t believe me, but I am leaving!”

But even with the businessman turned poli-tician, Georgia is looking towards Europe.

“We can also bring to Europe an opening to other countries, acting as a bridge. We are defi-nitely a European nation. When we talk of the European future, it is because it is the people who have chosen that, not the politicians.”

The Justice Minister of Georgia Tea Tsulukiani

Justice minister pledges freedom from political interference

08 ANALYSIS NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

The Merkel Effect

By Francisco Jaime Quesado

After the German Parliamentary Elections, it´s time to a New Merkel Effect – Europe must regain its Internal Competitive Advantage but at the same time must be able to reinforce its Global Situation. In this way it´s essential to learn the lessons that more than ever emerge from a Europe that is trying to re-build its competitive advantage and to reinvent its effective place in a complex and global world. This must be the effective message of Angela Merkel.In the New Global Economy and Innovation Society, Europe has a central role to play towards a new attitude connected with the creation of value and focus on creativity. In a time of change, Europe can´t wait. Europe must confirm itself as an “enabler actor” in a very de-manding world, introducing in the society and in the economy a capital of trust and innovation that is essential to ensure a central leadership in the future relations with America and the more and more dynamic developing world. The actors from Europe should be more and more global, capable of driving to the social matrix a unique dynamic of knowledge building and selling it as a mobile asset on the global market. We need a Europe of the citizens. Where people know who they are and have a strong commitment with the values of freedom, social justice and development. This is the reason to believe that a new standard of Democracy in Europe, more than a possibility, is an individual and collective necessity for all of us, effective European citizens. Habermas is more than ever present – the difference of Europe will be in the exercise of the capacity of the individual participation as the central contribution to the reinvention of the collective society. This is a process that is not determined by law. It is effectively con-structed by all the actors in a free and collaborative strategic interaction.In a certain sense, we need a new third way for Europe. When Anthony Giddens spoke about this special global capacity of creating a new commitment between the Europeans toward the challenge of the future, he was in fact speaking about this commitment with a New Democracy in Europe. Based in new standards of Social Innovation, this kind of New Third Way is above all the confirmation that in Europe the individual per-formance in a complex society is possible, desirable and above all necessary for the future.Europe is facing a new strategic challenge. Reinventing Eu-rope and giving the European Actors (States, Universities, Enterprises, Civil Society) the opportunity of developing new challenges focused on innovation and creativity is in a large sense giving a central contribution to a New Global Order. The Reinvention of Europe is the reinvention of its people and institutions. An active commitment, in which the focus in the participation and development of new competences, on a collaborative ba-sis, must be the key of the difference. These are the lessons that Angela Merkel must teach to all of us.

Francisco Jaime Quesado is the General Manager of the Innovation and Knowledge Society in Portugal, a public agency with the mission of coordinating the policies for Information Society and mobilizing it through dissemination, qualification and research activities. It operates within the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education

PRINCETON – Türkan Saylan was a trailblazing physician, one of Turkey’s first female dermatologists and a leading campaigner against leprosy. She was also a staunch secularist who established a foun-dation to provide scholarships to young girls so they could attend school. In 2009, police raided her house and confiscated documents in an investigation that linked her to an alleged terrorist group, called “Ergenekon,” supposedly bent on desta-bilizing Turkey in order to precipitate a military coup.

Saylan was terminally ill with cancer at the time and died shortly thereafter. But the case against her associates continued and became part of a vast wave of trials directed against opponents of Prime Min-ister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his allies in the powerful Gülen movement, made up of the followers of the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.

The evidence in this case, as in so many others, consists of Microsoft Word documents found on a computer that belonged to Saylan’s foundation. When American experts recently examined the forensic image of the hard drive, they made a startling – but for Turkey all too familiar – discovery. The incriminating files had been placed on the hard drive sometime after the computer’s last use at the foun-dation. Because the computer had been seized by the police, the finding pointed rather directly to official malfeasance.

Fabricated evidence, secret witnesses, and flights of investigative fancy are the foundation of the show trials that Turk-ish police and prosecutors have mounted since 2007. In the infamous Sledgeham-mer case, a military-coup plot was found to contain glaring anachronisms, includ-ing the use of Microsoft Office 2007 in documents supposedly last saved in 2003. (My father-in-law is among the more than 300 officers who were locked up, and my wife and I have been active in document-ing the case’s fabrications.)

The list of revelations and absurdities goes on and on. In one case, a document describing a plot directed against Chris-tian minorities turned out to have been in police possession before the authorities claimed to have recovered it from a sus-pect. In another, police “discovered” the evidence that they were seeking, despite going to the wrong address and raiding the home of a naval officer whose name sounded similar to that of the target.

Yet none of the trials has yet been derailed. Most have had the support and

blessing of Erdoğan, who has exploited them to discredit the old secular guard and cement his rule. Even more important, the trials have had the strong backing of the Gülen movement.

Gülen lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, where he presides over a huge informal network of schools, think tanks, businesses, and media across five continents. His devotees have established roughly 100 charter schools in the Unit-ed States alone, and the movement has gained traction in Europe since the first Gülen school was founded in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1995.

Back home, Gülen’s followers have created what is effectively a state within the Turkish state, gaining a strong foot-hold in the police force, the judiciary, and the bureaucracy. Gülenists deny that they control the Turkish police, but, as a US ambassador to Turkey put it in 2009, “we have found no one who disputes it.”

The movement’s influence within the judiciary ensures that its members’ trans-gressions remain unchallenged. In one well-documented case, a non-commis-sioned officer at a military base, acting on behalf of the Gülen movement, was caught planting documents in order to embarrass military officials. The military prosecutor investigating the case soon found himself in jail on trumped-up charges, while the perpetrator was reinstated. A senior police commissioner who had been close to the movement and wrote an exposé about its activities was accused of collaborating with the far-left groups that he had spent much of his career pursuing; he, too, end-ed up in jail.

The Gülen movement uses these trials to lock up critics and replace opponents in important state posts. The ultimate goal seems to be to reshape Turkish society in the movement’s own conservative-re-ligious image. Gülenist media have been particularly active in this cause, spewing a continuous stream of disinformation about defendants in Gülen-mounted trials while covering up police misdeeds.

But relations between Erdoğan and the Gülenists have soured. Once their common enemy, the secularists, were out of the way, Erdoğan had less need for the

movement. The breaking point came in February 2012, when Gülenists tried to bring down his intelligence chief, a close confidant, reaching perilously close to Erdoğan himself. Erdoğan responded by removing many Gülenists from their posi-tions in the police and judiciary.

But Erdoğan’s ability to take on the Gülen movement is limited. Bugging de-vices were recently found in Erdoğan’s office, planted, his close associates said, by the police. Yet Erdoğan, known for his brash style, responded with remarkable equanimity. If he harbored any doubt that the movement sits on troves of embarrass-ing – and possibly far worse – intelligence, the bugging revelation must surely have removed it.

The foreign media have focused main-ly on Erdoğan’s behavior in recent months. But if Turkey has turned into a Kafkaesque quagmire, a republic of dirty tricks and surreal conspiracies, it is Gülenists who must shoulder much of the blame. This is worth remembering in view of the move-ment’s efforts to dress up its current oppo-sition to Erdoğan in the garb of democracy and pluralism.

Gülenist commentators preach about the rule of law and human rights, even as Gülenist media champion flagrant show trials. The movement showcases Fethul-lah Gülen as a beacon of moderation and tolerance, while his Turkish-language Web site peddles his anti-Semitic, anti-Western sermons. Such double talk seems to have become second nature to Gülenist leaders.

The good news is that the rest of the world has started to see Erdoğan’s republic for what it is: an increasingly authoritarian regime built around a popular but deeply flawed leader. Indeed, his government’s crackdown on dissent may well have cost Istanbul the 2020 Olympics. What has yet to be recognized is the separate, and quite disturbing, role that the Gülen movement has played in bringing Turkey to its cur-rent impasse. As Americans and Europe-ans debate the Gülen movement’s role in their own societies, they should examine Turkey’s experience more closely.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013.www.project-syndicate.org

Erdoğan is not Turkey’s only problem

Under Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey is “an increasingly authoritarian regime built around a popular but deeply flawed leader” |AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN

By Dani RodrikDani Rodrik, Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, is the author of The Globalization

Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy.

09ANALYSISNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

Increase in terrorist camps in Gilgit Baltistan

Gilgit Baltistan is becoming an increasingly worrying region in relation to terrorist activity in

Pakistan, due to the social and political unrest and turmoil present there. Ter-rorist attacks and invasions have been the basic norm, which has left the peo-ple living there in a constant state of fear and threat. While China and Pakistan continue to rule the region with a hard hand, Gilgit Baltistan suffers from the influence of various terrorist groups.

Gilgit Baltistan, which was once considered a major attraction for tour-ists, has now become one for terrorists. The natural resources present in this region make it an extremely beneficial source for countries like China, India, and Afghanistan. Gilgit Baltistan has not been alien to terrorism since Paki-stan took control of the region, how-ever the turmoil has increased in the last couple of years since Pakistan leased the region to China in a 50 years contract. To add to it, the social and political structure of the Gilgit region is weak, and that makes it easier for external

forces like China to seep in and take full control. Sectarian clashes and revolts between the two residing Muslim sects, Shia’s and Sunni’s have always been a fo-cal point for all social problems leading to wide spread terrorist attacks in and around the Gilgit region.

Lack of control within the political bodies, poverty, disharmony amongst the locals, and the seething frustration from Pakistan has made Gilgit a perfect place for terrorists to position them-selves and take advantage of the crip-pled social and economic condition. Lack of education and the suppression of women are also some of the detri-mental factors that have put the Gilgit region in this plight.

The pot has definitely boiled over for the people living in this region, since the locals have now reached out to ex-ternal forces like the U.N in their cry for help. But the terrorists have not stopped their violence. Recently, a group of ter-rorists gunned down 9 tourists who were visiting the ‘Nanga Parbat’ camp, which included visitors from China and the Ukraine. This incident has brought to light the extremely violent situation in this area.

According to the reports, there were 12 to 14 terrorists who attacked the tourists. What is even more alarming and questionable is how easily these at-tackers managed to march into the base camp where the tourists were resid-ing, without being noticed or checked. In addition to that, the weapons were large and could not have been easily dis-guised by the gunmen.

While investigations continue, such terrorist activities not only put the

Gilgit region in a bad light, but also cast a negative shadow on Pakistan. Tourists do not want to visit Pakistan due to the increased tension and safety issues that prevail there.

Without a stronger political control, and public awareness the abolition of terrorism from the Gilgit region is next to impossible. The various groups that co-exist in this region lack the patience of surviving together and that leads to anarchy. In an article published by Trib-une express, concerning the recent ter-rorist attacks on the tourists at Nanga Parbat camp, author Ejaz Haider says “If this was a planned operation and the be-ginning of more to come, getting these criminals is a must. Not just to show the state’s resolve in dealing with what has happened, but also in unravelling any bigger strategic plan to destabilise the area”.

External forces like the U.N have gotten involved in the disputed Gilgit region due to the campaigns and dem-onstrations raised by the people against Pakistan. Social activists have advised the U.N to request Pakistan to withdraw their authority, due to their failure in providing stability to this region. More-over, a UN commission would be sent to the Gilgit region to evaluate and di-minish violation of human rights, unjust killings, murders and torture.

At the moment however, Gilgit Bal-tistan is anything but safe, and if quick action is not taken by the U.N or the Pakistani government, then the terrorist attacks would increase further leading to greater security risks and issues for the Gilgit region, and for the countries surrounding it.

By Kristiina Ojuland MEP

Kristiina Ojuland was Estonia foreign minister from 2002-2005. In June 2004, she ran for the post of secretary-general of the Council

of Europe but was defeated. She is a member of the Estonian Reform Party and since 2009 has served as one of the six Estonian MEPs in the European Parliament.

The mediocre is the message

By Andy Carling

Constructive Ambiguity

With the arrival of the European elections next year, comes a tens of millions communication budget, so the parliamentar-ians can tell people how lovely they are and to try to tempt the increasingly reluctant citizen to the ballot box to add their five year approval to whatever it is MEPs do all day.Has it escaped everyone’s notice that, the more you spend on promoting the parliament, the fewer vote?It’s always like this. Not one EU funded media campaign has ever achieved anything. The EU spends hundreds of millions a year on this sort of publicity. Can anyone recall any of their campaigns? Of course not. They are all bland, unimaginative and occasion-ally sexist or racist. And expensive, very expensive. You can look at hundreds of these campaigns and imagine that Europe was a creative desert. Showing the campaign to professionals in the ad business, they are appalled, saying that in all honesty their interns would have to do better.The problem is in the way these campaigns are handed out and then supervised by the institutions pen pushers, or now they’re all on iPads, is that finger flickers?Compare this to the UN, who we have worked with to pub-licise some of their campaigns and in their Brussels offices yesterday, there were large reproductions of their campaign against domestic violence on the walls. Striking, thought pro-voking images.The EU likes to offer huge tenders, requiring 25 languages and so on, this means that only a few large firms can even put a ten-der together, the election information campaign only attracted 8 bidders, and the same people keep getting the same contracts.The end result if good for them, they can turn out material that was quickly and cheaply done, with none of the ‘quality’ thing that the commercial world demands.It’s good for the EU as their reality avoidance skills mean they can point to the figures and call it success.But it’s bad for the citizens, who foot the bill for this vanity and it’s bad for democracy, which has still some admirers in some parts of some of the institutions.In more dynamic places than the EU admin departments, multi national and lingual campaigns are turned out by small agen-cies, the ones kept away from the lucrative tenders from Berlay-mont, which are then adapted, translated by national partners.Why can’t we do that? Is the relationship between the few con-stant tenderers and the institutions too close, too comfortable? It’s hard to find people who will disagree in private, but harder to find those who will speak out in public.So, the farce continues, substandard product is passed by the substandard administrators, the companies get paid and the taxpayers get... nothing.This has been a huge error and it is putting the union at risk. The EU is out of touch, unknown to many citizens, apart from those under the tender care of the Troika and the EU thinks it is communicating when it is not.The campaigns are in the language of policymakers, the deni-zens of the deepest parts of the Brussels bubble. They are so far in they don’t even see how ridiculous they are, how absurd their slogans sound to actual, real people.This is why the EU is remote, they don’t speak any language the citizens do, this is why they don’t connect and this is why a complete overhaul of communication needs to happen.And happen before May 2014.

Pakistani volunteers carry an injured soldier to a hospital following a roadside bomb explosion in Karachi on 22 August. Places like Gilgit Baltistan have now become major havens for terrorist groups. |AFP PHOTO / RIZWAN TABASSUM

10 ANALYSIS NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

By Cillian Donnelly

Finding a political solution for Somalia will be “first step that hold everything else together” as the troubled county

moves forward, according to Somali presi-dent, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

He was speaking at the conference A New Deal For Somalia, held in Brussels on 16 September. The conference, jointly or-ganised by the Somali government and the European Union, aims to build-up an effec-tive public policy framework to establish ac-countable and transparent state institutions in the country, through what is known as the Somali compact, a process agreed by the in-ternational community at Busan, South Ko-rea, in 2011.

Since 2008, the EU has pumped about €1 billion into the country for humanitarian and security projects.

In 2012, the fragile state ended eight years of disorder and civil war with the tran-sition to a new federal government. The EU is pushing to maintain what it calls “positive momentum” in the country through the compact, which will set out priorities for So-mali development from 2014-2016.

“The best possible outcome of a new deal for Somalia is a new Somalia,” said President Mohamud. “Good governance is essential in all Somali institutions,” he said. Part of the new deal for Somalia involves an overhaul of the existing state institutions, such as the ju-diciary and reform of the public finance sec-tor, part the campaign for what the president calls “zero tolerance for corruption.”

The compact “must not be a distant and bureaucratic document removed from the people,” said Mohamud. “it must not be abstract and theoretical.” he said it must provide a “new model” of Somali democracy. He said that the government hopes soon to have formulated a “fully-fledged” constitution, as well as complet-ing the federal system, and developing a

workable multi-party electoral system.However, ahead of state-building, the

top priority for the Somali government right now is security, says the president, move-ment on which, he says, “progressing very well.” This is also a key point for Europe.

One of the key parts of the new deal continued support for AMISOM, the Afri-can Union Mission to Somalia. Last week, the EU pledged a further €124 million in support for the mission, claiming domestic terrorism is being routed and piracy has de-clined 93% in the past two years. The EU has also spent around half of the €1 billion spent on Somalia in the past five years on security operations, including aiding AMI-SOM.

Speaking on 16 September, President of the European Council, Herman Van Rom-puy, said that without the input of AMI-SOM, “peace would never be achieved” in

the region. However, according to human rights organisation, Amnesty International, allegations of rape and sexual assault, which continues to be a problem in Somalia, have been levelled against members of AMISOM.

Nicolas Beger, director of Amnesty’s European Institutions Office, has said that the EU must press Somali Officials to hold to account any perpetrators of human rights abuses in Somalia. According to President Mohamud, the government is “taking tough decisions when human rights abuses are committed.”

However, the problem remains, says Be-ger. “Sexual violence is widespread and the inability and unwillingness of the Somali authorities to investigate and bring the at-tackers to justice contributes to a climate of impunity”, he said. “The EU also remains ac-countable itself for the use of EU funding in Somalia.”

EU to continue aid in SomaliaThe European Union is to give €650 million to Somalia in a new effort to bring political stability to the country.Speaking at the high-level conference on Somalia in Brussels on 16 September, the European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, said that the money pledged by the EU will improve areas such as educa-tion and farming, and will provide safe water to around half a million people. The conference, organised between the Eu-ropean Union and the Somali government, sought to establish continued links between

the country and the union in areas such s de-velopment and security.According to Piebalgs, the money will direct-ly support the Somali people through educa-tion and development programmes. Since 2008, the EU has donated €521 million to development causes in Somalia, as part of a €1.2 billion package to the region. In the same period, it has also donated the major-ity of the money to security purposes, such as combating domestic terrorism and piracy in the horn of Africa. The new money will, according to Piebalgs,

advance EU efforts in increasing success in education, farming and safe water, that have been achieved over the past 5 years. According to European Parliament Presi-dent, Jose Manuel Barroso, this money will be used for “peace-building an develop-ment.” Speaking at the European Commis-sion headquarters in Brussels on 16 Sep-tember, alongside Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Barroso said that part-nership between the EU and Somalia will aid Somalia in being a”fully-fledged member of the international community.” CD

Political progress in Somalia must not falter – president

Somali President Hassan Seikh Mohamud and Belgian Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders pictured after a meeting in Brussels, Monday 16 September . BELGA PHOTO BRUNO FAHY

New Deal opportunity to recognise SomalilandThe New Deal for Somalia, agreed between the country and the international community, includ-ing the EU, should be led to the formal recogni-tion of Somaliland, according to the foreign min-ister. Speaking after a high-level conference on Somalia in Brussels, which was not attended by represent-atives of Somaliland, Mohamed Bihi Yonis said, however, that political dialogue focussing on the Horn of Africa is welcome.“We are encouraged by the international commu-nity’s decision to focus on my region, the Horn of Africa, despite the challenges that they face closer to home,” the foreign minister said. “We hope that the New Deal for the Somali people will sanction a clear and improved framework for international donors’ engagement with both Somaliland and Somalia.”“In applying the New Deal principles, we urge international donors to recognise Somaliland’s unique status,” he said.Since 2008, the EU pledged over €1 billion to the region. On 16 September, it announced a further €650 million aid package to help bring about po-litical stability.In 1991, Somaliland broke away from its union with Somalia. Since then, it has been seeking in-ternational recognition of its independent status. The New Deal for Somalia will see international development partners deal with Somalia and So-maliland as a single entity.The special arrangement for Somaliland con-tained in the New Deal recognises its special circumstances and institutionalises its national development plan, which focusses on economic growth. It also recognises the government as the legitimate authority through which donors and partners will work. “While we are not present in Brussels, we have been working closely with our international do-nors to agree on a separate plan for our develop-ment within the New Deal framework: the So-maliland Special Arrangement (SSA). And we are most grateful for the support which the donors have given us, and their sympathetic approach to the arrangement,” said Mohamed Bihi Yonis.“The Somaliland Special Arrangement is based on our existing national development plan and therefore encourages greater ownership by the Somaliland people over its development.”“For international engagement through the New Deal framework to be successful for the Somali people, it must not politicise development assis-tance, or prejudice future relations between So-maliland and Somalia. The appropriate platform to discuss a political settlement between us, is the Somaliland-Somalia Dialogue which, thanks to the support of the international community, has con-tributed to greater mutual trust and co-operation.” “We are fully committed to the New Deal princi-ples and look forward to working with our part-ners to implement the Somaliland Special Agree-ment,” he said.

