What is happening in Eu Land

by C Murray Sun Feb 04, 2007 16:45

Serbia had called elections on 21st January and were annoyed that
ahtisaari went to Kosovo before the formation of the new government.
The ethnic albanians want independence.

The report will be presented to the UN in a month, the submission will
be made to the security council.

There is a blog interview and news report;

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070202/ts_afp/serbiakosov...21536

not sure what b92 blog is but the interviewee is not a happy bunny:

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/comments.php?nav_id=38520

Martii Ahtisaari

by C Murray Mon Feb 12, 2007 10:11

Vladimir Putin, who came out like a bantam cock against the US
arms race in the 'sundays' is visiting Riyadh- a well trodden path.

Mr Ahern just led a trade mission there when Indymedia.ie was down.
There were two women ministers on that junket- Mary Hanfin and
Mary Coughlan (he has four Mary's)- 14th January 2007

Putin stated that he would support Serbia in relation to the Kosovan
Independence thing. In the comment above, the situation regarding
Kosovo and the UN/EU. [its a disputed zone, ]

Anna Politkovskyaya's death highlighted the Muscovite 'Kosovo Contacts
Group' which is anti-secession, she had been reporting on Chechyna ,
previously she had negotiated the Nord-Est theatre siege and covered
the Beslan Massacre. She ws murdered in October 06.

The ethnic Albanians want independence , and the EU/UN are
considered by some to be that route- this is the first time that
Putin has openly stated that he would support the Serbian
side in relation to the disputed zone.

[The book published with the Nord-Est siege is :- Putin's Russia
by Anna Politkovskya- and contains a recently updated section
on Beslan.]

Bertie did it....(jan 14th)

Putin's doing it.

by C Murray Mon Apr 02, 2007 20:48

There was an attack on a Russian orthodox church in Pristina
which has been condemned by the Kosovo Contacts group.

The Kosovo Contacts group hit the EU radar in relation to the secession
issues that came to the forefront after the death of the Russian Journalist
Anna Politkovskaya.

The comments above contain links to the ongoing problems with regard
to the independence situation and the negotiations by the UN in relation to
the future of Kosovo. Athissari produced an interim report in Feburary.(UN-
negotiator)

What makes the church attack interesting is that the Kosovo contacts
group normally does not make statements cos they are in the diplomatic line
of business.

The report is a fragment in today's London Independent or a bigger piece
on the BBC link:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/380143.sfm

the Independent link is in :-

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/

Attacks on Orthodox churches in Kosovo

by C. Tue Sep 18, 2007 18:39

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2973548.ece

by - Wed Dec 05, 2007 19:42

which is really very interesting given the old pregnant chad issue that brought him to the
White House and the fear that has kept him there[ ( I honestly think that the US is making
him clean the mess up before he is asked politely to fuck off...)-like rubbing a puppy's
nose in it's shite.]

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3223687.ece

by Sceptic Wed Dec 05, 2007 20:07

Despite the taunts at Bush over Florida 2000 he has very much more democratic legitimacy than Putin has. If people genuinely care about democratic standards they should support those who criticize the Russian elections, not insult them. Statements by US presidents have a lot of influence in Russia – such statements could well do some good now or in the future even if it’s not very visible now. Bush could have kept the head down over this and opted for the quiet life. Remember he is also constantly castigated for not speaking out over poor governance standards in allied States.

by crookstown Wed Dec 05, 2007 20:21

The reason Putin is popular is because Yeltsin, supported by the U.S. , was a disaster

6 million Russians died prematurely because of social welfere collapse under Yeltsin

The US was also supportive of Chechen rebels

Honest Tony Blair gave refuge to criminal oligarchs like Berezovsky

Sceptic, you're mighty naive if you think Bush gives a damn about ordinary Russians

by Sceptic Wed Dec 05, 2007 23:36

I am not saying Putin is not popular or that Yeltsin was competent. But that does not imply that Putin runs Russia in a manner that is to high democratic standards. That is the point of the critics of the elections. Putin was popular enough he would have won his election even had it been fair. The point is that democracy in Russia is new fragile and fraught with difficulties. Putin's undermining of the free press and the opposition parties might undermine it enough to kill it off altogether.

by whatever Thu Dec 06, 2007 09:56

he has not the moral authority to criticise anything, he is pissed cos the EU satellite of US corporatism is
being denied access to mineral/ore and free-market place under the guise of 'democracy' which is shortspeak
for- environmental abuse/conspicuous consumption/resource rape-sold back at profit.
Fuck Bush- Putin is in 'reactive' position and Bush'es strings are showing.

by Sceptic Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:16

Bush does have moral authority on this issue. The rest of the post is not very sensible. Are you saying that only a tainted democracy or a full blooded despotism can yield desirable outcomes in terms of the environment and other things? Does a free press or a plurality of parties, both of which have been undermined by Putin, somehow prevent environmental protection?

by - Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:41

I do not see our current amalgamation of political branding working here- either at local or national level.
I have met some very pissed off people who do not think that the government are even 'representing the
National interest', but the self-serving interests of a few people. Inadequate response and planning seem
to be the order of the day. of course people will become more reactive and nationalistic and elect people
whom they perceive as strong. Bush's sorties into the big world have proven appallingly mis-judged
(to say the very least) he appears as nothing more than someone with some psychotic fear symptoms
that are massaged and controlled by the military and corps. the Eu is similarly looked upon by
other cultures-a satellite of US corporate and military greed. A facade. its tiresome and ridiculous.

Putin is perceived as someone who will protect the interests of the people to their own resources
and requirements- and quite honestly most people think tis better the devil you know.Of course
all this has been politically predicted over and over by the people sidelined by the FF/FGers
who consistently accused those opposed to corporatism and free-trade agreements as mad.

