..EUROPEAN
NEWS German Minister Justifies
Israeli Barrier
Interior Minister Otto Schily said the controversial West
Bank barrier is effective because it has led to a drop in
attacks on Israel. He also rejected comparisons between
the Israeli fence and the Berlin Wall.
"Those who draw comparisons with the Berlin Wall are
wrong, because it does not shut people in and deprive
them of their freedom," Schily told Deutschlandfunk
radio on Monday. "Its purpose is to protect Israel
from terrorists."
Schily, who is currently in Israel for an international
conference on terrorism, said the security barrier was
the result of decades of failed efforts to prevent
Palestinian suicide bombers from crossing the border and
attacking Israel.
"All the efforts undertaken over many years, even
decades, have unfortunately failed to bear fruit,"
he said. "So it is understandable that Israel should
try to erect a protective barrier, which furthermore has
shown it works, and I think that the criticism is far
from the reality."
In the radio interview, Schily also insisted the security
barrier should be referred to as a "fence" and
not a "wall," as it is often called in
Germany.
Palestinians demand explanations
On Tuesday, Palestinian authorities demanded a thorough
explanation for Schily's statements. Cabinet Minister
Sajeb Erekat said the German minister's statements were
"very strange and unusual," and not in keeping
with the official German position on the barrier.
Only recently German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer had
criticized the barrier as "barely
understandable" from a security point of view. But a
spokesman for the German foreign ministry on Tuesday
insisted there was no contradiction between the two
ministers' remarks. He said that while the German
government recognizes that every state has the right to
defend its borders, it is still concerned over the route
of the barrier, which at times cuts deep into Palestinian
territory.
Palestinians say that the erection of concrete blocks,
barbed wire, watchtowers and trenches juts into their
land and is an attempt by Israel to reduce the size of a
future Palestinian state. The International Court of
Justice ruled in July that the parts of the barrier built
within the West Bank are illegal and should be torn down.
Israel is due to present a revised route of the barrier
this week after the Israeli supreme court ruled in a test
case that the fundamental rights of tens of thousands of
Palestinians living near Jerusalem had been violated.
Islamic terror world's greatest threat
Schliy's "understanding" for Israel's need to
protect itself against Palestinian attacks follows
earlier statements referring to Islamic terror as the
"greatest threat to the civilized world."
At a four-day anti-terror conference held to commemorate
the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, the German
interior minister said Germany had a special commitment
to ensuring Israel's security because of the
Holocaust."This responsibility to Israel includes
the obligation to support Israel in its fight against
terror, and in this context we must be aware that no
nation suffered under the scourge of terrorism like
Israel," he said on Saturday.
Author: DW staff (AFP, ktz)
http://www.dw-world.de © Deutsche Welle
Sweden a year after the euro referendum
14.09.2004 - 09:48 CET | By Carl Bildt
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - A year after the
stunning result of the Euro referendum, the issue seems
almost forgotten in Sweden. The occasional economist
points out the long-term advantages of staying outside
for an economy as integrated with Euroland as the
Swedish, but not even the news of Estonia and Lithuania
joining ERM2 and preparing to become part of Euroland as
fast as possible made any waves.
The issue is, for all practical purposes, dead for some
years to come.
"Militantly" anti-EU
Instead, the big news in the European debate in Sweden is
that the Social Democratic party has appointed a militant
anti-EU personality as its new Secretary-General. Marita
Ulvskog belonged, as Minister of Culture, to those that
opposed the government's policy of joining the Euro, and
also made that very clear. In the referendum on Sweden's
membership of the EU in the autumn of 1994 she also
belonged to the No camp.Her appointment is certain to
disappoint those that had hoped that the Social
Democratic party, after the divisions that were obvious
also in the European elections, would try to take a
somewhat more active approach on the European issues.
But on her appointment, Ms. Ulvskog made clear that she
had no intention of changing her views. Even if Prime
Minister Persson is likely to put some restrictions on
her in this respect, her top position in the party now
also means that there will be clear limits to what the
pro-Europeans inside it can do and achieve.
No pro-European movement
After the referendum defeat, there was talk of the
pro-Europeans inside the different parties getting more
active in trying to shape public opinion, but since then
we have seen very little of that.
Prior to the June European Parliament election, there was
instead a rather noticeable tendency by even essentially
positive parties to play on more sceptical sentiments.In
Sweden the saga of the vacillations of the Social
Democrats seems to be continuing another round. Former
MEP Göran Ferm, who lost out in the infighting inside
the party, has recently been openly very critical of his
party's obvious lack of leadership on the issues.
The appointment of Ms. Ulvskog as Secretary-General a
year after the murder of pro-European respected Foreign
Minister Anna Lindh and the stunning defeat in the Euro
referendum is certainly not a good sign.
The writer was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to
1994 and a leading campaigner for a "yes" vote
in the referendum on the euro
Spain marks return to 'old Europe'
14.09.2004 - 09:59 CET | By Andrew Beatty
Spanish premier José Luis Rodríguez
Zapatero has declared old Europe rejuvenated, following a
meeting with his French and German counterparts in Madrid
yesterday. 
Speaking after the meeting with French President Jacques
Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Mr
Zapatero declared that "old Europe is as new".
The Spanish government has been keen to stress the
importance of the meeting, signalling that Spain has
shifted away from the pro-US policies of the Aznar
administration."It has been another meeting
but not just any meeting", Mr Zapatero said
according to the Spanish news agency EFE, describing the
group as "fervent pro-Europeans".
