Since last Friday, Turkey has been experiencing popular protests without precedent. Hundreds of thousands inhabitants of Istanbul gathered to express their opposition to the destruction of Gezi Park, near Taksim Square. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime minister and AKP leader remained inflexible in spite of calls for calm made by Abdullah Gül, former Minister of Foreign …
What is happening in Istanbul right now cannot be explained with words. It started as a protest of the demolitıon of a green park in Taksim to build a shopping mall there, but then things got quite intense. This is no longer about a green park or a shopping mall, this is a civil uprising.
This is an unnoticed but quite important piece of information: Iceland’s new government has just announced it suspended negotiations regarding its adhesion to the EU and it should hold a referendum on the issue during the next legislature.
The national Greek television, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT), ceased to broadcast on last Tuesday, due to the government’s decision to close down its signal a couple of hours before. Following this unexpected and brutal announcement, the main trade unions and corporations called for a strike on last Thursday. Continue reading »
Which political and economic integration for the Eurozone? This was the question discussed by some participants in a colloquium organized by the Fondation Jean-Jaurès (a think-think close to the French Socialist Party) and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS, a think-tank close to the Party of European Socialists, PES) in Paris on 25 May. Continue reading »
On the occasion of Europe’s Day and of this year of the European citizen, I found it useful to share some thoughts on the topic of the European citizenship. Continue reading »
Is France a dunce country as regards energy development and fight against climate change? This is the provocative question discussed by the participants to a conference about the energy development challenge organised by the European Commission and L’Express, a French weekly, on the 30th of April. People coming from institutions or civil society, such as … Continue reading »
Dear readers, This article was submitted by one of you. It had nothing to do with Europe, but we found it interesting and worth publishing. PAK Seemingly indestructible, husky looking in the olive-colored uniform, Hugo Chavez had all the makings of a larger-than-life figure. For nearly 14 years, Chavez portrayed himself as this father figure … Continue reading »