Final word- in the last fortnight the current spokesperson on foreign affairs in England.
david miliband (age 37) made a speech expressing the urgent wish to expand the EU into
the Africas and Russia. its a corporate globalised entity which does not advocate of democracy
but of open-market 'ethics' that have contributed to famine, poverty, migrancy and war.
I do not think that the Russians want that and Miliband is a self-publicist. We look at the effect
of globalised policy and not at why it seems so seductive to so many-there is no such thing
as-neutrality- in issues of human rights and the corporate mechanism dedicated to removal
of difference to advance market ideology is busily stoking up border dispute/secetarianism
and interference in other cultures/political structures-where it has no business.

Look at the forum on europe discussions- undisguised centrism and creation of globalisation,
reduction of determism and sustainability and 'ireland' at the heart of the project-esp in relation
to food production and trade- shaming.

by crookstown Thu Dec 06, 2007 17:39

Sceptic, you may not be aware that Neil Bush, brother of Dubya is a business partner of Berezovsky the oligarch.

The reason for western hostility to Putin is that he scuppered a deal to sell assets of Khodorkovsky , another oligarch ,to western oil companies which was brokered by Dick Cheney

When khodorkovsky went to jail, there was pressure to dump russia out of the G8

My point is not that Putin is an Angel, but that the Neocon Bush clique are corrupt and evil

Neocons also encouraged Chechen separatism

The economic collapse was caused by western advisors like Jeffrey Sachs ,friend of Bono

by Sceptic Thu Dec 06, 2007 20:39 http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/11/29/russia17440.htm

The west was actually quite friendly to Putin until he began to act despotically and it was only with reluctance that the US shifted its support from Gorbachev to Yeltsin when the realities on the ground shifted decisively in Moscow. The EU and the relevant NGOs have also heavily criticised the Russian elections – are these all neocons too? Even if the half of what was written above was true in what sense does it make it right for Putin to bully the Russian free press and all other political parties off the field? If the elections are flawed why not say so? Putin’s reach does not extend this far west.

by crookstown Thu Dec 06, 2007 21:18

The west was friendly to Putin until he made it clear that he wouldn't allow western multinationals to grab Rusian resources.

Khodorkovsky was put in jail for trying to sell a portion of his coruptly acquired company to Exxon mobil, the deal being brokered by Cheney.

The west supported Yeltsin to the hilt , remember in 1993 he bombed and shelled the Russian parliament, something Putin never did

He also started the first Chechen war.

This happened when Russians were dying like flies because of western dictated "economic shock therapy" and oligarchs were getting super-rich.

When Yeltsin died, every western leader praised him.

Ordinary Russians are not stupid, I guess Putin has his faults, but they don't want another lackey of western globalism.

The following link gives a good view of US policy as dictated by Cheney and the Neocons , there's one chapter entitled the "deconstruction of Russia"

by Sceptic Fri Dec 07, 2007 20:36

But in what way does any of this excuse Putin’s browbeating of the media and of opposition parties? That is the central point. This is not a debate on Putin’s virtues or policies. It is a debate on his behaviour towards his domestic contestants for office whom he has bullied and the independent media to which he has done the same. Ditto street protestors. His conduct in this respect has been deplorable and it is right for the international community to point this out. Abuses should be condemned no matter who carries them out.

by crookstown Fri Dec 07, 2007 22:07

Russia is probably better off now than it ever was.

Westerners showed no concern for Russian pensioners when they died ,literally by the million, as a result of western economists advice in the 1990s

That was ignored by western media

Also some of these "democracy activists" are funded by Berezovsky and other oligarchs who have an agenda of subversion.

Oligarchs thrive when russia is weak, also the US could grab Caspian oil.

Berezovsky openly boasted of funding the "orange revolution" in Ukraine, along with money from America.

by Sceptic Sat Dec 08, 2007 14:56

It is quite clear you lot are only interested in criticizing the west. Where flagrant human rights and electoral abuses elsewhere are concerned a veil is drawn over them. Moreover you attack the motives those in the west who do draw attention to them.

by writer Thu Jan 03, 2008 20:22

I cannot find the link address for this one... but
http://www.guardian.co.uk has an interesting story on The kremlin and Internet,
wherin they wish (according to analysts) to dump the whole caboodle and rebuild from
scratch Russian domain address in cyrhillic script and where activists and citizens will
possibly be limited to one IPS which will be portable- Guardian is going on the need of
the Ruskies to control net access and how it will lead to russian isolation. The Kremlin
are saying that there is a problem with paraguyan access to their domains...

The title is-'Kremlin Eyes Internet Control'

Meanwhile in Kosovo- Serbs are leaving because of the Kosovan declaration of
Independence- this thread was started to highlight what goes on on the borders of the EU
(a corporate entity which is interested in market expansionsim and how that has effected
Turkey/Russia/The Africas.

people like E Ryan and Bertie Ahern buy and promulgate the ideology of
'Freedom through Profit' without realising that market expansion has led to diaspora,
cultural decimation and people not being able to afford to live in communities so that
irish tax havens and dealers in cash can expand their property portfolios and pretend
they are 'continental' in their aspirations.

green party is changing their constitution to protect Ryan and Gormely if they support
the Lisbon deal and the delegate vote goes against them. This is how to shred
principle for power and should be studied. Ryan's wife is ex irish Times and he
can get front page when he pleases.

The Greens are Split ,Ryan is concerned in moving into corporate Greenism,
meaning that the party is in transition and will shed long term activists to attract
disaffected FG/PD young men with illusions of power.