Europe

Protests In Denmark, Hungary, Austria & UK Welcome Refugees

September 14, 2015 Middle East Monitor, www.middleeastmonitor.com Resist! Europe, Immigration, Refugees, Wars and Militarism

By Middle East Monitor - Thousands of protesters across Europe took to the streets on Saturday in support of refugees heading for the continent after fleeing their war-torn countries. Local police said at least 30,000 people participated in the protest in Copenhagen, Denmark, organized by the "Refugees Welcome" group and Venligboerne (“Fellow Townspeople”) on social media. Michala Clante Bendixen from the “Refugees Welcome” group said that unlike the government, citizens have done a lot to help the refugees. The Royal police said that about 34,000 people gathered on the streets of Denmark in several protests organized on social media. Separately, another protest in support of refugees was staged in Budapest, Hungary.

The Iraq War: The Root Of Europe’s Refugee Crisis

September 12, 2015 Imran Khan, www.aljazeera.com Educate! Europe, Imperialism, Refugees, Wars and Militarism

By Imran Khan in Al Jazeera - Thousands have crossed continents and have ended up in Europe seeking that same respite. By and large it's taken Europe by surprise. Opinions vary on how to deal with the crisis. Some say Europe and the US should step up. Others say the rich Gulf states should use their enormous wealth to help. What no one talks about is the invasion and occupation of Iraq. March 2003 was the pivotal point. Based on controversial evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the war drums beat loudly. The WMD claim was eventually publicly discredited by the CIA's own Iraq survey group report . That report proved whispers and intelligence community doubts from the time that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. But it wasn't just those who questioned the evidence. Mass opposition from the British and American public concluded in marches in various Western capitals opposing the war.

The Refugee Crisis Should Not Be Used For More War

September 11, 2015 Jelle Bruinsma, www.roarmag.org Educate! Europe, Refugee, Wars and Militarism

By Jelle Bruinsma in RoarMag - Hundreds of thousands of refugees from war-torn countries have entered Europe this year. As the debate over Europe’s responsibility to let these refugees in continues, calls for humanitarianism have been accompanied by an alarming and predictable Western response. Following the cynical adage that you can’t let a good crisis go to waste, intellectuals and states alike have been happy to use the crisis for renewed calls for Western military intervention. The predicate of the arguments is that the West, despite calling for Assad to step down since 2011, has done nothing to get rid of him and as such has “abandoned” the Syrian people. We must now step up and bear this burden, so the pundits say.

A Guide To The Worst Refugee Crisis Since WWII

September 10, 2015 Ben Norton, www.mondoweiss.net Educate! Europe, Refugee, Syria, Wars and Militarism

By Ben Norton in Mondoweiss - The world is witnessing the largest refugee crisis since the horrors of World War II. Today there are close to 60 million war refugees, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—an all-time high, as violence and persecution around the world are on the rise. The Middle East, North Africa, and Western Asia are particularly hard hit. Millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Yemen are fleeing violence and war in their countries. In all of 2014, approximately 219,000 people tried to cross the Mediterranean to seek asylum in Europe. In just the first eight months of 2015, over 300,000 refugees tried to cross the sea, according to the UNHCR. More than 2,500 died. Human rights organizations warn the Gulf states, Israel, Iran, and Russia—all of which have taken zero refugees—along with the US, Canada, and Europe—which have taken few—are not doing enough to provide refuge to the asylum-seekers.

Groups Speak Out Against Energy Subsidies For Biofuels

September 9, 2015 Economic Voice, www.economicvoice.com Educate! Environment, Europe

By Economic Voice - A coalition of European and international organisations is calling on the EU to exclude bioenergy from its next Renewable Energy Directive, and thereby to stop direct and indirect subsidies for renewable energy from going to biofuels and wood-burning. Campaigners have published a new briefing on the impacts of the EU's bioenergy policies, and say that they are targeting policy makers. The controversial EU Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete has claimed that the European contribution to emission reductions is “the most ambitious presented to date”. However, the EU emission reduction target is built on false premises, such as that large-scale bioenergy is inherently carbon neutral or at least low carbon and that carbon markets can address emissions effectively.