11EU-WORLDNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

MALMÖ – On September 26, the Unit-ed Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will present the sum-mary of its most recent assessment re-port, the fifth in 23 years. Although the IPCC is not perfect – it famously pre-dicted that all Himalayan glaciers would be gone in 2035, when the more likely year is 2350 – its many experts generally give us the best information on the frac-tious issue of global warming.

Because of extensive leaks, the re-port’s contents are mostly known. And, because we have done this four times al-ready, how the report will play out politi-cally is also mostly known. But, because 20 years of efforts to address climate change have not amounted to anything serious, it might be worth exploring a different strategy this time.

The new report’s fundamental con-clusion will be that global warming is real and mostly our own doing. Much will be said and written about the fact that the IPCC is now even more cer-tain (95%, up from 90% in 2007) that humans have caused more than half of the global rise in temperature since 1950. But this merely confirms what we have known for a long time – that burn-ing fossil fuels emits CO2, which tends to warm the planet. As climate scientist Andrew Dessler of Texas A&M Univer-sity tweeted: “Summary of upcoming IPCC report: ‘Exactly what we told you in 2007, 2001, 1995, 1990 reports…’”

More specifically, the report’s June draft shows “similar” temperature rises to the earlier reports, at about 1.0-3.7oCelsius by the end of the cen-tury. For sea-level rise, the IPCC now in-cludes modeling of glacier responses of 3-20 centimeters, leading to a higher to-tal estimate of 40-62 cm by century’s end – much lower than the exaggerated and scary figure of 1-2 meters of sea-level rise that many environmental activists, and even some media outlets, bandy about.

Similarly, the IPCC has allowed for lower temperature rises by reducing the lower end of its estimate of so-called climate sensitivity. It is also less certain now that humans have caused hurri-cane and drought events since 1950. In the 2007 report, it was more than 50% certain that they have; now it is less than 21% certain.

Yet these sensible and moderate findings will be met with a predictable wall of alarmism. Many will mimic the

blogger Joe Romm, who has declared that “this ultra-conservative and instant-ly obsolete report ignores the latest sci-ence,” and continues to claim 5º C tem-perature rises and six-foot (1.83 meters) sea-level rises. Romm and many others made similar arguments following the release of the 2007 IPCC report, claim-ing that the latest, much more alarming, research had been left out.

The bigger problem for the IPCC is that global temperature has risen little or not at all in the last 10-20 years. To be clear, this slowdown does not mean that there is no global warming – there is; but it does call into question how much.

To its credit, the IPCC admits that “models do not generally reproduce the observed reduction in the surface warm-ing trend over the last 10–15 years.” This matters, because if the models overshoot for recent decades, the century-long forecasts are open to doubt.

Compared to the actual temperature rise since 1980, the average of 32 top climate models (the so-called CMIP5) overestimates it by 71-159% (see graph). A new Nature Climate Change study shows that the prevailing climate mod-els produced estimates that overshot the temperature rise over the last 15 years by more than 300%.

Several studies from this year show that the slowdown could be caused by a natural cycle in the Atlantic or Pacific that caused temperatures to rise more in the 1980’s and 1990’s but that has slowed or stopped global warming now. Global warming is real, but it has prob-ably been exaggerated in the past, just as it is being underestimated now.

This highlights the fact that the IPCC has always claimed only that more than half of the temperature rise is due to humans, although in public discussion it has usually been interpreted as all. As the IPCC emphasizes, climate change is

a problem; but the report contains none of the media’s typical apocalyptic scenar-ios, no alarmism, and no demands from natural scientists to cut emissions by X% or to lavish subsidies on solar panels.

All of this is almost certain to be lost in the hullabaloo from lobbyists clamor-ing for action and media organizations hungry for bad news. Indeed, though the IPCC, according to its own principles, is a policy-neutral organization, its head, Rajendra Pachauri, will explicitly feed the frenzy by insisting that “humanity has pushed the world’s climate system to the brink,” and that we need to complete a “transition away from fossil fuels,” may-be with some kind of “price of carbon.”

As a result, the likely outcome of the report’s release will be more of the same: a welter of scary scenarios, followed by politicians promising huge carbon cuts and expensive policies that have virtually no impact on climate change.

Maybe we should try to alter this scenario. We should accept that there is global warming. But we should also ac-cept that current policies are costly and have little upside. The European Union will pay $250 billion for its current cli-mate policies each and every year for 87 years. For almost $20 trillion, tempera-tures by the end of the century will be reduced by a negligible 0.05ºC.

The current green-energy technolo-gies still cost far too much and produce far too little to replace existing energy sources. To insist on buying these ex-pensive non-solutions is to put the cart before the horse. What we need is invest-ment in research and development to reduce green energy’s cost and boost its scale. When solar and other green tech-nologies can take over cheaply, we will have addressed global warming – with-out the angst.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013. www.project-syndicate.org

Global warming without fearBy Bjørn Lomborg

Bjørn Lomborg, an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School, founded and directs the Copenhagen Consensus Center.

He is the author of The Skeptical Envi-ronmentalist and Cool It.

Employees from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) investigating the thickness of the ice by drilling in the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole. |EPA/STEFAN HENDRIKS

The high and mighty

The European Commission is going to take action on drugs; not, sadly, meaning that their decision-making is done taking illicit substances – although that would be fun – but taking ac-tion in the sense of clamping down. The commission wants to ensure that psychoactive substances, or legal highs as they are popularly known, are out of reach of youngsters. It is the new moral panic. Psychoactive drugs, legal highs as they are called, are seen as a growing problem in Europe. There has been opposition, certainly. In the UK, GPs have warned against their effects. In Ireland (where 16% of the nation’s young people have tried psychoactive drugs), so-called head shops, where these prod-ucts are sold, have been attacked by local community activists-cum-vigilantes. There have been similar instances outside Eu-rope, also, in New Zealand, for instance. These head shops, it seems, corrupt the nation’s youth. An assessment, apparently, shared by the European Commission. According to the commission, legal highs have “a stimulating or depressant effect, just like illicit drugs, such as cocaine or ecstasy.” They can produce effects such as “hallucinations, alterations in thinking, behaviour, perception, awareness or mood.” But de-spite these efforts to make them seen as attractive as possible to youngsters, the commission is determined to take action, making it easier and swifter for substances to be banned. At present, it takes about 2 years to ban a substance from the EU. The commission wants to be able to ban psychoactive drugs within “just 10 months.” Let’s hope they are that conscientious when it comes to other substances, such as dubious pesticides or medical products. The political right are keen on the idea of criminalising psy-choactive drugs. One centre-right MEP even urged the left not to block the plans; the left, of course, being the refuge of drug-taking hippie types. That same MEP, Hubert Pirker, who sits on the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee, also said that “drugs are a cash machine for organised crime.” The solution, then, is to prohibit currently legal substances and drive them under-ground. Well away from organised crime, then.To be fair, if these substances are found to have seriously det-rimental effects, the commission is probably right to investi-gate; and instead of wholly succumbing to a moral panic, it has sought a graduated system. Those substances deemed to be a moderate risk will be subject to consumer market restrictions; age limitations and taxes, no doubt. The last point should be welcome news for depleted exchequers out there. It worked with booze and cigarettes, after all. Speaking of which, the promised swift clampdown on legal highs coincides with an overly lengthy procedure to legislate tobacco products; a subject on which everyone has problems sorting out. It seems that some harmful substances, often aimed as a recreational pursuit for young people, are not en-tirely unwelcome from the European Union. Concordia

TRANS-EUROPE EXCESS

12 EnErgy & climatE NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

Syria, energy put Russia in the focus on world stageBy Kostis Geropoulos

Russia’s European Union  Ambassa-dor Vladimir  Chizhov talked to New Europe about the next steps of a dip-lomatic solution on Syria, the standoff between Gazprom and the European Union, a European Parliament resolu-tion warning Russia to respect the right of the EU’s eastern neighbours and the ongoing EU-Russia visa talks.

Russia has taken a very active role in resolving the standoff over Syria and convincing Damascus to surrender all chemical weapons. Is Russia making a comeback in the diplomatic stage?

I agree it’s really a big success for Russian diplomacy. Of course it is for others to judge the extent of that success and its significance. But let me point out a few things. One, we’ve tried and managed not only to convince the Syrian government to join the Convention on Prevention of Chemical Weapons and become a member of the relevant interna-tional organisation, but we also man-aged to convince the United States that should this scheme work there would be no need for any military ac-tion, including airstrikes.

Two. It was not actually a come-back. Russia has been active all along. It’s not that Russian diplomacy woke up in the middle of the night and in-vented all this. But the moment was conducive to this success because this solution is actually is in the inter-est of everybody.

Three. Of course, it’s just begin-ning of the road or a certain mile-stone along the way to resolving the crisis because there are broader is-sues that need to be addressed like a political settlement of the Syrian crisis. And you will easily understand that had this initiative not taken hold and had those airstrikes that had been announced earlier taken place the possibility of convening the Ge-neva 2 conference on Syria would have been minimal if any at all. Now the prospects of promoting a politi-cal settlement are better and we hope this can be continued.

Four. We also view this solution of specific problem of Syrian chemi-cal weapons as a step towards imple-mentation of a broader initiative of creating in the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction. This idea has been afloat for a number of years already and there was a pro-posal to hold an international confer-ence on the issue as early as last year, but that didn’t materialise. Hopefully the solution of this specific problem

will open the way towards promoting a solution of this broader issue.

There were some press reports today [18 September] that Rus-sia was questioning the evidence that chemical weapons were used by the Syrian government, citing doubts about proof of culpability and maybe the rebels were behind it. Is this taking the Assad govern-ment off the hook? For example if they do not comply and do not sur-render their chemical weapons, would that mean that a military strike would be back on the table?

As soon as the Geneva agree-ment of last Saturday [14 Septem-ber] was announced, immediately comments and questions appeared - what will happen if Assad doesn’t comply? Well, what will happen if the opposition doesn’t comply? What will happen if Assad complies? These are all theoretical questions. I believe that so far there is no evi-dence to suggest that the Syrian gov-ernment is not complying. Actually it has already submitted the necessary documents to the Organization for Prevention of Chemical Weapons in

The Hague acceding to the Conven-tion and to the Organisation and practical modalities of inspecting the sites are now being worked out. The Geneva agreement between [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov and [US Secretary of State John] Kerry openly stipulates that if there is hard evidence proving non-compliance then the UN Security Council will deal with it, and it’s only up to the Security Council to decide on any possible measure. Again, it’s a matter of principle. Any use of force which would circumvent the Secu-rity Council would be illegal from the point of view of international law.

But Russia has veto over the Security Council resolutions. Therefore at that point it would be called upon to decide whether there would be military action or not.

Well, Russia will certainly view credible evidence if produced with an open mind.

Do you think this diplomatic ef-fort on Syria will improve relations between Russia and the US?

Russian-American relations are

very complex – multi-faceted and certainly not void of problems. Syria is just one track of very many. We have been co-operating on other in-ternational issue like the Middle East peace process, the Iranian nuclear programme, a number of others. This joint initiative is a clear indication that we’re able to work together in the interests of the whole world.

Going over to the issue of en-ergy, there was a discussion on the EU single internal market in Strasbourg last week where Com-missioner Guenther Oettinger was very firm that the European Commission is not going to back out from the investigation against Gazprom and it will look very se-riously into the findings whether it has violated EU market rules. Given that Russia is a major gas supplier to the EU, is this investi-gation going to undermine rela-tions between the two sides?

Commissioner Oettinger has always been firm in his public state-ments. But the official position is that neither Oettinger as Commissioner for Energy either DG Energy are in charge of this investigation which is being conducted by DG Com-petition under the supervision of Vice President of the Commission Joaquín Almunia - so there is a divi-sion of labour in the Commission. In any case, I will not comment on the details of that investigation. They are confidential between the Commis-sion and Gazprom. I will only say that Russia is not only a major sup-plier of energy to the EU. It has been the most reliable supplier for over 40 years and certainly that situation is a major factor in promoting energy se-curity for the European Union. I find it strange sometimes when I hear ar-guments that are hardly compatible with each other. Some complain that the EU doesn’t yet have a single ener-gy market and should do something to create one. Then they immediately accuse Gazprom of fragmentizing the single energy market. Logically speaking you cannot fragmentize something that is not yet in exist-ence. So I would appeal for all those involved to provide more logic and consistency.

Is Gazprom willing to comply with EU energy rules?

You should ask Gazprom. It has complied so far. We’re closely look-ing, of course, at various options, including whatever flexibility the famous or rather infamous Third En-ergy Package provides.

President Vladimir Putin is-sued a decree banning Gazprom from disclosing information to EU regulators...

The decree did not refer spe-cifically to Gazprom nor did specifi-cally to the European Union. It was part of certain internal reforms in the Russian Federation where ma-jor companies with the state being a major shareholder like Gazprom had public officials sitting on their board of directors as members. Then all those public officials were withdrawn from those boards of directors to prevent conflict of in-terests. As a result the Government, continuing to be a major share-holder, no longer had any influence on the decisions of the board of di-rectors. So this decree was an effort to rectify the situation, to prevent those partially state-owned compa-nies from making mistakes in their dealings with their partners abroad before consulting the Government.

Is the gas-pricing issue becom-ing political both from the EU and Russia?

From Russia certainly not. But unfortunately, some countries, some people in Europe and elsewhere are trying to politicise this thing. We’ve seen attempts, efforts to promote several projects – some of them never flew - to build infrastructure circumventing Russian territory, thereby promoting alternative sourc-es at the expense of customers. But as far as Russia is concerned, energy has never even in the days of the Cold War, been a political tool.

Is Russia pleased that the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) was chosen instead of Nabucco? Is this good news for South Stream?

I didn’t have much confidence in Nabucco from the very beginning, because it was a clear case of an artifi-cial, clearly politicised project which had a lot of political clout behind it but not so much money and practi-cally no gas - and that’s what killed it. Regarding the Trans Adriatic Pipeline –you’d have to ask South Stream people how they view it. My own view is that in the long run the European Union will need more gas and in order to get more gas it will need more pipelines. The issue is to pursue those projects balancing risks and responsibilities between the various players: suppliers, tran-sit countries and consumers. These are major projects, requiring a lot of investment, much of it up-front, that is at the initial stage of implementa-

We’re closely looking at various options, including whatever flexibility the famous or rather infamous Third Energy Package provides.”

Russia’s European Union Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov

13EnErgy & climatENEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

tion of each project, so it’s logical to have everybody involved sharing the risks and responsibilities between them. We hope that South Stream will be a success and we’ll see about the others.

Last week in Strasbourg, the Euro-pean Parliament passed a resolution warning Russia to respect the right of the EU’s eastern neighbours to choose whether to enter into associa-tion agreements with Brussels. How does Moscow view Ukraine’s plans to sign an association agreement with the EU? Is the Eurasian Union going to affect trade with the EU?

As far as the European Parliament is concerned, I regard the resolution adopted to be a political tool apply-ing pressure on Ukraine. My country has never pulled Ukraine or any other country of the Eastern Partnership to-wards its side. It will be up to Ukraini-ans, Moldovans, Armenians, Georgians and others to make their decisions. Of the six countries of the Eastern Partner-ship, Armenia has said it is joining the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union, Azerbaijan, from what I know, has displayed no interest in an associa-tion agreement with the European Un-ion, Belarus was actually never asked. So that leaves us with three countries: Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. I don’t know much about Georgia, we don’t even have diplomatic relations. Ukraine and Moldova will need to take a deci-sion. It may be easy and comfortable to follow two parallel tracks, promoting co-operation with the EU and with the Customs Union and the Eurasian Eco-nomic Space. That’s all very good, but there comes a point where there are legal benchmarks along each track. So

the single legal benchmark on the track of Eurasian integration is a country becoming a full member. On the EU track the situation is different. Nobody in the EU has ever promised to any of those countries full membership and, according to my understanding, does not intend to do that in any foreseeable future. In the meantime though, those countries, if they sign an association agreement, they will be obliged to take certain legal commitments, like align-ing their national legislation with the acquis communautaire in various fields and that may create problems in their further relations with the Russia-Be-larus-Kazakhstan Customs Union for obvious reasons. I would like to stress there is no ideology in this, there’s hardly any politics. It’s only economics, it is calculation. If they proceed to es-tablish what is described by a beautiful expression “Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area” (though I have not heard of a shallow and incomprehen-sive one), then, of course, countries in the Customs Union would have to cal-culate the risks in their bilateral trade with any of these countries, namely Ukraine or Moldova. It’s pure arithme-tic, and what the Russian Government is providing is giving a transparent view on this, showing the opportuni-ties on the one hand, and the risks on the other hand.

But energy can be an instrument of pressure...

There are certain tariffs within the Customs Union, naturally. Members of the Customs Union enjoy certain lower tariffs between themselves and, of course, those countries that are not members of the Customs Union have to

deal with different tariffs. I wouldn’t re-gard it as political pressure. It is rather an objective expression of market economy.

In the beginning of summer we spoke about visa issue between Rus-sia and the EU.

Little has changed since then, un-fortunately.

Do you expect the games in Sochi to help advance visa talks?

I certainly hope so. Also, a Gov-ernment decision is being prepared in Russia. It has been announced already that tourists transiting or visiting Rus-sia for a short period up to 72 hours may enjoy a visa-free entry and the Russian Government will be looking at the list of countries this new proce-dure will extend to. So that might serve as another incentive for the European Union, I hope. In this case, we can re-ally speak about pressure – pressure from the business communities, pres-sure from the tourist industry that are making this point quite eloquently that visas are hampering their work and their contribution to people-to-people contacts. Actually, I spoke to a number of colleagues representing EU member states from the southern part of the Eu-ropean Union and they all say that in these times of crisis the tourist indus-try is a major stabilising factor and they are counting on Russian tourists a lot.

So we really need to pursue this. This is not a one-way street. You cannot say it’s a unilateral concession to Rus-sia because people on the EU side and I mean not only the business commu-nity and the tourist industry but also the general public are keenly interested in solving this issue.

Syria, energy put Russia in the focus on world stage

A Gazprom employee works at the gas measuring station Sudzha, just 200 metres from the Ukrainian border, Kursk region, Russia. Gazprom is a major gas supplier to the EU.|EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Oil Falls As Geopolitical

Tensions Ease

By Kostis Geropoulos

Energy Insider

Oil prices have dropped as Libya’s output increased, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he will provide international inspectors access to chemical weapons facilities and Iran’s new President Hassan Rowhani appeared to strike a conciliatory note with the West.Fadel Gheit, a senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer in New York, told New Europe that the reason for the price fell was “easing of global tension, partial restoration of Libya’s oil export and increased oil export from Saudi Arabia to slow down rising oil prices. Saudi Arabia does not want oil prices to derail global economic recovery because it hurts them in the long term”.The Saudis also increased oil production in order for Riyadh to stabilise the market when Libya production was halted a few weeks ago as oil fields and ports were shut amid protests. How-ever, Libyan oil production will rise because of the restart of al-Sharara and el-Fil fields.Unrest suppressed the Libya’s oil potential. “If Libya ends up getting back to 1.3 million barrels per day, I think you will see oil prices going well below 100 per barrel in very short period of time,” Gheit said. “If there is no physical disruption or peo-ple shooting at facilities or terminals, then within two-three weeks the production could double or triple from the current level because there is nothing physically damaged. Basically, they [Libyans] were interfering with the loading of the ships because tribes are fighting over the whole get-the-right-of-the-oil revenue,” the Oppenheimer analyst added.On 20 September, New York’s main contract, West Texas Inter-mediate (WTI) for October delivery, was at $106.06 a barrel in morning trade. The European benchmark, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November, was at $108.61.Dwindling geopolitical concerns of a US-led military strike on Syria also helped to dampen prices. “Any moderation or cool-ing off in the Middle East will tend to bring oil prices down,” Gheit said.Assad said in an interview with Fox News that meeting the dis-closure and inspection conditions under the Chemical Weap-ons Convention, the international accord banning such arms, is “no problem, we can do it tomorrow”.Syria borders Iraq and is near Iran, countries that are major Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) producers.Meanwhile, Rowhani said in an interview with NBC that Iran was not seeking war but rather peace in the region when spe-cifically asked about Israel. He added that he would never seek to develop a nuclear weapon. He also said he has authority to negotiate a deal with Washington.Gheit pointed out that if the West ends up lifting the economic sanctions from Iran, Tehran will be able to sell oil in the open market at much higher rate. “Eventually what Iran is desperate-ly in need of is really to prop up its economy. Because the Mul-lahs in Iran know that they are on shaky ground because at the end of the day you cannot keep people angry, hungry and poor for too long,” Gheit said. “They want to beef up their economy and that can only happen with total lifting of the sanctions with the renouncement of their nuclear goal or ambitions but most importantly if foreign capital gets back to Iran.” KGeropoulos@NEurope.eu follow on twitter @energyinsider

14 EU-WORLD NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

By Brian Murphy, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates— More than six months ago, Dr. Mahmoud al-Jaidah was asked to step out of line as he transited through Dubai en route home to Qatar. He has been held ever since, allowed to visit his family once a month after a blindfolded trip from an undis-closed detention facility.