The German Chancellor in a sideswipe at the centre-right
government of José Maria Aznar said that without a
Socialist in Marchs elections there would have been
no "historic" deal on the Constitution.The
three men promised to work together for a yes
vote in the upcoming referendums on the treaty.
However a discussion on the EUs forthcoming EU
budget for 2007-2013 proved to be a little more
contentious, with Spain fighting to keep aid for its
poorer regions after the accession of 10 new EU members
in May this year.
"You are able to have grand ambitions, but
unfortunately there are limits" commented the French
President.
Turkey threatens to end cooperation with US in Iraq
14.09.2004 - 09:53 CET | By Lisbeth Kirk
While Turkeys political
establishment is pushing for the country to join the EU,
foreign minister Abdullah Gül has threatened to cut the
countrys traditional partnership with the US in
Iraq.
An American military offensive against Tall Afar in
Northern Iraq has pushed the Turks to warn Washington.
The attack led to the loss of civilians in an area where
many Turks live.
"I myself spoke to the American Secretary of State
(Colin Powell)", Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said,
according to Anatolia news agency reports. "We
stated very clearly that if it continues, Turkey will end
its partnership on all areas concerning Iraq".
Adultery on the agenda
The Turkish track towards EU membership has some other
obstacles to overcome however.
Several EU foreign ministers urged Turkey to drop a
controversial proposal outlawing adultery at a meeting in
Brussels on Monday (13 September). The Turkish ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP) has proposed
criminalising adultery as part of a set of penal code
amendments which were originally intended to bring Turkey
in line with European norms.
Hayati Yazici, the assistant General Manager of the
Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's lawyer said, according to
the Turkish daily Zaman, that he and the AKP would
consider the criticisms of the Turkish Penal Code draft.
Political Commissioners?
On 6 October, the European Commission is expected to
publish a crucial report on Turkeys compliance with
the standard criteria for EU membership. This report will
largely influence a decision in December by member states
on whether or not to start accession talks with Ankara.
The EU enlargement commissioner Günter Verheugen has
just returned from a trip to Turkey. In an interview with
the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Saturday (12
September), Mr Verheugen said that after 40 years of
promises the EU could not refuse Ankara's application,
but added Turkey would not join before 2015. The
Commissions report on Turkish readiness to join the
EU needs backing from a majority of the college, which
seems divided on the issue.
Last week the Dutch Commissioner Frits Bolkestein warned
that the European Union will "implode" if farm
and regional aid policies remain unchanged by the time
Turkey joins the EU. (2015!)A six-page letter from the
Austrian Commissioner for agriculture Franz Fischler to
his colleagues was circulated to the press over the
weekend. Mr Fischler is arguing for a plan B in case
Turkey is not adopted as a member of the EU.
The European Commissioners however received sharp rebuke
from the Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Mřller.
"Those Commissioners should stop running around
playing politicians", he said to Politiken.
"They are to deliver a technical judicial evaluation
of Turkey but to leave to us [the ministers] to make the
political decision".
Unison
leaders demand pull-out from Iraq
By Ben
Russell
16
September 2004
Union leaders demanded a
"speedy withdrawal" of British troops from Iraq
yesterday as delegates lined up to condemn the invasion
and its aftermath.
Delegates to the TUC
conference at Brighton backed a motion calling for troops
to be pulled out and for Allied military bases to be
dismantled.
Keith Sonnet, deputy
general secretary of the public service union Unison, won
loud applause for attacking the war as based on
"lies and deceit".
He said: "Each day,
we watch with horror the continued carnage in Iraq. But
we know who is to blame for the chaos. It is George
bloody Bush and Tony Blair. We know there will never be
peace in Iraq until the occupying British and American
forces in Iraq leave. We demand our Government takes
immediate steps to end its occupation and to return Iraq
to its people. The war was illegal, based upon lies and
deceit and it spawned continual human rights
abuses."
Mr Sonnet urged trade
unionists to join a huge anti-war rally in London planned
for 17 October.
Stewart Brown of the Fire
Brigades Union said: "It is time to stop the war. It
is time for UK and US troops to withdraw. It is time for
respect for international law."
Mary Davis, from the
National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher
Education, said: "There should be no mistake about
our opposition to war and occupation. We don't support
Anglo-US imperialism masquerading as a crusade to rid the
world of tyrants.
nationalism by patrick kavanagh
...As I have said myths
are indestructable, but what I should like to point out
that myths do not work and the Irish myth is one of
them.Ofcourse the Russians had a myth. Dostoevsky in
exile at the casinos of Europe is never done lamenting
his absence from Russia. But of all patriotic myths the
only one in my opinion that came alive and worked for the
author was Joyce's myth of Dublin. Why it sustained him
is that he never stopped to think, you might say. Once we
stop to think the illusion is gone. In the case of a
poet's mythology the all embracig fog must remain
impenetrable. We must not be able to escape from it. In
certain circumstances the only way to succeed in this is
to accept failure and by doing so realize that failure is
something in the mind.....When Dr. Johnson said that
patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel, he was
once again right on the mark. In all formal patriotic
activity lies the seed of something that is not the seed
of virtue. There have been many fine patriots, but there
must be some inherent defect in the whole business,
seeing that men of little or no principle can readily
weigh in with it and nevertheless be accounted fine men.
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