The New Colonialism: Greece & Ukraine

September 9, 2015 Jack Rasmus, www.informationclearinghouse.info Educate! Colonialism, Europe, Greece, Ukraine

By Jack Rasmus in Information Clearinghouse - A new form of colonialism is emerging in Europe. Not colonialism imposed by military conquest and occupation, as in the 19th century. Not even the more efficient form of economic colonialism pioneered by the U.S. in the post-1945 period, where the costs of direct administration and military occupation were replaced with compliant local elites allowed to share in the wealth extracted in exchange for being allowed to rule on behalf of the colonizers. In the 21st century, it is “colonialism by means of financial asset transfer.” It is colony wealth extraction by colonizing country managers, assigned to directly administer the processes in the colony by which financial assets are to be transferred. This new form of colonialism by direct management plus financial wealth transfer is now emerging in Greece and Ukraine.

Refugees March On Austria After Hungary Blocks Trains

September 5, 2015 Al Jazeera, www.aljazeera.com Resist! Austria, Europe, Germany, Hungary, Refugee

By Al Jazeera - Hundreds of mostly Syrian refugees have begun marching to the Austrian border after being prevented from boarding trains to Germany in the Hungarian capital Budapest. Authorities appeared to be allowing groups of refugees to make the 170km journey to the border crossing on Friday amid tense scenes across the country. Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from near the M1 and M7 motorways outside Budapest, said authorities appeared to be helping the refugees make the journey despite fears the road would be blocked. "There are hundreds of people who have marched something like 10km from the centre of Budapest from the rail station to here...they say they have no option but to do this. "It may sound far fetched but they're intent on reaching the border.

The Refugee Crisis: Where Governments Fail, Grassroots Prevail

September 5, 2015 Michaela Whitton, www.theantimedia.org and Andrew Butler, www.filmsforaction.org Organize! Europe, Grassroots, Refugee

By Michaela Whitton in The Anti-Media and by Andrew Butler in Films For Action - Discussing the refugee crisis, the activist was frank: “Global displacement is a direct result of foreign policy and more widely the far reaching implications that the post 9/11 war on terror has had and is still having. Drone strikes on people, sanctions and massive IMF loans with extortionate amounts of interests cripple economies and countries. What are people meant to do, starve?” Asked about the response of the E.U., he continued, “What response? It’s basically non-existent. The U.K. seems to want to spend £7 million on new fencing instead of actually creating a centre to house people with the French Government. Other countries such as Germany and Iceland have welcomed refugees with open arms.”

The Case For Universal Basic Income

August 27, 2015 Daniel Raventós and Julie Wark, www.truthdig.com Educate! Barcelone, Europe, Living Wage, Universal Income

Support for a universal basic income (defined here) is growing. In Europe, for example, the City of Utrecht is about to introduce an experiment that aims “to challenge the notion that people who receive public money need to be patrolled and punished,” in the words of a project manager for the Utrecht city council. Nijmegen, Wageningen, Tilburg and Groningen are awaiting permission from The Hague in order to conduct similar programmes. In Switzerland, the necessary 100,000 signatures have been obtained for holding a referendum on whether Swiss citizens should receive an unconditional basic income of €2,500 per month, independently of whether they are employed or not. On 16 June, the centre-right government of Finland, where 79% of the population is in favour of a universal basic income, made good on its electoral promise and ratified the implementation of an “experimental basic income”.

Is TTIP ‘Organised Money’?

August 26, 2015 Mike Gold, www.radicalsoapbox.com Organize! Corporatism, Environment, Europe, Finance and the Economy, usa

By Mike Gold in Radical SoapBox - You thought the banking crisis and the recession were bad? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet! TTIP – Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – is the latest deal the bankers, corporations and governments don’t want you to know about. But just in case you find out just how toxic it could become, they’ve made sure that voters in the EU and the US will not have any opportunity to vote on it. It’s happening behind closed doors in Brussels and Washington. The politicians and the corporations want to make sure that there is nothing ‘ordinary’ people can do to halt the progress of this capitalist and/or fascist corporatist behemoth. The essence of TTIP is that the US and EU regulatory systems should be harmonised by dismantling trade barriers. This will lead to additional trade, and we can all live happily ever after. Or more likely not.