UAE authorities have given no public state-ments on the case. But the family of the 52-year-old doctor has no doubt why he was detained: He has been caught up in the escalating pressures across the Western-backed Gulf states against the now-battered Muslim Brotherhood and its per-ceived Islamist allies.

The crackdowns in the Gulf began more than a year before the Muslim Brotherhood’s political collapse in Egypt this July, but now they take on wider regional implications, mesh-ing with the campaign of arrests by Cairo’s new military-protected leadership against the Broth-erhood.

The Egyptian military’s ouster of President Mohammed Morsi on July 3 further embold-ened the UAE and other Gulf states to step up arrests of suspected Brotherhood supporters, whom they see as a threat to the Gulf ’s tightly run fraternity of monarchs, sheiks and emirs.

And in turn, several Gulf countries have stepped up as critical sources of cash for Egypt’s new military-backed leadership as it cracks down on Morsi’s Brotherhood. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have promised Cairo $12 billion in aid. Several thousand Brotherhood members and other Islamists have been arrested in Egypt since Morsi’s fall.

“The Gulf states and Egypt are now bonded together in the belief of the Muslim Brotherhood as their common enemy,” said Christopher Da-vidson, an expert in Gulf affairs at Britain’s Dur-ham University. “This is a powerful alliance.”

The Gulf ’s rulers have long considered the Brotherhood as a danger. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the Brotherhood’s version of political Islam is seen as a challenge to the country’s mon-archy backed by the strict Wahhabi interpreta-tion of Islam. The group is also seen as part of the wave of Arab Spring upheavals, which so far Gulf rulers have ridden out, though not without clampdowns on social media and other tools of budding political opposition.

Now, Gulf officials have become fearful of anything that could serve as potential footholds for the Brotherhood. In rhetoric at least, the group has begun to replace Iran as the most wor-risome threat in the eye of many officials. The ex-ception is Qatar, which has cultivated the Broth-erhood regionwide and strongly backed Morsi.

In July, Dubai’s police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, warned of an “international plot” by the Brotherhood to undermine Gulf leaders and expropriate the region’s huge riches. Last week, he posted a Twitter message directed at the Brotherhood and its backers: “You must know that everyone from the ocean to the Gulf hates you.”

“My father is a victim of this kind of this paranoid thinking,” said Hasan al-Jaidah, the son of the detained doctor. “My father’s political views are of no threat to anyone. He is no radi-cal or seeking to overthrow anyone. What are the charges? What are they claiming he did?”

Al-Jaidah’s family claims he has no active role with the Brotherhood and says he worked as the assistant manager of medical services for state-run Qatar Petroleum.

The accusations against others have been se-vere: Seeking to topple the UAE’s ruling families.

In early July, 69 people — including a cousin of one of the UAE’s ruling sheiks — received prison sentences of up to 15 years after being convicted of links to an Islamist group, Al-Islah, suspected of ideological ties to the Brotherhood. Some of those jailed launched a hunger strike more than a month ago, alleging abuses behind bars. At least three people have been taken into custody for social media posts about the trial, said the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders. One of them, blogger Waleed al-She-hhi, has been held since May.

The UAE also says it’s planning another high-profile trial against 30 Egyptian and Emi-rati suspects for alleged coup plots linked to the Brotherhood. This is in addition to ongoing ar-rests such as al-Jaidah’s.

The doctor has been allowed to see family members once a month since he was detained Feb. 26, said his son Hasan. His father is brought blindfolded to the meeting spot in Abu Dhabi, not knowing where he is being held. “We have no privacy at all with him,” said Hasan. “Secu-rity officials are sitting right there at the table with us.” Last month, a Dubai-based Egyptian journalist, Anas Fouda, claimed he was held in a secret UAE prison for a month on suspicion of

Brotherhood ties. Fouda was deported and now lives in Qatar.

“I went through a kind of hell for no reason,” said Fouda, who denies being an active Brother-hood supporter. “I am not the only one.” In Cai-ro, Sara Sonbol says UAE authorities in Decem-ber blocked the airport departure of her father, Mohammad Ali Sonbol, a Muslim Brotherhood supporter working in Dubai for decades. Later, they arrested him.

“A force of maybe 10 people came and they took him ... We called the police (and they said) that they have no idea and it could be a national security thing,” she said.

Pro-government newspapers in Saudi Ara-bia often feature statements by King Abdullah equating protests by Brotherhood supporters in Egypt against that country’s new leadership as “sedition.” Last month, a Kuwaiti cleric was dismissed from a Saudi-owned TV channel for Brotherhood links.

In Kuwait, where Brotherhood-affiliated groups have some political space, a lawmaker in January urged officials to be on the alert for Brotherhood “sleeper cells” opposing the U.S.-backed emir.

“What’s happening in the UAE is very sad indeed,” said former Kuwaiti lawmaker Mo-hammad al-Dallal, whose Islamic Constitution Movement has ideological links to the Brother-hood, though its ties to the group are strained af-ter some Brotherhood leaders were seen as sup-porting Iraq in its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. “We hope that they would put an end to this soon.”

UAE officials decline to comment directly about the Muslim Brotherhood arrests, but have used editorials and state-backed groups to make their case. Salem Humaid, director of the Al-Mezmaah Studies and Research Center — which Humaid said was created to “give voice” to official positions — described the Brotherhood as “terrorists” seeking to bring down the UAE’s cosmopolitan society.

He boldly predicted: “This is the end of their story ... No more Muslim Brotherhood.”

Davidson believes the Brotherhood also plays a convenient role as “bogey man” as Gulf states increasingly tighten political controls since the Arab Spring.

“They need to portray them as an enemy of the state,” said Davidson. “This justifies the harsh measures adopted to protect the state.” (AP)

UAE leads Gulf front against Egypt’s Islamists

Muslim brotherhood members and ousted president Mohammed Morsi supporters light up flares during a demonstration against the military backed government on 10 September in Cairo, Egypt. |AFP PHOTO/MAHMOUD KHALED

By Julhas Alam, Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Tuesday 17 September, sentenced a leader of an opposition political party to death for committing crimes against humanity during the nation’s 1971 independ-ence war against Pakistan.The Jamaat-e-Islami party leader, Abdul Quader Mollah, was found guilty by a spe-cial war crimes tribunal in February and sen-tenced to life in prison. That sentence was ap-pealed by both the defense and prosecution.On Tuesday, a five-member panel headed by

Chief Justice M. Muzammel Hossain ruled that Mollah be put to death for his role dur-ing the war. The panel found him guilty of or-dering the killing of a family of four during a Pakistani army crackdown in Dhaka in March 1971.Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said this was the final verdict and there was no option for another appeal. He said Mollah’s family can seek presidential clemency.Defense counsel Abdur Razzaq said they were “stunned” by the decision.Hours after the verdict, Mollah’s said it would enforce a 48-hour general strike beginning

Wednesday morning across the country to de-nounce the ruling. Somoy TV station report-ed Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing activists torched a police car and smashed another car in southeastern city of Chittagong while pro-testing the verdict. No injuries were reported.Mollah and his supporters say the case against him is politically motivated. Mollah’s party is a key ally of the country’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by for-mer Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, an archrival of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.Hasina formed the special tribunal in 2010 to try war crimes suspects. Bangladesh says Pa-

kistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed 3 million people and raped 200,000 women during the nine-month war.Zia has accused the government of using war crimes trials as a guise to weaken the opposi-tion. The government denies the allegation and says it rose to power in 2008 with the prosecution of war crimes suspects as one of its key election pledges.The government says the trials are being held at an international standard, but New York-based Human Rights Watch has raised ques-tions about the impartiality of the tribunal.The earlier sentence against Mollah led to protests across the country by supporters as well as those who said the sentence was too lenient.

Bangladesh: Execution for war crimes convict

15ARTS & CULTURENEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

By T.B.

Fifteen years ago, a group of French sci-entists came up with a crazy idea to build an authentic medieval castle using

only the techniques and ironware tools of that era. The result was an educational and tourism success story.

Built deep in a large forest in Burgundy (just a two-hour drive from Paris), there is nothing in the castle’s immediate surroundings to remind visitors of the 21st century. Known as the Guédelon, this fascinating 13th century replica has attracted the interest of tourists far and wide.

The Guédelon is proof of what scientists and history buffs can do with just a little bit of imagination. They can realise even the most eccentric pipe dream.

A Medieval castle had never before been built in the forest where the Guédelon is being built today. There are, however, Medieval cas-tles located several kilometres away, as is the case in most parts of France. But it was in this forest that the builders were able to find the same sandstone, wood and the red Burgundy clay that was used in the Middle Ages to build castles and other structures.

To replicate the 13th century castle, a team of adventurous masons worked just as they would have worked 2,000 years ago. And they are still working - building, stone after stone af-ter stone, in front of the thousands of tourists

who flock to this forest to witness this extraor-dinary feat.

And to think that it all started by one vi-sionary named Michel Guyot, who is pas-sionate about medieval castles. In 1979 he purchased a historic castle, the Chateau de Saint-Fargeau, for several thousand Francs. He then spent the next 20 years restoring it.

It was this restoration project, which was undertaken by a group of historians and archaeologists who inspired Guyot to con-struct the Guédelon. He wanted to observe

firsthand the difficulties faced by builders in the Middle Ages.

Another key person in this wonderful ad-venture is Marylin Martin, who, after studying the art history in Paris, decided to move into her family home, which is not too far from the secluded forest where the Guédelon is being built.

But even more remarkable is the fact that both Martin and Guyot decided to make this construction project, not in secret, but in full view and accessible to the public. This is no doubt a unique opportunity for anyone who wants to learn about the Middle Ages. Since the site opened to the public in 1998, it has

been one of the region’s most popular tourist attractions. The castle is scheduled to be com-pleted in 2025.

Today, the Guédelon construction site takes visitors thousands of years back into the Middle Ages. There are no cars or machines - not even air conditioners. The only thing one hears is the sound of the ironware tools being used by the masons and the sound of horse-drawn wagons.

It’s by far an unforgettable spectacle for the thousands of tourists who flock to the site to watch the construction of the Guédelon. They watch as builders carve the stones and place them in a row and they watch how the builders lift wooden constructions with wooden tow trucks. Visitors also learn how tiles used to be baked and how the walls were built.

Around the castle are the shops of various craftsmen: the blacksmith, potter, butcher and the women who spin and weave. Everything is being made just as it would have been in the 13th century.

There are even animals - cows, pigs and horses used to draw carts and wagons.

The Guédelon project has brought togeth-er professionals, workers as well as volunteers (mainly students).

It’s a real adventure and one of the most unique opportunities for scientific study. The Guédelon has allowed scientists to investigate and compare what they see in the ruins of the past.

The Guédelon’s educational role cannot be overestimated. As many as 60,000 school children visit the castle each year.

Iceland’s popular and unique Reykjavík Inter-national Film Festival, which opens on Sep-tember 26, has announced this year’s agenda of events.

The festival, now in its 10th year, will wow audiences with its new Cave Cinema experi-ence and promises to bring back past visitors with the return of its famous Swim-in Cinema where people can watch films while swim-ming in a pool.

But the new Cave Cinema is what most people are talking about this year. Festival

organisers, in cooperation with the Arctic Ad-ventures staff, will give visitors the chance to screen a “secret film” in a cave near Reykjavík, Iceland’s capital.

This year’s annual Swim-in Cinema – a favourite attraction – will take place at the Laugardalslaug indoor pool. The film to be screened will be the 1980s classic comedy Air-plane! The festival’s agenda boasts films - dra-mas and non-fiction - from around the world. The emphasis this year will be on new and in-dependent filmmakers.

As Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki ap-proaches his 80th birthday, he says he is work-ing on a new opera and some chamber music, and has no plans to retire.

Penderecki met with reporters on Mon-day to discuss a festival of his music in Warsaw to celebrate his birthday in November. Well-known musicians such as violinist Anne-So-phie Mutter and conductor Lorin Maazel will perform his concertos, a symphony and reli-

gious music. Poland also plans to issue a col-lectors’ bank note marking his birthday with an image of him conducting.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Penderecki ex-perimented with sound and scale, but later turned to large forms for orchestra and choir. He now favors chamber music.

Penderecki, who taught at the Yale School of Music in the 1970s, has won three Grammy Awards. (AP)

Guédelon: A visit to the Middle Ages

Films in caves and more

Poland to celebrate Penderecki’s 80th birthday

AnnA MAriA LeonhArd

16 ARTS & CULTURE NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

By Douglass K. Daniel, Associated Press

“The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact With Hitler” (Belknap Press), by Ben Urwand

Using the loaded word “collaboration” to link Adolf Hitler and Hollywood may be in-terpreted by readers as a charge that the movie industry aided America’s enemy. Author Ben Urwand points to the term in correspond-ence from the period, but he fails to back up the premise inherent in the title of his book exploring the ways some U.S. studios bent to the will of Nazi Germany.

While “The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact With Hitler” contributes to our knowl-edge about U.S. films in the Nazi era, a surpris-ing dearth of context undermines the author’s central thesis and leaves major questions un-explored. For instance, was there Hollywood “collaboration” with other fascist govern-ments?

Yet, underneath the hyperbole of the title is a fascinating struggle. To keep distributing their movies in Germany in the 1930s, studios agreed to placate Nazi officials who sought to shape American movies for all audiences, not just those in Germany. At the same time, the Nazis recognized the entertainment and eco-nomic value of American films and wanted to keep them in theaters. As Urwand explains, the goal at first was nationalism. Nazi-led dem-onstrations drove the anti-war film “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930) from German theaters. Universal Pictures eventually agreed to reissue worldwide prints of the winner of the best-picture Oscar. Scenes of frightened Ger-man soldiers and other actions deemed hurtful

to German national pride were trimmed.After Hitler became chancellor, in 1933,

the Nazi representative in Los Angeles per-suaded movie executives to change scripts, edit films and avoid or abandon some projects. The proposed anti-Hitler movie “The Mad Dog of Europe” drew the Nazis’ ire and was never made. When Warner Bros. ignored ob-jections to the war film “Captured!” (1933), its movies were banned in Germany from then on. A new goal emerged: keeping Jews off movie screens when practical. Nazi censors removed MGM’s “The Prizefighter and the Lady” (1933) from German theaters because its star, boxer Max Baer, was a Jew portraying a heroic winner. Later, Jewish names would be cut from the credits of American films and a blacklist of individuals — anti-fascist artists as well as Jews — would be threatened.

By 1936, only three of eight leading U.S. studios — MGM, 20th Century-Fox and Para-mount — were still willing or able to work with the Nazis. They continued to give in to Nazi concerns about anti-fascist films. MGM sanitized the plot of “Three Comrades” (1938), moved the setting to the pre-Nazi era and made other changes as the pressure continued.

Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 and the Eu-ropean market for films began to dry up. The studios began releasing anti-Nazi movies like Fox’s “Four Sons” and MGM’s “The Mortal Storm” (both 1940), prompting Germany to ban all their films. (Paramount would be ban-ished over its newsreels.) Thus, “the collabo-ration” actually ended while the U.S. was still neutral, and a year before Germany declared war on America.

By Federico Grandesso

In an exclusive interview, Robert Duvall, one of Hollywood’s most distinguished ac-tors, talks to Federico Grandesso about his

film career and about what he thinks is wrong about modern society.

Duvall, 82, is an award-winning actor and director. He is best-known for his roles in some of the most acclaimed films such as To Kill a Mockingbird, Apocalypse Now and the God-father. He is the winner of four Golden Globe awards, An Academy Award and two Emmy Awards.

New Europe: Why do you choose to take on a role in a movie?

Robert Duvall: I don’t have one way, I sometimes do it because the character is so well written or the story is so compelling then if I have done a drama recently I want to play in a comedy or vice-versa. Again if it’s well writ-ten, which is so rare these days, it’s a big plus.

At this point in your career, have you thought about working in Europe?

I would like to do a number of films in Europe. I come from America, which was for a long time the place where second sons went because there was no future in Europe, a revolutionary country that gifted the world with one system that respected mankind more than any other. After this bright period, I see that this American system is failing so dra-matically now so anything that will help to bring back the idea, that this is something to be cherished, is a good thing. I started about 10 years ago to put acting from one side and I went to Oxford to develop a civic centric CV from public schools. Then 10 years ago I red a book in US called The machine that would go by itself, and later I wrote to the author of that book saying that I thought that that title was wrong. On the contrary, America is now a machine that doesn’t run by itself and it needs desperately work

So, you went to study civics in Oxford?Yes, I was senior research adviser and I stud-

ied the damage done by the absence of teaching civics. Then when I came back home I started to speak to people about that. I spoke to almost

75,000 citizens and I never had even one person disagree about the fact of teaching civics to the young generations.

After that I went to Washington and didn’t find even one organisation representing all those people, willing to say that they were in favour of teaching civics. It is incredible and disgraceful. This is going to be terribly missed when it’s gone. In America, no matter what your political ideas are, you get intellectual and crea-tive reach and after that come the rewards. Now the system that replaces ours will never give you the reward and will tell you what to invent. In the past we were a truly revolutionary nation because we changed the course of history - away

from where it had been languidly going - and changed our goals, direction and the values of the entire western world. Now we are being told that we don’t have to pay attention about all that, this is ignorance.

Sometimes we say that Europe has a lot to learn from America. Do you think this is it still true?

On one side, Europe has thousands of years on America in how to oppress the poor. They were doing that for a longer period. But they were shocked during Hurricane Katrina when they watched that the American government abandoned a city which had been victim of natural disaster.

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Robert Duvall, one of Hollywood’s most distinguished actor

Exclusive: Film icon Robert Duvall speaks to New Europe

‘The Collaboration’ knocks Hollywood too hard

17fashion & styleNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 september, 2013

The summer party continues as London supports design ‘Made in Britain’ by celebrating London fashion week on

its famous red buses, busy tube stations, and in its decorated arty window shops.

With Christopher Kane’s botanology-inspired collection, flower woman takes part in a science project: plant science plates served

as beautiful decorative cutouts on silk dresses and ensembles. The tiny-printed flowers on crêpe outfits and oversized petal cutouts with PVC edges were indeed an unexpected take on the floral theme! Particularly noticeable were the impressive iridescent dresses, as well as drapes, both of which were quite new for Kane.

As for Michael van der Ham, he

remained faithful to his very own style, and experimented with various texture and motif combinations to make his ever more precious collages. The addition of embroidery and dark lace and the mixing of abstract and stylised floral motifs along with rough and silky fabrics to his patchwork designs, certainly hinted at a creative maturing.

Mary Katrantzou continued her exploration of daily objects and traditional crafts. This season, she sought inspiration in leather goods in general and shoemaking in particular, which she used as prints for her daytime outfits. Buckles, eyelets, laces and brogue motifs were all zoomed in and featured in mocha, dark green and navy blue. More colourful outfits were sneaker-inspired with a plastic, neon-toned aesthetic. As for Katrantzou’s evening dresses, they took on a more Cinderella-like air: pastel and vivid floral prints, in ‘wrapped present’ shapes.

Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos used aquatic colours and digital prints on extraordinary bell-shaped dresses with bustle-like cages that winked at crinolines. Some dresses interestingly also had ‘cage’ prints, while many tops and jackets were kimono-shaped, a common trait in Pilotto collections. The pair also used fiery tones and matched geometrical prints with more calligraphic, floral ones for a dramatically luxurious effect.

David Koma showed clean-cut sporty Amazon looks in ‘tough’ leather and sharp contrasting colours: mainly white and black but also periwinkle and electric blue, as well as some milder pastels – all of which owned a pleasantly familiar 80s action woman and Sci-Fi heroine spirit.

Jonathan Saunders’ sports chic pieces

were an ode to colour: delightful Asian florals paired with abstract digital-printed dresses, numerous silk shorts and equally shiny bomber jackets. Some shirts and shorts were ‘colour-graded’ as Saunders has accustomed us to: his favourite light blue with ruby red and emerald green with pale pink, all in a vivid collage style.

Last but not least, for Fyodor Golan, designer duo Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman presented a collection that had a distinct ‘classic with a twist’ feel to it: neat, elegantly tailored pastel dresses with embroidered detailing and a touch of retro, as well as pretty ethereal sun pleated-dresses.

Louise Kissa lkissa@neurope.eu

Think BritLONDON FASHION WEEK: SPRING/SUMMER 2014

PETER PILOTTO© Andrew Cowie/AFP

MARY KATRANTZOU© Andrew Cowie/AFP

JONATHAN SAUNDERS© Andrew Cowie/AFP

MICHAEL VAN DER HAM© Michael van der Ham

CHRISTOPHER KANE© Christopher Kane

FYODOR GOLAN© Andrew Cowie/AFP

DAVID KOMA© Andrew Cowie/AFP

18 BRUSSELS AGENDA NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

Monday, 30 September Botanique, Witloof Bar

Returning to a Botanique ven-ue for the first time since 2008, Born Ruffians will come to the Witloof Bar on 30 September, along with opening act Moon King. When the band started out in 2004, they were called Mornington Drive and inde-pendently released an album called The Makeshift Metric Catastrophe. They changed their name in 2006 and re-de-buted with a self-titled EP, in-cluding their first popular track, “This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life.”

Their first full album, Red, Yellow & Blue, is comparable to the calming happiness of The Dodo’s 2008 album Visiter, particularly the song “Walking.” The band was living together in a basement at the time and pick-ing up to write as they pleased, and it shows in the music how in synch they were.

When it came time to work on a second album, the

band had moved into separate apartments and worked on Say It for six months in a studio in 2010. That could be why their sound changed and drew a dif-ferent audience. It has a funkier, catchier sound and drives the frequent comparison of the group to Tokyo Police Club, as “Retard Canard” has nearly the same fluttering beat and feel as TPC’s 2010 song “Bambi” while “Higher” recalls TPC’s 2008 song, “Graves.”

Now, for the band’s third al-

bum, they’ve taken on a fourth member to fill out their stage performance sound and moved into a barn together to focus on picking up and writing while it’s fresh, like they used to. It is a return to their calm, soulful beginning, with the undertone of their memorable catchiness blended in. Single “Needle” is the perfect example of the band coming together again and is without a doubt their most popular tune to date, for good reason.

Kate Nash

Born Ruffians with Moon King

Mamma RomaRue Francois Libert, Waterloo02 351 8205www.mammaroma.be It´s become the fashionable place to eat pizza in Brussels and now those living outside the city can also sample the undoubted delights of this terrific chain. Opened 18 months ago,the Waterloo branch of Mamma Roma also offers a 50-seat terrace (a rar-ity locally) and delivery service to neigh-bouring towns, including Braine L`Alleud.The food, though, remains the same, in other words, top notch. The pizzas here have a thicker base than at most Belgian pizzerias but they are, if anything, much nicer than anything you´ll find here. Customers can choose from a range of differ-ent absolutely mouth-watering toppings, including potato and trufle, egg plant, cherry and pump-kin. All are delicious.If you fancy taking in a movie this branch also offers a special and very afford-able €12.50 menu, including two pizza slices, one drink and ticket to the cinema round the corner. Most of the ingredients are supplied from the workshop at the Place Flagey branch, the first to open in what has rapidly become a very popular chain. If you haven´t yet checked out Mamma Roma, either at one of its Brussels branches or Waterloo, you really should try too.

Resto Bites

Upcoming EvEnts

After her first album, Made of Bricks, Nash be-came known for using sugar and spice pop music and her sweet British accent to cutely and even comically send snarkier messages, as with hit sin-gle “Foundations,” in 2007. She won a Brit award for Best British Female in 2008.

My Best Friend is You, Nash’s second album in 2010, did not retain her popularity as the al-bum had a much different feel to it and pushed her cheeky lyrical taste to a shocking new level. While “Do Wah Doo” from the album was used in the movie Bridesmaids and “Kiss That Grrrl” gained some attention, songs like “Don’t You Want To Share the Guilt” and “Mansion Song” have an uncomfortable confusion to the rants in them.

She was dropped by the label due to the flop of the second album, despite the success of “Do Wah Doo,” the style of which has been compared to a range of girl groups from The Runaways to The Supremes.

On the side, Nash had begun pursuing an-other interest – acting. She had a small role in

Greetings From Tim Buckley, one of a few recent biopics about the life of Jeff Buckley, as well as the 2013 movie Syrup. Her next venture, Powder Room, is a comedy and is set to release in the UK in November.

Following the drop, she created her own re-cord label, Have 10p Records, in order to have more control over her sound and release Death Proof EP, named for the Tarantino film, and her third album, Girl Talk, which came out this year. The album was produced with an all-girl band and has a quirky and feminine sound, more like her original album.

She has also released a full track-by-track commentary and an EP of remixes of single, “OHMYGOD!” which is about realizing how much you miss someone after a break-up. The song has a bubbly beat and catchy chorus, not to mention the relatable message, and has done extremely well.

Nash will perform at the Orangerie with 3-piece, all-girl band, The Tuts, a playful London group, who will open at 7:30 p.m.

Courtesy of the Windish Agency

Tuesday, 24 September, Botanique, Orangerie

Since being unexpectedly dropped by her label, Fiction Records, in 2012, Kate Nash is staging a fierce comeback.

Courtesy of myignorantyouth.com

19TasTeNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 september, 2013

By Epicure

Italy’s famous Barolo wine is widely known as the “king of wines”. And this is more than just a good catchphrase

used by advertisers to market this legend-ary wine.

Made from the very best Nebbiolo grapes that are grown in Italy’s Piedmont region, Barolo wine is literally the wine of kings - created by the Marquise Julia Fall-etti and of Count Camillo Benso di Ca-vour. It is a worthy competitor for the fine wines of Burgundy.

Barolo’s reputation has put the small charmingly beautiful hamlet of Barolo (home to just 600 residents) on the map.

The Piedmont region in northern Ita-ly boasts a large production of high qual-ity wines. The village of Barolo is located 70km south of Turin in the centre of this famous wine region also known as the Langhe. The region has a temperate cli-mate and is just 300m above sea level. Its main characteristics are its hills covered with grapevines.

The Barolo region was awarded the coveted designation DOCG (Denomina-zione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) in recognition of its high level of fine Ital-ian wines. To this day, Barolo wine is a true ambassador of the Piedmont region and of Italian products in general.

The village is one of Italy’s top desti-nations for wine enthusiasts and profes-sionals. The latter justifies the existence of the village’s large number of banks. As re-gards the tourists, they flock to the Palace of Faletti and the local municipal cellar, as well as the Corkscrew Museum, which is located next door.

This is mainly to indulge all their senses - to taste the wine, enjoy the local cuisine and visit with winemakers. Barolo has one hotel, which opened its doors in 1905, and several boarding houses, as well as a couple of restaurants and wine stores and many producers. sitors a breathtaking view of the area as well as the Grinzane Cavour where the famous tower of the Ca-vour family is located. The nearby town of Cherasco is an international hub for snail farming, where one can try several exotic recipes with snails.

Back to BaroloThe Barolo wine was created by two

people with diverging political ideals. Gi-ulia Vittorina Colbert de Maulevrier ar-rived to the area to marry Marquis Carlo Tancredi Falletti di Barolo. A pious Chris-tian, conservative and fan of the monar-chy, he engaged in charity and founded the Opera Pia Barolo with the intention of training and assisting poor and under-privileged young women.

The Marquise owned vast expanses of vineyards and her wine quickly became famous largely due to Faletti’s relationship with the royal family and nobles of Pied-

mont. This helped to promote the wine.The other founder of Barolo wines

was Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who was known for his democratic ideals and anti-clerical views. Cavour had served as prime minister of the kingdom of Pied-mont and fought for their unification to Italy. Before this, however, his family had sent to Palace Cavour to protect him from possible prosecution for his beliefs.

It was there that this young politician launched a land reform program giving impulse in wine production. Cavour had initially tried to grow the variety of f Bur-gundy Pinot Noir, but quickly discovered the power of local variety Nebbiolo.

In 1843, he enlisted the help of a fa-mous French scientist, Louis Oudart, and began to produce, in the palace’s base-ment, a wine according to the French method, exclusively from grapes Nebbio-lo, he called Barolo.

The cooperation of the Marquis and the Count, with the help of French experts produced a wine that could give beautiful results with age and also made the region famous beyond the borders of Piedmont and Italy.

The variety Nebbiolo, which is used exclusively in the production of Barolo, was known as far back as the 14th centu-ry. The harvest is in late September. The wine is aged three years in barrels.

The barrels marked Riserva contain wines aged for more than five years. Its alcohol content should be at least 13 de-grees though it is not rare to find Barolo wine with an alcohol content of 14 and 14.5 degrees.

Bureaucracy hits Barolo winesIn Barolo, producers have their own

way of making wine. This, however, is something that today’s bureaucrats in Rome may not fully understand. Over the next few months, when the 2010 vintage of Barolo will be launched, a new rule comes into force which prohibits more than one cru name on Barolo labels.

What’s the reasoning behind this new rule that will ultimately deny local produc-ers to blend the Nebbiolo grape wines from different vineyards or crus?

This is the question on the minds of the producers who enjoy a long tradition of blending different crus - a tradition that dates back to the original producers. The famous Marquise, argue the distraught producers, not only blended within the Barolo community, but with the different communities such as the Serralunga d’Alba and La Morra. The issue of how to blend and label Barolo’s crus has to be resolved by early next year.

Aware of the anarchy in nomenclature, the main Barolo body, the Consorzio, re-cently required each community to register their crus in preparation of the new ban on bi-cru naming. The result is an official list of no fewer than 180 crus shared between some 1,000 hectares of vineyards that pro-duce Barolo - despite the recent dramatic increase in plantings of the required Neb-biolo vines.

This new one-crus system that officials in Rome want to introduce, however, very much reflects the French appellation con-trôlée system in general and that of Bur-gundy in particular.

A view of the Palace of Falletti di Barolo.| AnnA MAriA LeonhArd

Quenching China’s thirst for BordeauxThe Germans are no longer the biggest importer of Bordeaux wine in the world. It’s the Chinese and their thirst for the famous red is driving up prices. Now a new movie, Red Obsession (a highlight of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival) is telling the story of China’s newfound love for this delicate wine. Directed by Australians Warwick Ross and Davide Roach and nar-rated by Hollywood heartthrob Russell Crowe, the film follows the modern-day Silk Road from China to France and shows the Bordeaux winemakers as they scramble to cater to their new clientele.

Moldova calls on Russia to lift wine banMoldova’s prime minister has called on Russia to join in talks about reversing Moscow’s ban on imports of Mol-dovan wine and saving this $60m export. Prime Minister Iurie Leanca has asked Moscow “to develop a system of exporting alcoholic beverages” in line with bilateral trade agreements and based on World Trade Organisation rules. President Nicolae Timofti has called Russia’s ban “unfriendly.” Russia, on the other hand, says Moldovan wine and brandy were banned because they do not meet quality standards. But many in Moldova suspect the ban is an attempt to dissuade Moldova (a former Soviet re-public) from signing an association agreement with the European Union in November.

Mooncakes banned in BeijingMooncakes — the hockey-puck-sized pastries Chinese give each other every year for the mid-autumn festival — were always more about tradition than delicacy. Some people don’t even like them. But in recent years, as cor-ruption eroded confidence in government, the unscru-pulous made the dense, calorific cakes even sweeter. To-day, luxurious boxes of mooncakes can contain far more than the traditional filling of lotus seed or red bean paste and a salted egg yolk symbolizing the moon. Some have rare ingredients such as abalone, shark fins or bird’s nest. Gift sets can even include items such as gold coins, top-notch wines, mobile phones and diamond rings. As part of its fight against corruption, China’s Communist Party leadership has now banned the use of public money to buy the pastries and associated gifts. The mooncakes have become common as gifts from offices and state-owned companies to employees. Some 280,000 tonnes of mooncakes (about €2bn worth) were sold in China last year.

Prosecco or Prosek?The European Union’s recent decision to forbid Croa-tia from continuing to use the word “Prosek” to define the country’s famous southern Dalmation sweet dessert wine has angered Croats. But the ban, according to Brus-sels, is necessary because “Prosek” sounds too much like “Prosecco”, an Italian sparkling wine. Not convinced, Croatian winemakers complain the ban is unfair and that they were not even notified in time to come up with an alternative solution. They reportedly learned of the ban only a few weeks before their country’s accession to the EU in July.

Barolo: the king of Italian wine

20 TECHNOLOGY NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

By Stanislava Gaydazhieva

A mid clear trends of privacy de-cline and personal data erosion on a global scale, George Metak-

ides, President of the Digital Enlightenment Forum (DEF), says that the European Un-ion (EU) needs better and updated digital legislation. Metakides took part in a confer-ence devoted to personal data and citizen-ship in the digital society that takes place between 18-20 September in Brussels.

“It is not a question of more legislation, but better, updated legislation”, says the DEF president and adds that the European Commission does not necessarily need to regulate more and introduce more legis-lation in the digital sphere. According to Metakides, “We have moved to a situation when the old basic concepts are no longer operational”. He gives the EU’s Data Protec-tion Directive as an example, saying that it does not take into account important devel-opments since 1995 when it was adopted. In his words, the document talks about outdated concepts of regulation (mainly on the organisations gathering data and on in-formed consent) that used to be basic con-cepts at the time.

“Those concepts have already lost their meaning because both companies and gov-ernments nowadays first collect the data and just then look for a purpose for their ac-tions,” explains the expert.

In 2012, the European Commission

proposed a major reform of the EU legal framework on the protection of personal data which is expected to strengthen indi-vidual rights and tackle the challenges of globalisation and new technologies.

It is believed that it has been mainly the technological progress and globalisation that have profoundly changed the way our data is collected, accessed and used.

However, the DEF president believes that data protection is not the only area where a European action is necessary. Ac-cording to Metakides, other areas that need update and where European legislation would be welcome include also tracking of users’ activities done by major companies, as well as the issue of free services.

“There is no such thing as a free service on the internet and users should know that

they pay by their personal data,” says Metak-ides and adds that the companies offering free services often tend to obscure the value of personal data, while users are not enough informed. “This revision undertaken by the EC should not be considered as a panacea” continues the DEF president and adds that he does not expect that the data protection reform would solve the problems that cur-rently exist. As regards the NSA revelations, Metakides says that they did not come as news to the people working in the technolo-gy field. Nevertheless, he elaborates that the disclosures changed the landscape because they made it clear to the broader public, a big part of which was unaware, how big data is being processed and in that sense made more people informed about how data is being used.

U.S. researchers said Monday they have created a “microbial battery” that har-nesses a special type of microbe to pro-duce electricity by digesting the plant and animal waste dissolved in sewage.The invention, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could potentially be used in places such as sewage treatment plants, or to break down organic pollutants in the “dead zones” of lakes and coastal waters where fertilizer runoff and other organic waste can deplete oxygen levels and suf-focate marine life.Scientists have long known of the exist-ence of what they call exoelectrogenic microbes -- organisms that evolved in airless environments and developed the ability to react with oxide minerals rather than breathe oxygen as we do to convert organic nutrients into biological fuel. During the past dozen years or so, several research groups have tried various ways to use these microbes as bio-generators, but tapping this energy efficiently has proven challenging.In the new study, researchers from the Stanford University devised “a simple yet efficient” way that puts naturally-occur-

ring “wired microbes” to work as mini power plants. The researchers plunged two electrodes, one positive, the other negative, into a bottle of wastewater to create a laboratory prototype about the size of a D-cell battery.At the battery’s negative electrode, colo-nies of wired microbes cling to carbon filaments that serve as efficient electrical conductors. Using a scanning electron microscope, the Stanford team captured images of these microbes attaching milky tendrils to the carbon filaments. “You can see that the microbes make nanow-ires to dump off their excess electrons,” said co-author Craig Criddle, a profes-sor in the department of civil and envi-ronmental engineering. About 100 of these microbes could fit, side by side, in the width of a human hair, the research-ers said. As these microbes ingest organic matter and convert it into biological fuel, their excess electrons flow into the car-bon filaments and across to the positive electrode, which is made of silver oxide, a material that attracts electrons, the re-searchers said.The electrons flowing to the positive node gradually reduce the silver oxide to

silver, storing the spare electrons in the process. According to the researchers, after a day or so the positive electrode has absorbed a full load of electrons and has largely been converted into silver. When the positive electrode is spent, it can be removed from the battery and re-oxidized back to silver oxide, releasing the stored electrons.Although there is far less energy poten-tial in wastewater, the microbial battery is worth pursuing because it could offset some of the electricity now use to treat wastewater, which currently accounts for about three percent of the total electrical load in the developed countries, said the researchers. The Stanford team, however, cautioned that finding a cheap but effi-cient material for the positive node will be their biggest challenge for developing devices for large-scale power production.“We demonstrated the principle using silver oxide, but silver is too expensive for use at large scale,” said co-author Yi Cui, an associate professor of materials science and engineering. “ Though the search is underway for a more practical material, finding a substitute will take time.” (Xinhua)

Now, hardly anyone in Talea uses the caseta.In just six months, more than 720 residents have signed up to use the new system. Local calls made on off-the-shelf cell-phones are free, and phoning relatives in Los Angeles costs just 20 centavos (1.5 cents) a minute. What’s more, every subscrib-er has a distinct mobile number.The system uses a small antenna to capture calls with a soft-ware-controlled base radio, essentially a generic radio set that can operate more cheaply and simply and use less power be-cause the software is now doing most of the work. Free and open-source software replace complex proprietary cellphone systems to receive, route and bill calls. Those programs are also designed to easily interface with Internet-based services such as Skype, linking the system to the outside world.The system has had some hiccups, including poor reception in some of the community’s outlying houses, occasional weather-related problems and momentary losses of Internet service. But it has generally worked well, and has proved so popular that the local assembly voted to impose a five-minute automatic cutoff to avoid saturating the lines.“It’s very convenient. The calls are good quality,” said Alejandro Lopez Canseco, 21, a member of the town council.The system was adopted following years of lobbying unsuc-cessfully for Mexican telecom companies to install cell service.“They said our community was very small; they needed places with at least 5,000 inhabitants,” resident Israel Hernandez said. “But in the mountains of Oaxaca, there aren’t many communi-ties of over 5,000.”Fed-up villagers held a traditional Indian assembly in March in Talea’s town square, and residents voted to invest about 400,000 pesos ($30,000) of municipal money in the tiny phone system, most of it for the antenna and radio base station. The system links to the Internet through a local wireless provider, sort of like a cellphone version of Skype or magicJack.One nonprofit group backing the system, Rhizomatica, says it could be a model for other isolated indigenous villages around the world, where some 700 million people lack affordable cell service. “There have been a lot of communities that have been declared no-go zones by the companies, mainly because they can’t make any money there. So the question is: How do you get these communities connected?” said Peter Bloom, a leader of Rhizomatica. Many obstacles remain, including that large companies have bought up the rights to the best parts of the telecommunications spectrum. For the micro systems to work well, they often need to use part of the spectrum owned by somebody else.“Some companies pay a lot of money for these licenses and they might feel threatened,” said Kurtis Heimerl, who set up a simi-lar village phone system in Indonesia this year.But David Burgess, CEO of San Francisco-based Range Net-works, which provided much of the technology for Talea’s sys-tem, suggested large telecom companies could rent out unused bits of spectrum to towns, organizations or small operators who want to provide rural service. After all, regulators in many countries are pressuring telecom companies to provide more universal coverage in unserved regions.“It gets the regulators off their back on universal service, it’s a public relations move, it expands the network,” Burgess said. “It allows them to get some revenue ... and it adds a bunch of new subscribers and encourages economic development.”Mexico’s leading cellphone company, Telcel, said in a statement that it does provide service to 200,000 communities across Mexico, including some with less than 5,000 inhabitants. It said it was investing almost $4 billion in a three-year period to improve its network and services in Mexico, though it did not address the Talea case.The system in Talea capitalizes on free and open-source soft-ware to receive, route and bill calls that can be downloaded from the Internet and run on a laptop. By sending calls over the internet, the town doesn’t have to pay to connect with big com-mercial carriers, which charge to route each call.

