Stories about Western Europe from January, 2009
France, Guadeloupe: Obama Appointment?
Indiscrétions and RCIgp [Fr] wonder if the appointment of former LCI journalist (Guadeloupean-born Christine Kelly) at the CSA is as a result of the Obama effect.
China: Sino-French Ties in 2009
Mr. Song Luzheng (宋鲁郑）, a Chinese blogger who specializes in international politics, recently listed the five factors that have undermined the Sino-French relations (zh). He asserts that it is too hard to improve the bilateral relations to a mutually satisfying level unless the mutual trust is effectively enhanced.
Greece: Economy and Protests
BBC's Mark Mardell writes about the state of the Greek economy and the farmers’ protests.
Guadeloupe: A new social movement
Guadeloupe has been in a state of social unrest for about a week now as record numbers of trade unions, cultural and political associations have united around a motto: "Lyannaj kont pwofitasyon", Creole for “Let's gather up to fight against all sorts of abuses.”
Poland, UK: “Reverse Migration of Poles”
As more Poles are reportedly leaving the UK, the POLSKI blog notes that “it may imply that the era of cheap Polish labour – and jokes – might be coming to an end…”
Brazil: Extradition refusal threatens relations with Italy
The Brazilian government calls Cesare Battisti a political activist. For the Italian government, the writer is a convicted terrorist. The controversial decision of the Brazilian government to guarantee political refugee status for him, two weeks ago, has divided opinions in Brazil.
Russia, Ukraine: “Gas War IV”
Leopolis analyzes the Ukraine-Russia gas dispute and the agreement signed: “There is a natural temptation to assess the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of the Russian-Ukrainian Gas War IV, which emerged from a commercial crisis to a political game.”
Poland: Back Home From the UK
the POLSKI blog writes that due to the crisis, many Poles are returning home from the UK – and others are encouraged to by a UK-based organization called “Poland Street.”
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Support for Florence Hartmann
Amila Bosnae writes about the case of Florence Hartmann, journalist and former spokeswoman for Carla del Ponte, who published a book about the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) called “Peace and Punishment” (”Paix et chatiment: Les guerres secretes de la politique et de la justice internationales”, Flammarion,...
EU: The Launch of Bloggingportal.eu
Kosmopolito announces the launch of Bloggingportal.eu: “The new place to read EU blogs and keep yourself updated on the EU blogosphere.”
Russia: LJ and “the Western Powers”
IZO writes that “the importance of the Russian LiveJournal blogosphere is leading the Western Powers to suck up to the leading bloggers and infiltrate the discussion sites.”
Ukraine, Russia, EU: Gas Politics
Antal Dániel of Central Europe Activ believes that Ukraine is “one of the most corrupted countries, a quasi-bankrupt and quasi-failed state” and quotes Gazprom's deputy chairman to emphasize that “the EU must find out what it want to do with Ukraine.” Hugo Lane of Lands Far Away… argues in the...
Trinidad & Tobago, U.K., Israel, Palestine: Objectivity?
In response to the BBC's decision not to broadcast an appeal for funds for Gaza, Notes from Port of Spain says: “Someone, somewhere, has been leaning heavily on this famously objective broadcaster, and it has caved in.”
Iran: BBC launches new Persian TV channel
The launch of BBC Persian TV on January 14, attracted praise, enthusiasm, suspicion, and in one word: attention! Iranian bloggers are expressing their opinions on this new channel, and they are as diverse as ever.
Egypt: Bloggers Divided over Geert Wilders
Amsterdam Appeals Court decided that Geert Wilders, Dutch MP, will be put on trial for his views on Islam. Wilders, and his movie had caused a huge anger wave last year, with both sides denouncing each other. While Perwin Ali thought he deserves to be tried, An Egyptian is blogging for his release.
Europe: Entropa
Belatedly, links to some posts on Entropa: Margarete of The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia believes “it should be taken down”; Kosmopolito thinks that “the debate around the project is also part of the installation”; BBC's Mark Mardell writes that “the fact that it is a hoax does not...
The Balkans: “Whose Is This Song?”
Recently several Macedonian bloggers published the documentary “Whose Is This Song” by a Bulgarian director Adela Peeva on their blogs and started discussing the story. The documentary was filmed as an idea that the director got during a dinner in Istanbul with several friends (a Macedonian, a Serb, a Greek and a Turk), when all of them said that the song playing in the background was from their country.
Russia, UK: Rallies for Israel, Gaza
LJ user mgor (a London-based native of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) posts photos from a London rally in support of Gaza. LJ user drugoi (Roustem Adagamov, one of the most popular Russian bloggers) posts photos from a Moscow rally in support of Israel. (Text in Russian.)
Greece: Outcry over arms shipment to Israel
With the war raging in Gaza, news reports earlier this month about the routing of an extraordinarily large shipment of arms from the United States to Israel through the private Greek port of Astakos caused an uproar among Greek bloggers. They used Twitter to investigate the matter and put pressure on the government to halt the transfer.
The Balkans: Harold Pinter and Milosevic
Marko Attila Hoare of Greater Surbiton writes about Harold Pinter's association with the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic and explains why he feels “roughly as sad about Pinter’s death as Pinter was sad about the deaths of the tens of thousands killed by Milosevic or for the hundreds of...
The Balkans: “Britić”; “Beyond Sarajevo”
Balkan Anarchist writes about Britić, a new British Serb quarterly magazine. Bosnia Blog is seeking “co-bloggers and writers for Beyond Sarajevo, a wannabe directory of many wonderful (and sometimes not so wonderful) things about Sarajevo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.”