Greece Is For Sale – And Everything Must Go

August 22, 2015 Nick Dearden, www.globaljustice.org.uk Educate! Austerity, Europe, Greece, Privatization

By Nick Dearden in Global Justice - I've just had sight of the latest privatisation plan for Greece. It's been issued by something called the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund – the vehicle supervised by the European institutions, which has been tasked with selling off an eye-watering €50 billion of Greece's ‘valuable assets’. The fund was a real sticking point because the European institutions wanted to move it to Luxembourg, where they could keep a better eye on it. Anyhow, it's still in Athens, and this document, dated 30 July, details the goodies on sale to international investors who fancy buying up some of the country. We've attached it to this blog to give a flavour of what’s up for grabs at the moment.

Syriza Rebels Form A New Party

August 22, 2015 BBC News, www.bbc.com Educate! Elections, Europe, Greece, Syriza

By BBC News - Rebels from Greece's governing left-wing Syriza are to break away and form a new party. Prime Minister and Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras stood down on Thursday, paving the way for new elections. The move came after he lost the support of many of his own MPs in a vote on the country's new bailout with European creditors earlier this month. Greek media reports say 25 rebel Syriza MPs will join the new party, called Laiki Enotita (Popular Unity). The party will be led by former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, who was strongly opposed to the bailout deal. At a press conference in Athens, Mr Lafazanis said he was ready to respect the result of a referendum held in July, in which 61% of Greeks said they would not support the terms of the bailout.

TTIP Can Only Be Read In Brussels ‘Reading Room’

August 17, 2015 Zachary Davies Boren, www.independent.co.uk Educate! Europe, Finance and the Economy, Trade, usa

By Zachary Davies Boren in The Independent - The European Commission is making the secret Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade deal even more secret, introducing a new rule that means politicians can only view the text in a secure 'reading room' in Brussels. An investigation by German news site Correct!v has revealed that the Commission is cracking down on TTIP security following a series of leaks, purportedly by EU member states who had accessed information on the deal electronically. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has said that no more reports on TTIP negotiations will be sent to Member States because of "important vulnerabilities in the last rounds of negotiations". Officials were told of this change in policy on July 24th at a meeting in Brussels in which the Commission explained that the documents had "been submitted to databases of [member states'] national parliaments" meaning that "hundreds of people have actually uncontrolled access".

Greek Bailout Goes To Servicing The Debt

August 13, 2015 Interview of Dimitri Lascaris Sharmini Peries, www.therealnews.com Educate! Debt, Europe, Greece, Left, Syriza

Interview of Dimitri Lascaris by Sharmini Peries in The Real News - Well, the headline is that a deal has been struck for Greece to borrow on top of its mountain of debt, which everyone now acknowledges is unsustainable, a further 86 billion euros in new loans over three years. Virtually all of which I think one can reasonably anticipate is going to be used to service the existing debt of Greece. So this is very much an extension of the five-year long exercise of extend and pretend that the Syriza government criticized so vehemently before coming to power.Underneath that headline, the next point of importance which I think the government is stressing and they're going to characterize and they have begun to characterize as a victory of sorts is the primary budget surplus targets which have emerged. They actually are significantly lower than those that everyone anticipated would be incorporated into the agreement based upon the deal that was struck in broad strokes on July 13 in Brussels.

WikiLeaks Goes After Hyper-Secret Euro-American Trade Pact

August 12, 2015 Wikileaks, www.wikileaks.org Resist! Europe, Finance and the Economy, Trade, usa

By Wikileaks - Today, Tuesday 11th August, 9:15 BST, WikiLeaks has launched a campaign to crowd-source a €100,000 reward for Europe’s most wanted secret: the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Starting pledges have already been made by a number of high profile activists and luminaries from Europe and the United States, including former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, esteemed UK fashion designer and environmental campaigner Dame Vivenne Westwood, US journalist Glenn Greenwald, veteran Australian film-maker and investigative journalist John Pilger, Belarusian philosopher and theorist Evgeny Morozov, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange. [Update as of Tuesday 11th August 2.30pm BST: Now joined by filmmaker Terry Gilliam and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek.]

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