EU needs updated digital legislation, expert

‘Microbial battery’ created in lab to generate electricity from wastewater

Tumblr founder David Karp and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer | MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES/AFP

Tracking of users’ activities and free services could be EU’s next legislation target. AFP PHOTO / DPA/ RAINER JENSEN

21EUROPEAN UNIONNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

The Swedish government unveiled tax cuts in its pre-election budget bill.

“People who work should get more in their pocket,” said Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt at a press conference called by the government to announce the new measures.

This new round of tax credits pro-posed by the government will be worth 350 kronor for those earning an average salary of 27,000 kronor per month.

The Alliance parties also announced

plans to raise the threshold for state in-come tax. This will provide a further 250 kronor per month for those earning more than 38,000 kronor per month.

The government’s new taxation measures, which will cost the state some 15bn kronor in lost income tax revenue, have been widely criticised by the main opposition Social Democrats and some of the country’s leading economists.

Despite their criticism, the Social Democrats have promised not to reverse

the new tax rules if they win next year’s election.

The changes will come into effect in 2014 and form the last major budget-ary initiative of the parliamentary term, meeting the Alliance government’s man-ifesto pledge from the election in 2010.

According to the government, the new tax cuts are worth a loss in rev-enue because they will create as many as 13,000 new jobs which will be a big boost to the economy.

Government offers tax cuts ahead of elections

Poland|defence Industry

German defence firm to invest €40 million in PolandA unit of the German aerospace company MTU Aero Engines - the world’s largest producer of aircraft engines - has announced plans to expand its plant in Jasionka in southwest Poland. The €40m investment is expected to create some 250 new jobs According to Krzysztof Zuzak, the CEO of the plant in Poland, the new addition to the plant will be used to manufacture components for aircraft engines of the Geared Turbo Fan generation. The Polish plant is also looking to expand its research and develop-ment department and will hire some 40 engineers. MTU Aero Engines opened its 18,000 square-metre plant in Po-land four years ago.

Poland|economy

Jeronimo martins plans huge expansion in PolandPortugal’s leading food distributor Jeronimo Martins has announced plans to invest €1.4 billion in Poland over the next three years. According to Jeronimo Martins’ CEO Pedro Soares dos Santos, their ambitious plan is to open as many as 800 new discount supermarket Biedronka chain stores. The company currently operates more than 2,200 Biedronka stores in Poland and business is booming. “To-day Poland is the most important market for us – it gener-ates almost 70% of our group’s revenues and therefore we channel 70% of our investment outlays here,” Soares said. The first Biedronka shops opened in Poland in 1995.

denmark|socIet y

second-generation immigrants more danish than their parentsThe children born to first-generation immigrants in Den-mark are a lot more Danish than their parents, according to a new report by the Rockwool Foundation’s research unit. The report explored second-generation immigrant integration in Denmark and concludes that descendants of immigrants are showing different patterns of integra-tion than their parents. “We can see that the second gen-eration of immigrants are not as different from Danes as the first generation may have been,” Jens Bonke, a senior researcher at the Rockwool Foundation, told Denmark’s Politiken. “This closer relationship was in some ways expected, but we were surprised that it is so tight.” One of the report’s major findings is that descendents of im-migrants are both marrying and having children later in life than their parents. “Danish men and women marry much later because they receive more education,” Bonke told Politiken.

denmark|enerGy

Bye, bye BayerngasBayerngas Norge, an independent international oil and gas company based in Norway, has hinted it could walk away from its planned investment in Denmark’s rail infra-structure. The threat of withdrawing came after the Dan-ish government announced plans to increase taxes on oil companies. Bayerngas’ managing director, Arne Westeng, has reportedly accused the government of undermining the basis of the entire railroad investment. Westeng also announced his company’s plans to move activities to Nor-way and the United Kingdom.

A German index of economic optimism among investors rose more than expect-ed in September, underlining stronger growth prospects in Europe’s largest economy.

The ZEW index rose to 49.6 points from 42 in August, reaching its highest level in more than three years. Market

analysts had expected an increase to 45.The head of the ZEW think tank,

Clemens Fuest, said in a statement that “the financial market experts hold the view that the German economy is still gaining momentum”.

Fuest also said optimism rose due to improved prospects for the 17 countries

that use the euro currency. Meanwhile, a crisis over high public

debt has eased in the past year as mar-ket fears of a government default have ebbed. The Eurozone returned to mod-est growth of 0.3% in the second quarter. Germany had a more robust expansion at 0.7%

Investors confident about Germany

sWeden |tax

Germany |PaedoPhIlIa scandal

Germany |economy

With just a week to go before the Sep-tember 22 general election, the campaign has been jolted by a massive controversy involving the Green Party’s top candi-date, Jurgen Trittin.

According to Der Spiegel, one of Germany’s most respected news outlets and a major opinion leader in that coun-try, the 59-year-old is the latest politician to be dragged into the Green Party’s pae-dophilia scandal. He was responsible for a 1981 election platform that included a call for the decriminalisation of sex be-tween children and adults.

The platform belonged to the Got-tingen branch of the Alternative Green Initiative List (AGIL), a forerunner of the current Green Party, and was uncov-ered by political scientists Franz Walter and Stephan Klecha of the Gottingen In-stitute for the Study of Democracy. The institute was hired by the Green Party in May to head a full-scale investigation (which is costing the Greens more than €200,000) into the party’s past affilia-tions with paedophile activists back in the 1980s.

In an article published by the Die Tageszeitung earlier last week, Walter re-vealed that Trittin was one of five mem-bers of an editorial board that had signed off on the election manifesto that called for sex between minors and adults to be legalised.

Trittin did not deny Walter’s report, though he did admit it was a mistake. He told Die Tageszeitung that: “it was simply taken for granted that we adopt-ed one-to-one the demands of various fringe initiatives, such as those of the Homosexual Action Gottingen. The re-

sponsibility was mine and it’s a mistake I regret”.

But Trittin’s opponents in the elec-tion have jumped on the scandal and are using the issue to attack his entire campaign. They are also calling for his resignation.

Green Party candidate embroiled in paedophilia scandal

Germany’s Greens’ leader Juergen Trittin speaks at a press conference in Berlin, Ger-many, on 16 September. Trittin admitted “mistakes” over the party’s past support for sex with children. |AFP PHOTO / DPA /SOEREN STACHE /GERMANY OUT

22 EUROPEAN UNION NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

Lithuania|Economy

Rail Baltica gets the green lightTransportation ministers from five Baltic States gave the of-ficial green light to plans for a major railroad project that will connect their countries. On September 16, transportation ministers in Poland and Finland signed a declaration launch-ing the first phase of the European Union-funded project that foresees the construction of a railway they hope will ul-timately give a big boost to their local economies. Known as Rail Baltica, officials say it will take about ten years to com-plete. Welcoming the agreement, Lithuania’s Transport and Communications Minister Rimantas Sinkevicius said: “This declaration underlines the shareholders’ political will to im-plement Rail Baltica and build a line which is modern and adapted to high-speed trains. It will connect the five countries of the region. It is significant that the gauge of Rail Baltica - the European gauge - will connect the capitals of the Baltic States.” Sinkevicius also said Rail Baltica is a symbol of coop-eration between the five countries. He stressed the “unity and the joint efforts” needed for its implementation.

Estonia|Economy

h&m opens first shop in Estonia The Swedish clothing giant H&M has opened its first store in Estonia. More than 1,500 shoppers attended the grand open-ing in Tallinn last week. “We are very pleased to finally open our first store in Estonia,” said Marika Pyykko, H&M’s area manager in Estonia. “It has been a great day with wonderful feedback from the customers. We are proud of the great team we have found for the store.” H&M, which is Europe’s largest clothing retail chain, has announced plans to open two more stores in Estonia by the end of the year.

Latvia|DipLomacy

Latvia’s pm stirs catalan independence controversySpain’s foreign minister called the Latvian ambassador to his office last week to discuss his prime minister’s controversial statement about Catalan independence. Asked whether Lat-via would recognise Catalan independence, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said: “Provided there is legitimacy of the process, I would say, theoretically, why not?” Even though Dombrovskis was later quoted by the media as saying that his country has no formal position on the matter, his initial state-ment added fuel to the fire. The statement was made hot on the heels of a massive demonstration calling for Catalan inde-pendence. More than one million people showed their sup-port for Catalan independence on September 11 by joining hands to form a 400km human chain across the northeastern region of Spain.

uK|Fox hunting

The dangers of not fox huntingThe 2004 law to abolish fox hunting was hailed by animal rights groups and politicians alike who believed the ban would eradicate the cruel killing of foxes. But this was not the case. Those who used to hunt still do (illegally) and a growing num-ber of others are reportedly poisoning foxes. What is more, as foxes started making their way to towns (driven out of the countryside) city folk started to treat them like pets. They fed the foxes and even let them stay in their backyard. This, how-ever, has become rather dangerous. Foxes are now a regular presence on urban streets, spreading disease and attacking children. Three years ago two children were mauled down by a fox in their cots in Hackney. Most recently, a mother in Clapham found a fox licking her baby’s cheek while she slept.

Child beauty pageants may soon be banned in France, after a surprise vote in the French senate that rattled the pag-eant industry and raised questions about how the French relate to girls’ sexuality. Such contests, and the made-up, dolled-up beauty queens they produce, have the power to both fascinate and repulse, and have drawn criticism in several coun-tries. France, with its controlling tradi-tions, appears to be out front in pushing an outright ban.

French legislators stopped short of approving a measure banning any-one under 16 from modelling products meant for grown-ups — a sensitive sub-ject in a country renowned for its fashion and cosmetics industries, and about to host Paris Fashion Week.

The proposed children’s pageant amendment sprouted from a debate on a women’s rights law. The legislation, ap-proved by a vote of 197-146, must go to the lower house of parliament for further debate and another vote.

Its language is brief but sweeping: “Organising beauty competitions for children under 16 is banned.”

Parents, contest organisers and anyone who “encourages or tolerates children’s access to these competitions” could face up to two years in prison and €30,000 under the new law.

“We are talking about children who are only being judged on their appear-ance, and that is totally contrary to the development of a child,” the French amendment’s author, Chantal Jouanno, told The Associated Press.

“The question of the hyper-sexuali-sation is deeper in the United States than

in France, but the levees are starting to fall. Before we are hit by the wave, the point is to say very clearly: Not here,” said Jouanno.

She insisted she isn’t attacking par-ents, saying that most mums don’t real-ise the deeper societal problems the con-tests represent.

“When I asked an organiser why there were no mini-boy contests, I heard him respond that boys would not lower themselves like that,” she said in the sen-ate debate.

Michel Le Parmentier, who says he has been organising “mini-miss” pageants in France since 1989, passionately de-fended his business. He said he has been in discussions with legislators about regu-lating such pageants, but wasn’t expecting

an overall ban. He says his contests forbid makeup and high heels and corporate sponsors, and focus on princess dresses and “natural beauty” — and that he shouldn’t be lumped in with paedophiles or other contest organisers who capitalise on children for profit.

Still, he acknowledged that appear-ances are important, and said there’s no point in pretending they’re not, at any age. Concerns about child beauty pag-eants have popped up in several coun-tries in recent years, but regulations are rare. In 2006, Sweden, Denmark and Norway pulled out of a pan-European children’s song contest and started their own to protest treatment of the contest-ants, as some were dressed like sexed-up dolls. (AP)

French senate says ‘non’ to child pageants

A young mother arrives with her daughter who is to take part in a child beauty pag-eant at Darebin Town Hall in Northcote, Melbourne, 2011. These kinds of events could soon be outlawed in France.|EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Jaguar Land Rover ( JLR) has announced plans to create 1,700 jobs at its plant in the West Midlands (a county that has one of the highest rates of economic inactivity in the United Kingdom) town of Solihull.

The job creation plan was announced last week by JLR’s chief executive, Ralk Speth, at the Frankfurt Motor Show. He

said it is part of the company’s £1.5bn in-vestment in expanding its product range and fighting unemployment. In the past three years, JLR, which is owned by In-dia’s Tata Motors, has created more than 10,000 jobs in the UK.

“Today’s announcement signals Jag-uar Land Rover’s ambitions to push the

boundaries and redefine premium car ownership,” said Speth. “Jaguar Land Rov-er is a business driven by design, technol-ogy and innovation and this investment and level of job creation is yet further evi-dence of our commitment to advancing the capability of the UK automotive sec-tor and its supply chain,” he added.

Jaguar Land Rover is hiring

Britain’s investment authority says it will privatise the Lloyds banking group, one of several banks in the United Kingdom that were bailed out at the height of the world financial crisis.

UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the arm of the British government which manages the country’s stakes in Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland, said it was selling 4.28bn of Lloyds’shares

(about 6%) — bringing its stake down from about 38.7% to about 32.7%.

The stake is valued at £3.3bn (€3.9bn) at Lloyd’s on September 16 closing price of about 77 pence a share.

UK to sell its shares in Lloyds Bank

FRancE |chiLD pRotEction

unitED KingDom |Economy

unitED KingDom |Economy

23EUROPEAN UNIONNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

Luxembourg|economy

Luxembourg launches website to develop rmb businessLuxembourg has just launched a new website (www.rmb-business.com) to promote its activities with the Renminbi, China’s official currency. This is one of the first steps in Lux-embourg’s bid to develop into a cross-border RMB financial hub. Established through a partnership between private and public bodies, the new website provides users with infor-mation on activities related to RMB as well as videos, news stories and resources in English. A Chinese version of the site will be launched in the coming months. Luxembourg is currently the second largest European hub for RMB pay-ments value after France. But, according to the website, Lux-embourg has largest pool of RMB in the Eurozone with 40bn RMB in deposits, 62bn RMB in loans, 24.5bn in RMB bond listings and over 200bn RMB assets in mutual funds. What is more, banking ties between China and Luxembourg are also growing. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China both have their European headquarters in Luxem-bourg. China Construction Bank recently received its bank-ing license to operate in Luxembourg.

IreLand |eLectIons

elections to be held in march... 2016Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny announced his govern-ment will run its full course and won’t schedule elections be-fore March 2016. "The people can judge us as to whether or not we have delivered on the mandate given to us," Kenny said during a dinner at a Fine Gael (United Ireland Party) meet-ing that was held to mark the coalition government’s half-way point in its five-year term. As for the Labour Party, its leader Eamon Gilmore, who also serves as the deputy prime minis-ter, announced he is planning to lead his party into the next general election despite a gloomy standing in opinion polls that suggests the party could lose up to half its seats in the next election. Even though the polls show the Labour Party losing to the opposition Fianna Fail (Republican Party) in two-and-a-half years, Gilmore said he did not believe voters would turn on his party and reward Fianna Fail – a party, he says, caused the country’s economic crisis. In the 2011 general election, Fine Gael won a record 76 seats in the parliament and became the largest party in the parliament - a feat never before achieved in the party’s 78-year history. The Labour Party finished sec-ond. Together, they formed the coalition government.

Hungary|economy

tied aid credit for uzbekistanCloser economic relations between Hungary and Uzbekistan will start with electricity and medical equipment. A new tied aid credit programme that will see Hungarian companies re-place old street lights and deliver new medical equipment to hospitals in Uzbekistan. The news was announced by Hun-gary’s state secretary for foreign affairs and external economic relations, Peter Szijjarto, last week during his visit to the Uz-bek capital of Tashkent. He said Hungary wanted a closer eco-nomic cooperation with Uzbekistan, noting that Hungarian exports to Uzbekistan grew 50% in the first half of this year compared to 2012. The two countries are also discussing the possibility of doubling the number of transport permits Uz-bekistan issues to Hungarian haulage companies. According to Szijjarto, this would be an important boost to trade because Hungarian companies will be able to export €5m worth of cattle to Uzbekistan under a new farming agreement. They also agreed that Hungarian energy group MVM will partici-pate in the modernisation of Uzbekistan's power grid.

King Willem-Alexander, who was sworn in on April 30, delivered his first speech from the throne this week. He outlined government policy for the coming year.

The king’s 17-minute speech, which was written by the government, focused on new laws that will be tabled including one that will reform the country’s wel-fare sector. Specifically, he signalled the end of the “classic welfare state” and the start of a “participation society” in which the people have the power to take full control of their own lives.

“People want to make their own choices, determine their own lives and care for each other.” the king said in ref-erence to new legislation that will decen-tralise youth and home care services.

King Willem-Alexander, who is the country’s first king since 1890 (his mother ruled for 33 years until April 30 when she signed the abdication deed. According to political analysts, his speech lacked optimism about the coun-try’s exit from the economic crisis.

King announces the end of the welfare state

Dutch King Willem-Alexander delivers his first speech from the throne at the Ridderzaal in the Hague, the Netherlands, together with Queen Maxima, on Prinsjesdag (Prince's Day), the traditional opening of the parliamentary year. |AFP

PHOTO / ANP / POOL / LEX VAN LIESHOUT

Immigrants’ right to vote in national elec-tions will be a key issue in the run up to Luxembourg’s October 20 election.

ASTI, an immigrant workers’ associa-tion, says immigrants living and working in Luxembourg deserve the right to vote in national elections. The group is calling on all political parties to discuss this issue and change the election law.

"Luxembourgers and foreigners have problems and interests for which they would like to have answers," ASTI presi-dent Laura Zuccoli told reporters. Her association is calling on the government to automatically include the names of im-

migrant residents in the electoral lists.Under current legislation, immigrant

residents - no matter how long they have been living in Luxembourg - are not enti-tled to cast a ballot in national elections.

"Much of society is not politically rep-resented while in this day and age we must create a sense of solidarity," said Zuccoli.

Meanwhile, ASTI and the Office for Integration (OLAI) launched a new web-site to help foreign nationals to get their voice heard in Luxembourg’s upcoming elections. The site also encourages im-migrants who have lived in Luxembourg for at least five years to register to vote for

communal elections.“As part of this communal election

campaign, we observed a lack of knowl-edge about bodies to elect and the steps needed to vote among foreign nationals,” ASTI said in a press statement.

While foreign nationals are currently not entitled to vote in national elections, they can participate in the European Un-ion elections on May 25, 2014, provided they are from another EU member state and have lived in Luxembourg for at least two years. Eligible voters will be able to vote for six people to represent Luxem-bourg in the European Parliament.”

Immigrant vote to be voted on

Slovenia’s banks are in big trouble, sink-ing in billions of euros worth of bad loans. The crisis-stricken country might need to be bailed out.

Eurozone finance ministers are re-portedly discussing whether Slovenia’s banks should be bailed out.

According to Germany’s financial daily Handelsblatt, the Eurogroup has agreed to discuss the fate of Slovenia, which is struggling to cut its spending and bring its budget deficit down to the

European Union’s limit of 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Slovenia - the first former Yugoslav republic to join the European Union - was once considered as a model for other former socialist European democracies seeking to establish competitive econo-mies. Meanwhile, the Slovenian govern-ment is getting ready to liquidate two small private banks, Factor Banka and Probanka. The two banks account for only 4.4% of Slovenia’s total bank assets.

Some economists, however, are warning that the problems are more widespread than just these two banks. They say the country’s entire economy was built on a fragile foundation of bad loans, which amount to just over €7m. But observers believe the problem could be much more widespread since the en-tire banking sector is suffering.

What is certain, however, is that Slo-venia wants to avoid a bailout, which will require tough budget cuts and tax hikes.

And the next bailout goes to.... Slovenia?

tHe netHerLands |WeLfare state

Luxembourg | eLectIons

sLoVenIa |economy

24 EUROPEAN UNION NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

On 18 September, International lenders praised Cyprus for meeting the terms of its financial rescue but warned that the EU member state mustn’t slacken the pace of structural reforms to restore market confidence as risks remain.

