War crimes: New age guru Karadzic “defended the bees”
In the 90’s, as Yugoslavia fell apart, Radovan Karadzic led the Serbs of Bosnia to declare their own republic. Aided by Slobodan Milosevic’”s government in Belgrade, he carried out a brutal war on...
View ArticleNational identity: Estonia's solidarity deficit
Postimees, Tallinn – On national holidays, Estonians band together under the flag, but everyday life in their country is often marked by a reluctance to communicate with strangers. For a columnist in...
View ArticlePlaying with fire
EditorialOver the last few months, public debate in Europe has been marked by the increasing prevalence of xenophobic speeches, as well as excessive attitudes and gestures, which everyone hoped had...
View ArticleAustria: Extreme-right is ever more mainstream
"ÖVP keeps absolute majority despite huge gains for the FPÖ" – the front-page headline in Der Standard is not an overstatement. In the 20-September elections in the state of Vorarlberg – which were...
View ArticleEnlargement: Bosnia on the brink
Die Tageszeitung, Berlin – For Bosnia, the road to Brussels is paved with constitutional reform. But in the current talks between European, American and Bosnian leaders, Brussels has shown a dearth of...
View ArticleGermany: BMWs ablaze in bobo Berlin
Cars are burning bright by night in Berlin: 267 autos have been charred this year to date, reports the Frankfurter Rundschau. Whilst the tabloids fulminate against those “damned anarchist arsonists...
View ArticleSpain: Catalonian press unites for autonomy
In an unprecedented initiative,12 Catalan newspapers, including La Vanguardia, have published a common editorial entitled "The Dignity of Catalonia", in which they express their support for Catalonia's...
View ArticleSpain: 95% of 27% of Catalans for independence
A resounding 95% of Catalans – at least of those who voted – have answered "yes" to the question: "Are you in favour of a social and democratic sovereign Catalonian state within the European Union?...
View ArticleHungary: Court abolishes Hungarian Guard
“The Hungarian Supreme Court has upheld the abolition of the Hungarian Guard,” headlines SME. The Slovak daily goes on to explain that, concurring with the lower court rulings, the court finds that...
View ArticleNetherlands: Undercover with the extreme right
After four months spent posing as an intern in the ranks of the PVV (Party for Freedom), journalist Karen Geurtsen has published the first section of a three-part feature on Geert Wilders' xenophobic...
View ArticleNorthern Ireland: Gordon Brown's “dramatic intervention”
A “panicked” Gordon Brown has “jetted” into Northern Ireland in an attempt to break the deadlock over the devolution of policing and justice powers from Westminster to the formerly war-torn province,...
View ArticleSlovakia: Strike up the national anthem
Hospodářské Noviny, Prague – In the run-up to the Slovak general elections on 12 June, the campaign has degenerated into a nationalist overkill contest. The latest brainwave: have the national anthem...
View ArticleBelgium: The Eurolab experiment gone wrong
The Economist, London – Long hailed as the model for European integration, bilingual Belgium faces a divisive election that risks splitting it further at the seams. For the Economist's Charlemagne,...
View ArticleEuropean of the Week: Béla Bugár, bridge builder
Respekt, Prague – Founder of Hungarian-Slovak reconciliation party Most-HÍD, the Magyar politician leads the drive to improve the troubled relations between the Slovak majority and the country's...
View ArticleInstitutions: Welcome to the Holy See of Europe
The Economist, London – For most Eurocrats, EU federalism is more than a political conviction, it’s an article of faith. But while nationalism may still be fraught with dangers, nations are still...
View ArticleFrom America: The European Union is dying
The Washington Post, Washington D.C. – Renationalisation of politics, a painful economic slump, hasty enlargement, populism - some of the reasons why insiders in Washington believe the EU is a thing of...
View ArticleSpain: ETA ceasefire meets with scepticism
"ETA announces truce,” headlines El Correo the day after the terrorist group issued a cease-fire communiqué. Along with the rest of the Spanish press, however, the Basque daily deems the move...
View ArticleRoma: Axis of weevils
La Stampa, Turin – Nicolas Sarkozy defiance of Europe — loudly supported by Silvio Berlusconi — isn't just about the Roma, it is an attack on the community's core values and the right of the public to...
View ArticleDebates: The birth of extremist Europe
Newsweek, New York – Nationalists and immigrant-baiting parties are fast entering the European political mainstream, and even traditionally centrist parties are now trying to play their game, notes...
View ArticleXenophobia: What's gone wrong in Denmark?
Frankfurter Rundschau, Frankfurt – The Danish parliament has recently toughened up laws regarding family reunification for immigrants. German daily Frankfurter Rundschau fears that this marks yet...
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