Swiss minaret referendum today.

Swiss Minaretxia

from tabsir.net


Cows will no longer give milk in Switzerland if minarets are allowed to stand.

The rightwing political parties in Switzerland are up in arms, preparing for a vote on Sunday to save their alpine paradise from the dreaded cultural eyesore of mosque minarets. This proposed ban on minarets comes from the same friendly yodelers in the nationalist Swiss People?s Party that has previously campaigned against

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Barroso II Commission announced

Copenhagen: the next Seattle?

from FP Passport by Joshua Keating

Some environmental groups are planning disruptive protests for the upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen, taking cues from the anti-globalization movement:

“We feel that right now in Copenhagen there is a real opportunity for things to come together a little bit like they did 10 years ago at the World Trade Organization protest in Seattle,” Müller told SPIEGEL ONLINE….

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"EU institutions on Twitter

EU institutions on Twitter

from EU Pundit by Andis Kaulins

EU institutions on Twitter

The E.U. as a surveillance society,

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Anthony Barnett

For the first time the EU wide moves towards a surveillance society and a database state set out in all their appalling glory. A major report has recently been published NeoConOpticon. It has its own webpage . The authors, with Ban Hayes of Statewatch in the lead, have put together the military and the domestic aspects of the European Security Research Programme.

Berlusconi is ‘rock star of 2009’

Italy’s PM Silvio Berlusconi has been named ‘rock star of the year’ by his country’s Rolling Stone magazine.

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Turkish suspicions continue on the new EU president…


[Note: The latest book by Anouar Majid, We Are All Moors: Ending Centuries of Crusades against Muslims and Other Minorities (University of Minnesota Press, 2009) provides a provocative thesis, suggesting that we examine the issue of Muslim minorities in contemporary Europe through the prism of history, specifically the treatment of the Moors (los Moros) in Spain. Here is a sample of his argument (from pp. 3-4).] FOUND IN We Are All Moors

EU president: Herman Van Rompuy no friend of Turkey

Mavi Boncuk
EU president: Herman Van Rompuy opposes Turkey joining
The poetry-loving favourite to become the first president of Europe, Herman Van Rompuy, is also a hard-line opponent of Turkey’s bid to join the European Union because it is an Islamic country. Speaking five years ago, as an opposition politician, Mr Rompuy, a Christian Democrat, argued that Muslim Turkey could not be considered a candidate for EU membership.

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Herman Van Rompuy, the new EU president; Baroness Ashton, the new EU Foreign Affairs Minister

Not particularly good for Turkey’s EU fantasies. Mr. Van Rompuy is known to be against Turkey’s membership.. I still work on a roundup from the Turkish press. let’s what Turks think… However, nearly all presidential candidates were against Turkey, so this is not the most surprising situation.

Having two low profile political figures for the EU’s top positions maybe a strategy to downgrade the importance of these positions. Nation states are still very important in EU-wide policy making and this leaves EU still relying on nation state fantasies…

And because these are low profile political personalities, the fate of Turkey’s membership maynot too affected, which is already negatively affected… And of course, I continue to lose my respect towards EU decision making processes.  You keep continue to negotiate Turkey for membership and you have a president who is against that membership. Turks seems to care less and less ….

Brussels Blog (Financial Times): Van Rompuy-Brit combination would signal EU disunity on Turkey

from Bloggingportal.eu – Today’s posts
The sun is shining in Brussels and the sky has an unseasonably blue, cloudless, late-November-in-Rome quality as European Union leaders make their way here for the summit of summits – the event where they will choose the EU?s first full-tim…

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"Who will be EU president?… Gender balanced Commission and more from the EU…

Who will be EU president?

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition
Europe correspondent Jonny Dymond profiles the runners and riders for the EU president

Leaders set to pick EU president

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition
European Union leaders will gather in Brussels later to select their first full-time president and foreign affairs chief.

Ideas on Europe: Britain & the EU Presidency: Idealism versus Effectiveness

David Miliband is out, but Tony Blair is still in with a shout. Those whom shriek with horror at the thought of a Blair presidency, but also want a stronger more coherent EU might want to consider the potential contradictions in their respective posi.

 

What’s in an EU anthem?

from FP Passport by Mardy Shualy

EU President to be named this week…

EU leaders to name president at special summit

from EurActiv.com
The European Union’s heads of state and government will name a president and foreign policy chief over dinner on 19 November, but diplomats say agreement on the appointments has still not been reached.

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Lisbon era starts in Europe while Merkel makes her historic US address…

A roundup as usual… last updated: 14:30 (4 Nov)

Consensus growing for low-profile EU ‘chairman’

from EurActiv.com
Confirming that EU leaders appear to read the job description of the first-ever permanent Council president as more of a ‘chairman’ than a ‘leader’, agencies reported today (2 November) that the mild-mannered Belgian prime minister, Herman Van Rompuy, is the “most consensual” figure for the top job.

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Blair vs Juncker: Hot debates for the EU presidency.

 

A. Gorskiy. Missed in action

A. Gorskiy. Missed in action. in Soviet War Paintings.

 

MAIN FOCUS: Juncker wants to stop Blair’s march to power | 28/10/2009

from euro|topics

The Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker has declared his willingness to run for the post of EU president in an obvious bid to prevent British politician Tony Blair from obtaining the post and becoming too powerful. But in the end the EU may decide not to elect either of these two formidable politicians and opt for a lacklustre candidate instead.

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