In a conference call with reporters, Delia Velculescu, the IMF’s mission chief for Cyprus, said the country has made good progress in meeting the fis-cal targets outlined in the bailout deal.

However, she said lingering un-certainty over the economy, especially over a shaky financial system, mean au-

thorities mustn’t waver in their plans to streamline the public sector, improve tax collection and sell state companies.

“With large uncertainty and down-side risks, fiscal prudence and strong and timely policy implementations re-main critical for the programme’s suc-cess,” AP quoted Velculescu as saying from her base in Washington DC

The Cyprus government has prom-ised to adhere to the bailout’s terms as the quickest way to get the economy back on track.

Next year, it plans to cut spending

by a further €700 million, but says it won’t impose new tax hikes.

Citing Cyprus’ progress, both the IMF and the country’s euro partners have approved instalments from the bailout, worth a little more than €1.5 billion.

As well as getting a direct bailout from its creditors, Cyprus had to raise money on its own in March from a raid on bank depositors holding more than €100,000 in the two largest banks.

The raid was the first for any euro-zone country.

Debt inspectors urge Nicosia to keep up reforms

By Kostis Geropoulos

STRASBOURG – The European Union countries of the south should not blame Brussels for the economic crisis but see the 2014 parliamentary election as an op-portunity to pick a responsible European Parliament that will help improve the situation in these member states and plan for Europe’s future, the European People’s Party (EPP) Secretary General told New Europe.

MEP Antonio Lopez-Isturiz from Spain said on 10 September that he hopes voters will be conscious enough to know it’s not the European Union that is to blame for the economic crisis. “The Eu-ropean Union was not allowed to know the real economic situation in Greece, in Spain and others because member states and governments were blocking at that time the possibilities of the European Un-ion to know what was going on in the real economies of those countries,” Lopez-Isturiz said.

The Spanish politician spoke to New Europe following a seminar for journal-ists at the European Parliament in Stras-bourg on The State of the Union debate and launch of the institutional informa-tion campaign.

“Now things have changed and peo-ple have to know this in the next elec-tions. We have now what we call the Eu-ropean Semester. Every six months the European Union can have a photograph, a real photograph of the economics of every country. So now there can be taken decisions by absolute transparency and guarantee for investors and for people,” he said, referring to the detailed analysis of EU Member States’ programmes of economic and structural reforms that al-lows the European Commission to pro-vide them with recommendations for the next 12-18 months.

The European semester starts when the Commission adopts its Annual Growth Survey, usually towards the end of the year, which sets out EU priorities for the coming year to boost growth and job creation.

“These are the things that we are ad-vancing so people have to think that it was not Brussels, it was not the European Un-ion. There were other people that were at the origin of this problem. If we could speak about banks, we could speak about Lehman Brothers, and other things. But I’m not speaking about that. I’m speak-ing about the future,” the EPP Secretary General said.

Lopez-Isturiz said the new MEPs in the next European Parliament have to help improve the situation in these coun-tries. “This is a new Parliament with full powers, with full responsibilities, with full co-legislation. It’s going to be a very responsible European Parliament on all the events and discussion is going to be

vivid. I think it’s a good thing because there has to be a lot of debate next year,” he said.

The official run-up to the 2014 Eu-ropean elections started on 10 Septem-ber in Strasbourg, when the European Parliament launched its awareness and information campaign. This campaign will continue beyond the elections them-selves, until the newly-elected Parliament in turn elects the next European Com-mission President.

Asked how this is going to affect the future of Europe which is in crisis at the moment, Lopez-Isturiz said, speaking as secretary general of the EPP, Euro-pean parties have to “present those who are pro-European”. “We have to present first of all a candidate, a good candidate, someone who is going to take the lead of the European Union for the next 10-20 years and to present a project not only for the south of Europe but the whole Euro-pean Union,” he said.

GREECE|PRIVATISATION

TRAINOSE gets interest from investment groupsOn 16 September, the Hellenic Republic Asset Develop-ment Fund (HRADF) or TAIPED announced that three investment groups expressed their interest to acquire 100% of TRAINOSE SA shares. “It is envisaged that the transfer of ownership of TRAINOSE to the private sector will con-tribute to the upgrade and development of the company’s passenger and freight services, the creation of synergies with other key infrastructures of the country and the improve-ment in the accessibility of passengers and goods to major European markets, thus creating added value to the Greek economy and a significant number of new employment op-portunities,” the Fund said.

ROMANIA|ENERGY

Grup Servicii Petroliere to drill 4 wells in Aegean Sea Romanian drilling contractor Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP) has won a 120-day contract to drill four wells in Greece’s sole oil and gas field Prinos for Energean Oil&Gas, GSP said on 16 September. The first well has already been drilled, GSP confirmed for SeeNews. Prinos is located eight kilometres north-west off the shore of Thassos in the Aegean Sea. Ener-gean is the only operator of oil and gas in Greece, operating the development areas of Prinos and South Kavala, where it holds a 100% interest. The company is focused on the Medi-terranean and North African region and operates oil and gas assets in Greece and Egypt. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

BULGARIA|ENERGY

Nuke plant operator connects to grid On 16 September, the operator of Bulgaria’s sole nuclear power plant (NPP) in Kozloduy said it has connected to the national grid a new hydro power plant (HPP), SeeNews re-ported. The two turbines of the 5.0 megawatt Kozloduy HPP, which came on stream at 10.45 CET, are powered by hot wa-ter produced by the NPP, the power plant operator said in a statement. NPP Kozloduy is the sole owner of the new HPP.

ITALY|ACCIDENT

Costa Concordia set upright in ItalyEngineers in Italy have succeeded in setting the cruise ship Costa Concordia upright, 20 months after it ran aground off the island of Giglio. They said that the unprecedented sal-vage effort reached degree zero vertical, which was the tar-get. The Costa Concordia capsized in January 2012, killing 32 people. The bodies of two of the victims of the disaster, by the island of Giglio, have never been found. There are hopes that they may be located during the operation. “This was an important, visible step,” Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, told reporters. He was echoed by Franco Porcellacchia, project manager for Costa Cruises, the ship’s operator. “There is no evidence so far of any impact to the environment,” he said. “If there are debris to be removed, we will do it tomorrow.” “We will consider the operation con-cluded once the ship leaves Giglio Island,” Gabrielli told re-porters, acknowledging that risks remained while the wreck was at sea.

A Spanish vineyard worker collects grapes in a vineyard in Tejina, near La Laguna, on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, 19 August 2013. Spain’s Canary Islands have begun an expected bumper wine grape harvest for 2013, luring some workers from the unemployment queues to the vineyard.|AFP PHOTO/DESIREE MARTIN

CYPRUS|ECONOMY

SPAIN|DIPLOMACY

EU Tells Austerity Countries: Don’t Blame Us

25ENLARGEMENTNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

FYROM|EcOnOMY

FYROM’s GDP continues to riseThe Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has registered a solid growth at a time when the European Union and the Eurozone are still reeling from the economic crisis, according to data released by State Statistical Office. The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 3.9% in the second quarter of 2013. The increase exceeded expecta-tions. It’s the third biggest growth in Europe, following Lithu-ania and Latvia. FRYOM’s Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said: “The GDP growth caused the unemployment rate to drop to 29.9% from the psychological limit of 30% in this period. It has stabilised export and improved other parts of industrial production as well”.

AlbAniA|Public inFRAstRuctuRE

Work starts on tirana’s new northern boulevardA major new development project in Tirana officially got un-derway last week with much fanfare. Mayor Lulzim Basha or-ganised a special ceremony marking the start of construction of the city’s new Northern Boulevard - the first project of its kind in Tirana for decades. The plan is for the new boulevard to extend the city’s main north-south axis and give a much-needed boost to local commerce. The project also includes the construction of private and public buildings, as well as public recreation areas. A new tram line is also on the cards. Basha, who also heads the main opposition Democratic Par-ty, has made this project one of his top priorities.

FYROM|cRiME

Police smash crime ringPolice in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) cracked down on an organised crime racket, detaining 12 suspects and searching for another three ac-cused of international drug trafficking and money laun-dering. One of the suspects is already in prison serving a sentence for another crime. In the latest of many sting of the operations - this one was codenamed “Conductor” - police worked with German officials to search dozens of buildings in the towns of Veles, Sveti Nikole, Stip, Struga and Tetovo for illegal drugs. Police are also investigating suspicious bank accounts for illegal activity by members of the so-called Frankfurt Mafia, which is active in Germany and Austria and has strong ties to FYROM. Over the past year, more than 30 people have been arrested in Frankfurt; 19 of them are FYROM citizens. Since the launch of the police operation “Conductor” in 2009, police have made more than 380 arrests abroad and 60 in FYROM.

FYROM|EsPiOnAGE

Police arrest 17 for espionage Accused of selling state secrets and other classified informa-tion, 17 people have been arrested in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The suspects include employees of the Intelligence Agency, the Security Agency UBK, as well as staff at the ministries of interior and defence and one parliament deputy. They were all arrested last week by undercover police officers who had been investigating their activities for the past two years. The 17 suspects face charges of espionage and criminal association. Police con-fiscated computers, files, mobile telephones, USB sticks and weapons that were found in their homes. Ivo Kotevski, a spokesman for FYROM’s ministry of interior, told reporters that this is the first case of espionage to rock the country and the wider region.

Albania is ready “in principle” to achieve candidate status for joining the EU, accord-ing to European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso.

Speaking in Brussels on 17 September, alongside the new Albanian Prime Minis-ter, Edi Rama, he said that should Octo-ber’s progress report on the country prove positive, there was no reason why Albania should not begin the formal path to Euro-pean Union membership.

“Albania’s future is with the European Union,” said Barroso, adding that the elec-tion of Rama’s Alliance for European Al-bania, was “a clear and strong mandate”

for pursuing EU membership. He said he had “confidence in its capacity to fulfil criteria”needed to be granted candidate status. Key amongst these are reform of the judicial system, respect for the rule of law and the fight against corruption and organ-ised crime.

Barroso said that there needs to be a “real national effort” to push for EU mem-bership. There needs to be, he said, a “con-structive political dialogue” that engages the government and opposition parties in a constructive way.

“There can be sustained, broad con-sensus,” he said.

Speaking alongside the commission president, Edi Rama said that he takes the mandate given to him through his election victory “as a huge responsibility.”

He said that joining the EU would provide the opportunity “to change the country for the better,” adding that ongo-ing reforms in the country, a pre-requisite for membership, are “transforming the lives of Albanians.”

He said that it was his intention to “open negotiations as soon as possible” on membership. But he added that the county needed to play its part first. “We know Al-bania has to deserve it,” he said.

Albania could be EU candidate ‘this year’

Turkey deserves a place in the Guinness World Records for its long wait to join the European Union. So said Turkey’s Minister for European Union Affairs Egemen Bagis.

He said no other country has had to wait as long as Turkey to become a member of the EU. Turkey is still waiting.

“Turkey has been waiting for so long to be a member of the EU, and there is no other country which has had such a long negotiation process,” he said. “It is time that Turkey’s EU membership process is placed in the Guinness Book of World Records.”

Praising Turkey’s efforts to meet the

conditions set by the EU, Bagis said the country will continue to put through re-forms. He was also quick to stress that Tur-key has the 16th largest economy in the world and the sixth largest in Europe. Tur-key also has one of Europe’s fastest growing economies.

Minister critical of Turkey’s long wait to join EU

A prominent press freedom advocacy group is asking Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take steps to end what it calls a crisis for journalists in Turkey.

In a letter to Erdogan, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists outlines a rash of new concerns. It cites particularly the government’s attempts to control the coverage of recent events, in-cluding anti-government protests in June.

In a report last year, the group raised concerns about the prosecution and im-

prisonment of journalists in Turkey. The new letter, dated September 16 and signed by the committee’s executive director, Joel Simon, says that since then the Turkish government has engaged in heated anti-press rhetoric. It notes that senior officials, including Erdogan, have accused media organisations of publishing false reports to destabilise the government.

The letter notes that Erdogan accused CNN, BBC and Reuters of fabricating news in their coverage of the June protests.

“We find your suggestion that interna-

tional coverage was part of a plot to sub-vert your government highly disturbing,” Simon writes. He says he is alarmed by “reports of numerous firings and forced resignations of critical columnists, editors and reporters, and in apparent retaliation for their coverage” of the protests.

The letter asks the Turkish govern-ment to take steps, including reviewing the cases of imprisoned journalists, halting prosecutions in connection with report-ing, and auditing law enforcement actions against journalists during the protests.

Press freedom in crisis

AlbAniA |Eu

tuRKEY |Eu

tuRKEY |MEDiA

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso (R) and Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama give a press conference after a meeting on 17 September in Brussels. |AFP PHOTO/JOHN THYS

26 ENLARGEMENT NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

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MONTENEGRO|DIPLOMACY

Podgorica, Rome to boost economic ties Montenegro and Italy signed an agreement on economic co-operation, aiming to increase economic co-operation, the Montenegro government announced on 16 September. “We have two major investments from Italy concerning an electrical energy and we talked with Italian representatives about how to expand co-operation,” Montenegro’s Minister of Economy Vladimir Kavaric said after the meeting with Italy’s Minister of Economic Development and deputy Prime Min-ister Flavio Zavonato. The Italian official praised the progress that Montenegro has made in terms of implementing reforms aimed at more rapid recovery of the economy and said that Montenegro, due to attractive fiscal framework and the ex-pected benefits in the way of joining the EU, is very attractive to Italian investors. Zanonato also met with several ministers from the Montenegro government after which he stressed that Montenegro for Italy represents the door of the Balkans.

CROATIA|ENERGY

Koncar GIM completes HPP upgrade in Philippines Croatian power generators maker Koncar Generatori i Motori (Koncar GIM) has completed a €9.7 million upgrade of the Binga hydro power plant (HPP) in the Philippines, its parent, Koncar Group, said on 17 September, SeeNews reported. The project covered the delivery of active generator components, equipment check-ups, monitoring of the assembly of the de-livered equipment, testing and commissioning of four genera-tors that should increase the power of the Binga HPP to 125 megavolt-amperes (MVA), Koncar GIM said in a statement. In the middle of July, the handover of the last of the four genera-tors for the Binga HPP took place. HPP Binga, commissioned in 1960, is located 180 kilometres north of the capital Manila.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA|ENERGY

EPBiH says EBRD approves loan for HPP projects The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a €35 million loan to Bosnian state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda BiH for two hydro power plant (HPP) projects, Elektroprivreda BiH (EPBiH) said on 18 September, SeeNews reported. As much as €26 million from the loan are earmarked for the construction of the 20 megawatt (MW) Vranduk HPP while the remaining €9 million will go for the upgrade of the Una Kostela HPP, EPBiH said in a press release. The upgrade of the Una Kostela HPP should increase the plant’s capacity to 14.6 MW from the current 9.4 MW.

SERBIA|POLITICS

Vucic says Vojvodina cannot secede from Serbia On 19 September, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Alek-sandar Vucic said the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina cannot secede from Serbia and that any such idea is unthink-able, news agencies reported. At a joint press conference with Rapporteur of the European Parliament Jelko Kacin, Vucic said he knows Kacin is not one of those who believe the seces-sion is possible, and added that Kacin’s recent statement in the EP was misinterpreted. “I can say this in Kacin’s presence, be-cause I know he also believes that Vojvodina cannot be sepa-rated from Serbia,” Vucic said.

On 18 September, NIS Energowind, co-owned by Serbian oil and gas com-pany NIS and private partners, started the construction of the Plandiste wind park and plans to complete the project in 12 months, NIS said in a press release. It added that its 50%-owned unit NIS Energowind is finalising talks with Eu-ropean suppliers of equipment for the Plandiste wind park and that it should make the final pick by the end of 2013, SeeNews reported.

The 102MW Plandiste wind park in Serbia’s north will comprise 34 turbines. The total value of the project amounts to €160 million with NIS set to provide up to €23 million from own funds. The remainder will be provided by partners and lenders.

NIS is majority owned by Russia’s Gazprom Neft. NIS is one of the largest vertically integrated oil and gas compa-nies in Southeast Europe. Main activities include the exploration, production and processing of oil and gas, as well as the production of a wide range of petroleum products.

In related news, Serbia’s Energy Min-istry said Chinese company Norinco is interested in participating in the project for the construction of the Djerdap 3 hydro power plant (HPP) in Serbia. Of-ficials from the Chinese company held

talks in Belgrade with Serbian Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic on techni-cal aspects of the project as well as on financing options, the ministry said in a statement on 16 September.

Norinco manufactures vehicles, machinery, optical-electronic products, oil field equipment, chemicals, light in-dustrial products, explosives and blast materials, civil and military firearms and

ammunition and is also involved in do-mestic civil construction projects.

The Djerdap 3 HPP would be a part of the Djerdap hydro power com-plex, on the river Danube, built jointly by Serbia and Romania and commis-sioned in the 1970s. It currently com-prises the Djerdap 1 and Djerdap 2 HPPs with capacity of 1,058MW and 270 MW, respectively.

NIS Energowind starts Plandiste wind park construction

Workers work on installation of three wind energy turbines in the mount of Goles, some 20 kilometres west from Pristina, Kosovo, 13 May 2009. |EPA/VALDRIN XHEMAJ

Montenegro’s government is intensively working on a highway project with its Chinese partners to build the largest in-frastructure project in the country, Xin-hua quoted Montenegrin Ministry of Transport and Martime Affairs spokes-woman Jelena Raspopovic as saying. “It is a very demanding task because the highway is certainly the biggest infra-structure project that Montenegro had

so far. Precisely because this is no or-dinary tender, the job must pass some additional procedures. When we finish the job, complete documentation will be sent to parliament for approval,” Ras-popovic said.

Early July, the Montenegrin govern-ment announced that Chinese Com-munications Construction Company (CCCC), and its subsidiary China

Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) will build the first 41 km section of the planned Bar Boljare highway, connecting the north and south of this mountainous Adriatic country.

The Ministry noted that if every-thing goes as planned, actual work on the field should start before the end of this year. The length of the entire highway is 163 kilometres.

Chinese companies work on highway construction project

The Bosnian government must reach an agreement by 1 October in order to be el-igible for funding worth €9 million, news agencies reported.

“The European Commission had to cancel two previously suspended agri-culture projects, totalling €5 million, due to the failure of authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina to agree on the domestic structures to deliver EU agriculture and rural development assistance funds (IP-ARD),” EU delegation spokesperson Andy McGuffie said in a statement.

The statement also said the lack of an agreement on the agricultural projects’ implementation will prevent the timely set-up of structures for channelling fu-ture EU funds to Bosnia-Herzegovina rural areas.

The cancellation of these projects also underlines the urgency to set up a functional coordination mechanism to ensure that the country and its popula-tion are able to receive EU pre-acces-sion funds in the future, the statement said.

The IPA Monitoring Committee gave Bosnia until the 1 October deadline to reach an agreement on five other pro-jects worth €9 million.

“These are two projects support-ing small and medium enterprises and tourism (€4.5 million) which are already suspended since 26 July, two planned projects to foster social inclusion (€3 million) and one on-going project strengthening the National Planning Process in Bosnia-Herzegovina (€1.5 million),” McGuffie said.

Brussels warns Bosnia it risks of missing funding deadline

SERBIA| ENERGY

MONTENEGRO|TRANSPORT

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA|EU AFFAIRS

27PARTNERSNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

A new study suggests a huge risk for glob-al businesses: Local communities are dis-puting almost a third of the land involved in commercial land deals in 12 countries in Africa, Asia and South America.

The study for the U.S.-based Rights and Resources Initiative highlights a top-ic being studied by the World Bank and development organizations at an interna-tional conference beginning Thursday in Interlaken, Switzerland.

It used mapping technology to ana-lyze over 153 million hectares — about the size of the Gulf of Mexico — li-censed for everything from agriculture to forestry to mining in Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Liberia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozam-

bique, Peru and the Philippines.The study found at least 31% of the

land overlapped with indigenous land claims, putting at risk about $5 billion worth of agriculture production, most of that in Argentina.

According to the study, 84% of Ar-gentina’s soybean concessions overlap with community-claimed areas, poten-tially tying up $4.6 billion in production.

In Cameroon, 83% of all timber con-cessions overlap with community for-ests, putting at risk nearly a half-percent of the nation’s entire annual economic production, the study found.

And in the Philippines, one mining project on disputed lands is projected to add 1 percent to the country’s annual

economic output.The study recommends that inter-

national investors do their homework through local mapping and then exam-ine issues on a national level such as laws, corruption and protests.

Jorge Munoz, a land tenure adviser who is one of five World Bank officials at the conference, said there’s growing momentum in the international com-munity to figure out how to solve these problems, and acknowledged that some criticism of the bank’s own role in fi-nancing major development projects is legitimate.

But he added: “I wouldn’t say we’re part of the problem. We’re a big part of the solution.” (AP)

Companies face global risks in land claim disputes

Norway’s foreign affairs ministry says the international press - reporters from 12 different countries who were covering the country’s recent elections continu-ously linked the Progress Party to Anders Behring Breivik .

According to the ministry’s report, the foreign media almost always (with very few exceptions) present the Pro-gress Party in connection with Breivik, who killed 77 people in two attacks in

Norway in 2011. Breivik had been a member of the

Progress Party. The ministry’s report is based on 19

foreign media, 12 of which mention Brei-vik’s name when they refer to the Pro-gress Party. This is something the party is not happy about.

“It is uncomfortable to be described as something one is not,” Ketil Solvik-Olsen, the deputy leader of the party,

said in a televised interview. Foreign Affairs Minister Espen Bar-

th-Eide, who commissioned the report, has also voiced his concern about how the international media portray coun-try’s political landscape.

“It is unfortunate that an impression of Norway as a country that is about to enter a certain political path associated with other extremist parties in Europe is being developed,” said the minister.

Foreign press link Progress Party to terrorist

Norway|ENErgy

Statoil targetted by terroristsNorway’s leading energy provider Statoil is reportedly on high alert after officials warned terrorists might be plotting against its land-based facilities in Norway. The country’s fourth largest newspaper (the largest outside Oslo) Bergens Tidende reported that Statoil is worried police might not be able to respond in time if terrorists attack. The matter was discussed by Statoil’s board of directors. Svein Rennemo, the company’s chairman, said he is in talks with the authori-ties about how to increase security - both inside and outside the installations.

Norway|ENErgy

New major oil discovery in the HoopThere’s a new development in the Barents Sea. It’s the site of the northernmost oil discovery on the Norwegian shelf. Norway’s Statoil, a partner in this new OMV-operated Wist-ing Central oil discovery in the Hoop area in the Norwegian Barents Sea (some 300km north of Hammerfest) is pleased with the news. “This is the first well drilled in the frontier Hoop area. It gives us valuable geological information and demonstrates that the Hoop area has an exciting oil poten-tial,” Gro Haatvedt, Statoil senior vice president for explora-tion Norway, told reporters. Statoil is getting ready to drill two wells in the same area. “The oil discovery in Wisting Central is encouraging for our upcoming drilling operations in the Hoop area,” added Haatvedt.

IcElaNd|HEaltH tourISm

chinese investors back away from health villageLast year’s big news that a Chinese company would bank-roll a multi-million dollar health complex in the southern Iceland village of Fludir, known for its rolling hills, streams, geothermal springs and mild weather, ended this week with reports that investors were walking away from the whole project. The Chinese company CSST International has de-cided not to invest €44m in the Fludir health village project. The Fludir project is five years in the making. The initial plans for the village, though later downsized due to the fi-nancial crisis, foresaw some 200 apartments and a modern rehabilitation centre. Arni Gunnarsson, the project’s leader, however, remains confident that a new investor will be found soon. Two private hospitals in Iceland, the Nordic Health Pro in Reykjanesbær and the PrimaCare in Mosfells-bær are both courting investors to fund the health village. Nordic Health Pro’s plans are to open a private hospital in the village for international patients.

SwItzErlaNd|dEfENcE

Swiss fighting over fighter jetsThe Swiss government wants to buy 22 Swedish fighter jets for an estimated €2.5bn, but voters do not. The opposition parties, namely the Liberal-Green and leftists, are calling for a referendum. The controversial purchase, which opinion polls show is widely opposed by Swiss citizens, passed by the senate last week in a 27-17 vote. The upper house also approved the release of the money. The deal is now before the parliament, where deputies disagree about whether the fighter jets are needed. The government says they are need-ed in order to replace the Swiss army’s F5 Tiger fleet, which officials say are ageing. According to reports in the ATS news agency, a referendum will probably be held in May.

A new chapter in the history of Somali immigration to Norway is being written. This time it’s about how members of this group, which is arguably the most promi-nent and conspicuous African refugee groups in Norway, have managed to enter mainstream politics.

This is an undeniable sign of their in-tegration into Norwegian society.

Somalis living in Norway, mainly refugees who arrived 20 and 30 years ago, are making political progress. A grow-ing number has joined national political parties. Abdullahi Mohamed Alas is one example. He is a Somali Norwegian dual citizen who has been living and working in Oslo for 30 years. Alas, who is a mem-ber of Norway’s Labour Party, was recent-ly interviewed by the local Radio Dalsan about his path to politics.

“I am glad to be both Somali and Nor-wegian,” he said. “I am greatly indebted to the people of Norway and their govern-ment as I am educated and lived in their country for three decades.”

Alas, who also stressed his dream to one day return to Somalia to help his homeland recover from many years of civil war, said he believes it’s only a mat-

ter of time before Somali immigrants en-ter the parliament. There are currently six Somalis serving in local councils in Norway.

Somali immigrants in Norway take to politics

Sub-Saharan immigrants are assisted at Pieta harbour, Malta, 28 March 2011 after a French naval vessel had encountered a 60-foot long vessel to the East of Malta carrying some 300 Somali nationals. | EPA/Lino Arrigo AzzoPArdi

Norway | SocIEt y

Norway |PolItIcS

SwItzErlaNd | global buSINESSES

28 EASTERN PARTNERSHIP NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

GEORGIA|ENERGY

Tbilisi, Astana to agree on KazTransGas-Tbilisi managementGeorgian Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Re-sources Mariam Valishvili said that the Georgian and Kazakh sides intend to hold a workshop on the transfer of management in KazTransGas-Tbilisi Company to the Kazakh side in late October, AzerNews reported. “The planned joint working meeting has not been held yet,” she said. “We want to offer to hold the meeting in Georgia. It will likely to be held in late October.” Valishvili said that the members of the Georgian delegation in the bilateral commission are being defined. She noted that the transfer of management in the company has already been approved by the Georgian government. However, the technical mode of transfer has not been determined yet. The Kazakh side must explain their further activity and obligations in the company,” deputy minister added. Also, the company’s work for the last three-four years will be analysed during the meeting. The ways of paying the existing debt by the company will be discussed, she said. “The company does not have an opportunity to pay this debt at once,” she said. “The payment by instalments will be required. The sched-ule and the company which will pay it will be discussed in the negotiations. Kazakhstan’s KaztransGas became the owner of Tbilgazi gas distribution company’s shares after a victory on an investment contest in May 2006. The in-vestor paid $12.5 million for the company. The Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commis-sion appointed special manager to KaztransGas-Tbilisi in 2009. The reason was the company’s 80 million lari (1 lari= $0.6) worth debt. Moreover, KaztransGas-Tbilisi ran into 68 million lari worth debt to the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation.

AZERBAIJAN|DIPLOMACY

Baku, Buenos Aires seek to enhance cultural coopAzerbaijani Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Ga-rayev met Argentinean Ambassador Carlos Dante Riva on September 19, AzerTag reported. Garayev appraised de-velopment of relations between the two countries. He also expressed believe that the establishing relations in politi-cal, economic and tourism spheres would influence to the fields of culture and tourism. Carlos Dante Riva, in turn, said he was aware of Azerbaijan’s achievements in cultural and tourism spheres. He also expressed desire that coop-eration between the two countries in the relevant sphere would further strengthen.

AZERBAIJAN|TRADE

Washington strongly supports Azerbaijan’s WTO accessionThe US strongly supports Azerbaijan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), said US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar addressing an event dedicated to the completion of the project Competition and Trade in Azerbaijan of USAID. He noted the achieve-ments of the Azerbaijani government towards WTO ac-cession. “In this regard, more than 30 legislation and ad-ministrative procedures have been drafted or approved. We recognise Azerbaijan’s energy in negotiations and look forward to complete our bilateral negotiations in the near future. The WTO accession will tremendously develop the non-energy sector of economy,” Morningstar was quoted as saying by the press.

On 19 September, the Shah Deniz con-sortium announced that it has concluded 25-year sales agreements with nine com-panies in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria for just over 10 billion cubic metres a year of gas to be produced from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz Stage 2 project, operator BP said in a press release. The buyers who have agreed to buy the gas are: Axpo Trading, Bulgargaz, DEPA Public Gas Corporation of Greece, Enel Trade, EON Global Commodities, Gas Natural Aprovisionamientos, GdF Suez, Hera Trading and Shell Energy Eu-rope Limited. Of the total 10 billion cubic metres, around 1 billion cubic metres will go to buyers intending to supply to each of Bulgaria and Greece and the rest will go to buyers intending to supply Italy and adja-cent market hubs.

The Shah Deniz consortium consists of BP (operator – 25.5%), Norway’s Statoil (25.5%), Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR (10 %), Russia’s LUKoil (10%), Iran’s NICO (10 %), France’s Total (10%) and Turkey’s TPAO (9%).

The Shah Deniz Stage 2 project is set to bring gas directly from Azerbaijan to Europe for the first time, opening up the Southern Gas Corridor, BP said.

In total 16 billion cubic metres of Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas will be delivered through more than 3,500 kilometres of pipelines through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and under the Adriatic Sea to Italy.

The agreements concluded on 19 Sep-tember for European gas sales follow the signing of agreements with Turkey’s BO-TAS in 2011 to sell 6 billion cubic metres a year of gas in Turkey.

“We are delighted that the years of negotiations led by SOCAR with multi-ple European companies have come to a successful conclusion. These agreements mark the biggest gas sales in the history of Azerbaijan. They also mark the beginning of direct links between Azerbaijan’s huge gas resources and the European markets.

Azerbaijan is committed to long-term cooperation with the Shah Deniz gas pur-chasers. I am sure that this cooperation will bring benefits to consumers across Europe and will play an important role in strength-ening European energy security,” SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said.

Commenting on the agreements, Gor-don Birrell, Regional President for BP in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, and Pres-ident of the Operator of the Shah Deniz PSA, said the Shah Deniz consortium is proud to be involved in the conclusion of one of the biggest gas deals in the history of the oil and gas industry. “On behalf of the Shah Deniz consortium, I would like to thank all the companies involved in these negotiations. The deep co-operation that has led to the signing of these gas sales agreements sets the foundation for many years of partnership. The strong demand for Shah Deniz gas gives us confidence in the long-term development of Azerbaijan’s gas resources. Today’s signings represent another important milestone bringing us closer to a final investment decision on the Shah Deniz 2 project,” Birrell said.

The completion of these agreements follows expressions of interest from many different companies for Shah Deniz gas and marks the completion of the Shah Deniz 2 gas sales process. The gas sales agreements will enter into force following the final investment decision on the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project which is targeted for late this year, BP said.

Greece’s DEPA will acquire 1 billion cubic metres of gas per year from Azerbai-jan through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), DEPA officials told New Europe on 16 September.

The Shah Deniz Consortium selected TAP as the preferred transportation route for Caspian gas to Europe on 28 June. The pipeline developers plan to begin con-struction in early 2015 to be ready for the first gas from Shah Deniz by 2019. TAP’s shareholders are Swiss AXPO (42.5%),

Statoil (42.5%) and German E.ON Ruhr-gas (15%).

Greece already receives 750 million cubic metres per year of Azerbaijani gas through Turkey’s BOTAS since 2007.

The DEPA deal with the Shah Deniz consortium comes as the Greek company is expected to start another round of nego-tiations with Gazprom in Moscow on 17 September, seeking a price reduction from the Russian gas giant. Gazprom is Greece’s biggest natural gas supplier. Their contract expires at the end of 2016 and will most likely be extended.

DEPA is seeking to diversify its gas im-ports as part of the European Union’s goal of broadening the bloc’s resource base, spe-cifically in a way that will reduce their de-pendence on Russian reserves and routes.

The Azerbaijani contract is also likely to boost the Greek’s company’s value, im-proving the prospects of its planned priva-tisation, required by Greece’s lenders.

A previous attempt to sell DEPA failed in June when Gazprom decided against submitting a binding offer at the last minute.

On 16 September, Valentina Matvi-yenko, speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, reportedly told Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras during her visit to Athens that Gazprom intends to participate in a new tender for the sale of DEPA. She, however, expressed com-plaints over the stance adopted by the EU on the sale of Greece’s natural gas company to Russia. Matviyenko, who was a former ambassador in Greece, said Brussels had created problems over Gazprom coming to Greece. Gazprom is subject to an antitrust investigation by the European Commis-sion into whether it violated competition rules by imposing unfair gas prices through contracts linked to oil prices, or prevented countries from diversifying their gas sup-plies. Russia is saying this is actually a fairly aggressive piece of intervention on the part of the European Commission.

Shah Deniz inks major gas sales deals with European purchaser

Headquarters of Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas company SOCAR in Baku.| NEW EUROPE

AZERBAIJAN|ENERGY

29EASTERN PARTNERSHIPNEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

The Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council at an extraordinary session on 20 Sep-tember will agree a draft production sharing agreement (PSA) with US ma-jor Chevron for Oleska deposit (Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv region), Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Minister of Ukraine Eduard Stavytsky told US Am-bassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt in Kiev on 18 September, Interfax reported.

Stavytsky reported on the situation in the sector and said that in the near term it was planned to sign PSA on the Oleska deposit between Ukraine and Chevron… It is planned that at a ses-sion of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Coun-cil the positive decision on agreeing the PSA will be made, the ministry’s press service said.

Stavytsky also informed Pyatt about

the talks on settling disputed parts of the PSA between Ukraine and US energy giant ExxonMobil on the Skifske shelf field.

In addition, the sides reached a principal agreement on the realization of a Ukrainian-US project on the cer-tification of nuclear fuel for Ukraine under the International Nuclear Safety Programme.

Stavytsky sees Chevron PSA approval soon

MOLDOVA|DIPLOMACY

Chisinau, Minsk to expand economic tiesBelarus and Moldova need to deepen economic ties, Ambas-sador of Belarus to Moldova Vyacheslav Osipenko and Moldo-va’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integra-tion Valeriu Chiveri said following their meeting. The parties discussed topical issues of the bilateral co-operation and out-lined ways to intensify a political dialogue, trade and economic cooperation and humanitarian contacts between the two countries. Osipenko and Chiveri praised the pace of trade and economic co-operation between Belarus and Moldova and re-viewed progress in implementing the decisions of the 14th ses-sion of the Belarus-Moldova intergovernmental commission for trade and economic co-operation held in Minsk in Novem-ber 2012. They also discussed preparations for the next session of the commission that will be held in Chisinau.

BELARUS|ENERGY

Nuclear power plant project presented in ViennaOn 18 September, the presentation of the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction project took place in Vienna. The event was held for the first time as part of the 57th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), BelTA quoted the Embassy of Belarus in Austria as saying. Belarus’ First Deputy Emergencies Minister Vasily Stepanenko emphasised safety and reliability as the absolute priorities for the construction of the nuclear power plant in Belarus, the country’s commitment to the implementation of the IAEA standards and norms as well as other international commitments in the nuclear area, including within regional international legal instruments. He said Belarus makes an ac-tive use of the Agency’s instruments aimed at supporting the countries developing nuclear energy. A number of IAEA ex-pert missions have already visited Belarus, including the inte-grated nuclear infrastructure review mission (INIR mission) of the International Atomic Energy Agency in June 2012.

BELARUS|LOANS

Belarus plans major loans from China Belarus is working to borrow $500 million and $5 billion from China to boost investment projects, Chairwoman of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) Na-dezhda Yermakova during told an online conference and the phone-in session arranged by BelTA on 18 September. “The possibility is being discussed with the Chinese side, it is on the agenda, but the money will not be added to the gold and foreign exchange reserves. Instead it will be spent on invest-ment projects that will generate foreign currency down the road. The foreign currency intended for these projects will be poured into the gold and forex reserves,” Yermakova said. “We will learn when we can get the loan after the contract is signed. We are willing to borrow $500 million and 5 billion. We need yuans in order to pay for the money we borrowed from China in the past for a number of investment projects. It is easier to return the loans in yuans,” she said. Asked about the level of the gold and foreign exchange reserves Belarus expects at the end of the year, Yermakova said reserves to last for two months of import are the target set in case any problems happen in the world so that we could buy critical imports, primarily energy resources. “As of 1 September the two-month reserve totalled $7.7 billion. We have this kind of money. There are ways for forming reserves as large as two months’ worth of imports by the end of the year,” she said.

NATO Deputy Secretary General Alex-ander Vershbow has said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will support the European aspirations of Ukraine. At the same time, he noted that NATO re-spects Ukraine's choice to adhere to the non-aligned status.

“The topic of Ukraine’s national se-curity and its relations with international organizations is important, and recent de-velopments in your country as well as in Russia, Republic of Moldova and Armenia have made it even more urgent,” he said.

“As the Vilnius Summit of the Eastern Partnership approaches, we are reminded of a fundamental principle of the Helsinki Final Act that is a key element of national security and sovereignty. That any nation is free to build relations with partners of its choice,” he added.

“We at NATO were reminded of this principle back in 2010, when the demo-cratically elected government of Ukraine decided that it would no longer seek to join NATO. NATO respects Ukraine’s de-cision because we respect every country’s sovereign choices. But not only that. The Allies also agreed to maintain the same, in-tensive level of practical cooperation with Ukraine that was agreed at our Bucharest Summit in 2008. This meant continuing the Annual National Programme, with all its practical advice and assistance, that’s aimed at helping Ukraine to develop into a democratic, prosperous and free country,” Vershbow said.

For its part, Ukraine has not only maintained its constructive co-operation with NATO. “Over the past three years, our co-operation has become arguably more intensive and productive than ever before. Ukraine boosted its sizable con-tribution to the NATO-led operation in Kosovo. Ukraine increased its standing contribution to the NATO-led ISAF op-eration in Afghanistan. And it was among the first nations to pledge to contribute to our new, post-2014 mission to train, ad-vise and assist the Afghan security forces,” Vershbow said.

“And let me also highlight Ukraine’s

active participation in the NATO Re-sponse Force. As the Alliance winds down its combat operations in Afghanistan, the NRF is taking on a more prominent role as a high-readiness multinational force and a key instrument for maintaining and strengthening the interoperability of our forces,” he said.

Ukraine was not only the first NATO partner to join the NRF. It was also the first Partner to contribute to our anti-pira-cy operation off the Horn of Africa, Oper-ation Ocean Shield, with the deployment later this fall of the Hetman Sahaidachny, the flagship of the Ukrainian Navy, he said.

Of course, Ukraine contributes not only to NATO operations. It is also a major contributor to crisis response op-erations led by the United Nations, the European Union and the OSCE, Versh-bow said.

“Ukraine is an active contributor to the EU’s Battle Groups, and is developing closer relations with the EU in the frame-work of the Common Security and De-fence Policy. This follows naturally from the long-standing policy of successive Ukrainian governments to seek Associa-tion with and ultimately membership in the European Union,” he said.

“As I look to the future, I see great potential for closer cooperation between

Ukraine and NATO in a number of areas. One particularly promising area is defence reform and military transformation. And I note that a NATO expert team on these issues has arrived in Kyiv just yesterday for consultations with Ukrainian experts,” Vershbow said.

“Ukraine has also expressed interest in working with us on several multinational, ‘Smart Defence’ projects, where we en-courage countries to pool their resources to develop military capabilities. One of these projects is on harbour protection, and another on capabilities-based defence planning,” he said.

Finally, military training and educa-tion is another promising area for co-operation. Indeed, this is an area where Ukraine itself has considerable expertise and assets to offer, including the Interna-tional Security and Peacekeeping Centre at Yavoriv, he said.

“So, in conclusion, the future of NATO-Ukraine co-operation looks very promising. Ukraine may not be seek-ing to join NATO, but its intensive co-operation with NATO has advanced its top foreign policy priority of integration with the European Union. For my part, I am very proud of the role that NATO is playing to help Ukraine achieve this goal,” Vershbow said.

NATO sees great potential for co-operation with Ukraine

Ukrainian light tanks of infantry force a crossing over a river, during a military training at the shooting range near Rivne city, about 340 kilometres west of Kiev. EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO/FILES

UKRAINE|DEFENCE

UKRAINE| ENERGY

30 EURASIA NEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu

22 - 28 September, 2013

By Kulpash Konyrova

ASTANA – Chinese President Xi Jinping visited not only Kazakhstan but also Turk-menistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and even Tajikistan earlier. Thus, none of the Central Asian countries was neglected with attention of the new Chinese leader.

Analysing the results of his Central Asian tour, it is clear that all visits were quite profitable for both sides. China gets supplies of much-needed hydrocarbon re-sources, and possibility to ensure the deliv-ery of their goods to Europe by land under the motto of revival of the Great Silk Road. Thus, the two main directions can be seen in China’s policy in the region - the resourc-es and transport infrastructure.

In return, the Central Asian countries receive significant Chinese loans, which they intend to send to implementation of major projects aimed at further raising of national economies.

So, Kazakhstan and China have signed more than 20 agreements totalling $22 bil-lion. And after his visit to Uzbekistan there were signed more than 30 documents on joint implementation projects with a total value of more than $15 billion. In short, the Central Asian countries receive reliable economic aid for their projects in China’s face, as Beijing has enough financial re-sources that are, moreover, supported by the political will. While in Turkmenistan, Xi attended the opening of an important to Ashgabat gas field - Galkynysh, develop-ment of which opens opportunities for new export routes for Turkmen gas, including in China. And logically, within the framework of the visit the parties signed an agreement on the fourth line of the gas pipeline Turk-menistan - China. Currently Turkmen gas is exported via two lines of the gas pipeline Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China, which be-gan operations in late 2009. The sides in-tend to accelerate construction of the third line, which is scheduled to be launched in 2014. The fourth pipeline from Galkynysh will pass throughTurkmenistan-Uzbek-istan-Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan-China. The new pipeline will increase annual transpor-tation of gas up to 25 billion cubic metres. A total of Turkmen gas supplies to China will be 65 billion cubic metres per year.”

In Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, China is already participating in construction of a gas pipeline in its direction. That is why during the visit to Bishkek, the logical con-clusion of all the gas pipelines across four Central Asian republics was signing of the Loan Agreement between China and Kyr-gyzstan on co-operation in construction and operation of the Kyrgyzstan-China gas pipeline.

As for oil, China’s long-time dream to enter into large oil and gas fields on the Caspian shelf has come true. In Kazakh-stan, the national companies of the two

countries signed an agreement on purchase and sale of shares at a rate of 8.3% in the Kashagan project. The Kazakhstan-China pipeline already exists.

After completion of all procedures un-der the Agreement, China will become a shareholder of 8.33% in the Kashagan pro-ject. The transaction price is about $5 bil-lion, KazMunaiGas head Sauat Mynbayev told journalists after the signing ceremony.

He pointed out that the deal is ben-eficial, first of all, for Kazakhstan, as China takes the obligation to finance the share of KMG in the second phase of Kashagan, which will require billions of dollars. In ad-dition, Chinese partners will take part in the construction of a pipe plant, a complex of oil equipment in Aktau. It is everything clear now about the resources. But as to the second focus of the Chinese policy - revival of the Great Silk Road, here we should note the new rail projects to link China with the region, which in future will facilitate trans-portation of goods and help to create a good transport network.

China appears to focus on transit po-tential of Kazakhstan. Direct land route to Europe for Chinese goods is through the endless steppes of Kazakhstan, where once the Great Silk Road passed. The Chinese President called for joint efforts to form an economic belt of the Great Silk Road, start-ing from specific directions. Necessary to build an integrated transport infrastructure from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea, Xi said. In turn, Kazakhstan will get access to the transport infrastructure of the Asian Pacific region through the Chinese port of Lianyungang.

Along the Great Silk Road the Cen-tral Asia may become a promising market for Chinese goods, as production in some countries of the region is still not devel-oped well and the demand for Chinese products is very high.

Besides, it’s not just about building roads on land but also on establishing an air bridge. Thus, Kyrgyz media, publicising

visit by a Chinese leader said Beijing is con-sidering participating in creation of civil aero hub in Bishkek airport Manas.

China is ready to participate in creation of a civic hub in Manas. Prior to withdrawal of US military bases, the Chinese side will work out this issue, Economy Minister Temir Sariyev said.

He added that the Chinese govern-ment has instructed the relevant agencies to review the draft of the aero hub and co-operate with Kyrgyz side.

As it is known, there have long been talks that the US Transit Centre will be taken out of the airport of Manas. The Kyr-gyz authorities are planning to create a civil aero hub for travel and transportation of goods from Europe to Asia.

Foreign experts noted Xi’s emphasis on the economic corridor of the Silk Road. Xi said that 3 billion people live in the area of the Great Silk Road, the local regional mar-ket is unprecedented in its scope and po-tential. He encouraged removal of barriers to facilitate trade and investment.

One of the steps to remove barriers may be strengthening of currency flows. Xi meant a transition in calculations on the national currencies, yuan and tenge.

This practice reduces the monetary costs, protects the financial system from risks, and enhances the international com-petitiveness of the economy, he said.

Institute of Russian-Chinese Strate-gic Co-operation deputy Director Andrey Devyatov noted that the performance of Xi will mark a transition of relations support-ed by China and countries of Eurasia to a new level. According to an expert, due to the fact that Chinese leader proposed crea-tion of economic corridor of the Silk Road, the region will attract everyone’s attention around the world.

Islamabad Institute of Strategic Studies Director Inamul Haq said the initiative of Chinese President suggests that China will have more significant incentive effect on development of the Central Asian region.

China focuses on Central Asia UzBeKistan|Car PriCes

Why the state is driving up car prices A shortage of cash and not enough cars to meet the de-mand in the market has pushed the prices of used cars higher - way above new car prices - in Uzbekistan. Massive queues have been forming outside Chevrolet dealerships in the capital city of Tashkent these past few weeks, even though GM Uzbekistan increased the annual capacity of its plant to 250,000 vehicles earlier this year. But there’s just not enough hard cash or cars to go around. As regards the country’s auto industry, Chevrolets accounted for a whop-ping 94% of new cars sold in Uzbekistan two years ago. The cars are produced under a joint venture originally set up as UzDaewooAuto in 1992 and then transferred to GM in 2008 (when GM acquired Daewoo Motors). While 25% is controlled by the Detroit-based General Motors, the lion’s share belongs to UzAvtosanoat, a state-run company in Uzbekistan. To protect the state’s big stake in the auto in-dustry, the government has driven away the competition by imposing a 30% import tax on all foreign-made cars. Too expensive for Uzbek’s to even dream of buying any other car, UzAvtosanoat has the power to increase its own prices. The price of the Matiz, for instance, went up 28% in July and is now selling for $10,800 at the official exchange rate. Even though the average salary is at around $200 a month, there is a growing demand for cars and Uzbeks are even willing to pay an 85% down payment and then wait to for their car to be delivered to them after a year.

tUrKmenistan|PUBliC investments

Dreaming of a lake in the middle of nowhereImagine a huge artificial lake right in the middle of a desert. Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is not only dreaming about it, he’s making it. In fact, the idea for this man-made lake (which will be called Altyn Asyr or “Golden Era” in English) is not Berdymukhamedov’s, but dates back to the previous president, Saparmurat Niyazov. Berdymukhamedov, however, was the one who inaugurated the launch of this multi-billion-euro project in the Karakum Desert four years ago. Known for his eccentric projects, Berdymukhamedov unveiled the world’s largest enclosed Ferris wheel last year and spent billions of euros on a little-known Caspian Sea resort. It is no wonder the people of Turkmenistan are not sure what to make of their president’s new lake – an ambitious plan that will cost taxpayers more than €4bn to make. Ask any government official and they will most likely say it will save water and boost the fishing industry and expand agricultural land.

tUrKmenistan|tax

turkmenistan, lithuania ratify bilateral taxation agreementThe Turkmen parliament has given the green light to a double taxation agreement between Turkmenistan and Lithuania. The parliament unanimously passed a bill titled “Ratification of the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal failure with respect to taxes on income and capital between the Turkmen and Lithu-anian governments”. The agreement had been signed by the prime ministers of both countries in June. Several other agreements, including one on economic cooperation and a memorandum of understanding, have been signed by the Turkmen Chamber of Commerce and the Lithuanian As-sociation of Commerce and Industry and Crafts.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, speaks with his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atam-bayev in airport Manas, 30 kilometres of the Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, 10 September 2013.|AFP PHOTO/VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO

KazaKHstan |DiPlOmaCY

31RUSSIANEWEUROPEwww.neurope.eu22 - 28 September, 2013

On 19 September, Russian Defence Min-ister Sergei Shoigu said he did not rule out Russia’s participation in the transport and destruction of Syrian chemical weap-ons, Voice of Russia and Interfax report-ed. “Russian President Vladimir Putin initially proposed placing [Syrian chemi-

cal weapons] under international control. If our place in this scheme is determined - either as those who transport or destroy those weapons - naturally Russia will be ready to participate,” Shoigu told report-ers on 19 September on the sidelines of the Valdai Discussion Club.

The plan for securing Syria’s chemical weapons has been developing for more than a year.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and Shoigu have discussed the issue of Syrian chemical weapons when they met in August.

RUSSIA|DIPLOMACY

McCain responds to Putin in accusatory columnUS Senator John McCain has written a tough column in the Russian media, telling the Russian people that their Presi-dent Vladimir Putin is a tyrant who “doesn’t believe in you”. McCain is accusing Putin of corruption, repression and self-serving rule in an opinion piece for Pravda that answers the Russian leader’s broadside published two weeks ago in an American newspaper. In an op-ed headlined “Russians Deserve Better That Putin,” McCain singles out Putin and his associates for punishing dissent, specifically the death in prison of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. McCain claims that he is not anti-Russian but rather “more pro-Russian than the regime that misrules you today”. “President Putin doesn’t believe ... in you. He doesn’t believe that human na-ture at liberty can rise above its weaknesses and build just, peaceful, prosperous societies. Or, at least, he doesn’t believe Russians can. So he rules by using those weaknesses, by cor-ruption, repression and violence. He rules for himself, not you,” McCain wrote. McCain assailed Putin and his associ-ates for writing laws that codify bigotry, specifically legisla-tion on sexual orientation. A new Russian law imposes fines and up to 15 days in prison for people accused of spreading “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” to minors. On Syria, McCain said Putin is siding with a tyrant. “He is not enhancing Russia’s global reputation. He is destroy-ing it. He has made her a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed, and untrusted by nations that seek to build a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world,” the Arizona senator said.

RUSSIA|ENERGY

Bill to allow independent producers to export LNGA bill that would allow independent producers to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been written and submit-ted to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration for approval by the Ministry of Energy, according to news reports. The bill effectively damages Russian gas giant Gazprom’s monopoly on exporting LNG abroad. There will be two cases in which it will be possible to obtain the rights to sell LNG directly, without making an agency agreement with Gazprom. First, exporting rights may be granted to users of mineral resources who have a license to build a plant or send the produced gas for liquefaction at one of the government-allowed plants. Secondly, com-panies and their affiliates will be allowed to export LNG if they are more than 50% government-owned. Howev-er, such companies will only be able to liquefy and ship abroad gas that is from Russian offshore fields.

TAJIKISTAN|GAS

Gazprom to expand energy projects in TajikistanFollowing a meeting between Gazprom CEO Alexei Mill-er and Tajik President Emomalii Rahmon, the Russian en-ergy monopoly said it was eager to expand on energy de-velopments under way in the former Soviet republic. “The company already completed drilling of the Shakhrinav-1p ultra-deep prospecting well and launched testing op-erations,” Gazprom said in a statement on 18 September. “The meeting also highlighted that the licenses permitting Gazprom to explore hydrocarbons in the Western Shaam-bary and Sarykamysh areas were extended for a five-year period,” Gazprom said.

On 19 September, Russia accused the environmentalist Greenpeace group of aggressive and provocative actions in boarding a Russian oil platform in the Arctic.

Russian coast guards fired warn-ing shots and arrested two Greenpeace activists who scaled the Prirazlomnaya Arctic oil platform in a protest over the potential threat to the environment from operations slated to start this year.

Production at the rig, owned by Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, was delayed last year after similar actions. Gazprom said the delay was down to technical reasons. This is Russia’s first such project in the Barents Sea.

The arrested activists were from the Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise which sails under the Dutch flag. After they scaled the platform, a coast guard boat fired the warning shots to force the ship to withdraw from the base of the rig.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the action had threatened the site’s se-curity and it had summoned the Dutch ambassador on 18 September, asking him to ensure it was not repeated. “The intruders’ actions were of aggressive and provocative character and had the out-ward signs of extremist activity that can lead to people’s death and other grave consequences,” the ministry said in a statement.

Two activists - one with Swiss citi-zenship, the other from Finland - were still being held by Russian coast guards after the protest, Greenpeace said, in a statement that dismissed Russia’s criti-cism of the protest.

“Let’s be absolutely clear about this: the real threat to the Arctic comes not from Greenpeace but from oil compa-nies like Gazprom that are determined... to drill in remote, frozen seas,” said Ben Ayliffe, the green group’s Arctic oil cam-paign head.

The Arctic holds 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of its undis-covered gas according to industry esti-mates. However, its economic viability, as well as its environmental safety cre-dentials, remain a matter of debate.

Global majors including US’ Exxon-Mobil, Italy’s ENI and Norway’s Statoil have agreed deals with Russia’s state-owned Rosneft to enter Russia’s Arctic offshore waters.

Most of these projects are due to be-gin extracting in the 2020s, and are seen as crucial to maintaining the 10 million barrels a day of oil flow from the world number one producing nation.

Environmental campaigners, wor-ried about the impact on a fragile eco-system and about how a spill clean-up could work in such remote places, have stepped up their campaigns to match the increasing business interest.

Meanwhile, Russia is reopening a Soviet-era military base in the Arctic, President Vladimir Putin said on 16 September. Two decades after aban-doning it, Russia has sent 10 warships behind four nuclear-powered ice break-ers to the base on the Novosibirsk Is-lands. The flotilla was led by Russia’s flagship nuclear-powered cruiser, Pe-ter the Great, along the Northern Sea Route, which connects Europe to Asia across Russian waters from the Kara Gate to the Bering Strait.

“Our troops left there in 1993, and yet it is a very important location in the

Arctic Ocean, a new stage in the devel-opment of the Northern Sea Route,” Putin told a meeting of Russian defence officials. “We will not only reopen the military base but restore the airfield to working order and make it possible for the emergency services, hydrologists and climate specialists to work together to ensure the security and effective work of the Northern Sea Route.”

Anatoly Tsyganok, a retired colo-nel and head of the Center for Military Forecasting in Moscow, told the InfoRos online newspaper the announcement that the Russian Northern Fleet had re-turned to the arctic on a permanent basis is likely a move to counter the US Aegis ballistic missile defence system.

The ability of the Northern Fleet to patrol the territory east of the Barents Sea will greatly enhance the strategic potential of the Russian Navy, Tsyganok told the publication.

If NATO ships equipped with mis-sile defencce systems are sent to the Arctic Ocean, the capabilities of the Rus-sian strategic nuclear forces will be put at risk, and therefore the task has fallen to the Northern Fleet to counter foreign sea-based missile defence systems, the analyst told InfoRos.

Russia slams Greenpeace Arctic protest

Greenpeace activists board Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya Arctic oil platform somewhere off Russia north-eastern coast in the Pechora Sea. |AFP PHOTO/GREENPEACE/DENIS SINYAKOV

Russia ready to help transport, destroy Syrian weapons RUSSIA|SYRIAN CRISIS

RUSSIA|ENVIRONMENT

KASSANDRA32

Kassandra@NEurope.eu

NEWEUROPE

Follow me on twitter @Kassandra_NE

22 - 28 September, 2013Once upon a time in Yorkshire...Assaulting journalists, calling women sluts, bongo bongo... Is Farage scared of secrets being spilled if Bloom is kicked out?

Mad Men attack European ParliamentAd experts slam 2014 election campaign

George Parker is one of the original Madison Avenue advertising leg-ends, immortalised in the early six-

ties cool of the popular TV series Mad Men and has become the most acerbic commen-tator on the advertising world, through his book 'Confessions of a Mad Man' and blog, 'AdScam'.

We got Parker together with some other ad and brand experts, who operate in the commercial world, not the political one, to look at the 2014 election information cam-paign launched last week.

The video has been widely dismissed and the slogan, 'Act. React. Impact.' has not in-spired either. but what do the experts think?

First of all, even these people who are constantly watching developments in the media, were, like all Europeans, unaware of the launch, so it was with some trepidation that they were shown the video and publicity material.

We acted and they reacted and it certain-ly made an impact.

But not in a good way.“Unlike national tourism campaigns that

merely try to influence foreigners to come to Europe, this travesty is supposed to energize the public within the EU to the point were they will actually go out and vote for some-thing most of them regard as a giant ****,” says Parker.

“The video is a collection of splendid im-ages that have no relationship to each other,

let alone the poor ****ers forced to watch it,” he adds.

“I have no idea what it wants me to do af-ter sitting through it.”

Parker's colleague, Ralf Zeigermann, who has worked throughout Europe in the advertising industry as a designer, author and brand developer, is equally baffled, “I don't get it. What's this ad about? About the EU? The Parliament? About us, the EU citi-zens? There's zero information in there, just a bunch of nice but random pictures.”

He continues, “This ad does nothing for me, it only shows various things we know about already. Why the ballet girl? Why the landfill? Is the EU parliament now magically making landfills disappear?”

The slogan isn't helping, “I don't get the slogan either. Who's supposed to "Act. Re-act. Impact."? Are they talking about me as a European Citizen or are they talking about themselves?”

Zeigermann continues, “There's not a word about banks, about Greece, nothing about all the problems we have and their pos-sible solutions.”

So what were they trying to do? “I think they tried to emulate the Apple advertising a bit, but what might work for a consumer brand doesn't necessarily work for a fragile union of different countries, who all have loads of problems.”

Zeigermann concludes, “This has got bugger all to do with an 'information cam-

paign about the 2014 European elections', because there's no information to be found. I'd rather have three 30 second ads giving ac-tual information than this 1:30 ad where they try to get all emotional.”

Showing the background material dis-tributed by the parliament didn't improve their impression.

Over to George Parker, whose acerbic tongue is matched by an extremely detailed knowledge about advertising since the 60s, “As for the article (and booklet), 'The power to decide what happens in Europe.' The vis-ual was obviously lifted from a naked wres-tling in mud, porn film, with the inscrutable caption, 'Take on the present and shape the future' being an ad for Viagra, or some other cure for an erectile dysfunction product.”

But there was a use for the slogan, “Af-ter wading through reams of turgid copy, my first 'Act' would be to sit through every archived episode of Monty Python to see if I am missing some tautological nuances of language better understood by Spam eating Vikings.

“After being told that the European Par-liament was ready to fight for the things I really care about, such as the optimum cir-cumference of duck eggs throughout the EU, I wanted to 'React' by stabbing myself in the eyes with rusty kitting needles.

“But, as these would not meet the cur-rent EU regulations for 'Needles – Knitting – Rusty' I passed on that and moved on.

Which left me to dwell on the “Impact” of what I had just read.

“Unfortunately, I had fallen asleep, so I had to pass on that also.”

Parker's conclusion, “In common with most government efforts at communica-tion, it is execrable. As an example of trans-governmental communication, it is unforgiv-able.”

Was there anything positive Parker could say? “Have the girl in the mud wrestling shot report to my office immediately.”

This was probably not the best time to break the news that €5 million of the cam-paign was to be spent on social media.

Zeigermann was stunned. “Oh dear, this is ridiculous. Why don't they spend the mon-ey on billboards and perhaps a few informa-tive ads? This is insane.”

But perhaps the experts could explain how you could spend €5 million on Face-book and Twitter, Zeigermann is baffled, “I have absolutely no idea.”

The acid test is that 'Act. React. Impact.' makes no more sense than 'React. Act. Im-pact.' or 'Impact. Act. React.'

Does it?George Parker's weblog provides acerbic

insider commentary on developments in ad-vertising and occasional glances back to the 'golden era' of the Mad Men: http://www.adscam.typepad.com/

Ralf Zeigermann's portfolio is online: http://zeigermann.prosite.com

EUROPEAN PARlIAMENT

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