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Luděk Navara on how Czech crimes should be viewed

eurotopics — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:37:49 +0000

The remains of apparently 15 Germans killed after the end of World War II have been discovered in the Czech village of Dobronin. There have been several reports of such findings in recent times, prompting commentator Luděk Navara to make the following reflections in the liberal daily Mladá fronta Dnes:

“Long after the war people joked: ‘The only good German is a dead German’. The Germans caused more evil than the Czechs’, many would say. But which Germans? And which Czechs? Should there be a subdivision here into good and evil? Were only the Germans bad? And all the Czechs good?

… The dead Germans were probably the victims of a common act of revenge, like their fellow citizens in Brno and Usti. And let us be clear: we’re talking about murder.

… It would be good to know how many more such graves there are in the Czech Republic; it’s important for all of us. We must become aware of our past, understand it, reconcile with it and learn to live with it. This, too, is a kind of justice. And we owe it to the dead.”Popular Posts:

Jeffrey D. Sachs on nature’s indifference to political intrigue

eurotopics — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 10:54:08 +0000

According to the United States’ National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration the first five months of this year were the warmest on record going back to 1880.

US economist Jeffrey D. Sachs comments in the business paper Jornal de Negócios:

“The US bears disproportionate responsibility for inaction on climate change, because it was long the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, until last year, when China overtook it. Even today, per capita US emissions are more than four times higher than China’s.

… When Barack Obama was elected US president, there was hope for progress.

… Strangely, despite being a candidate of change, Obama has not taken the approach of presenting real plans of action for change.

… Whether this is an intended outcome … is difficult to determine. What is clear is that we are courting disaster as a result. Nature doesn’t care about our political machinations. And nature is telling us that our current economic model is dangerous and self-defeating. Unless we find some real global leadership in the next few years, we will learn that lesson in the hardest ways possible.”Popular Posts:

America and Europe close the door on immigrants

RIA Novosti — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:35:12 +0000

New York, Statue of Liberty | by Pavel Bykov

Anyone aspiring to U.S. citizenship had better act now before it’s too late. Soon merely being born in that country may not be enough to qualify for citizenship. Immigrants and foreigners are always subject to much greater scrutiny during hard times. They are sized up by the local population to determine whether they are an asset or a liability to the country, or even a threat.

This is what is happening in the United States right now. Republicans are determined to amend the U.S. Constitution, which provides for jus soli (“right of soil”) citizenship. This means that any child born in the country, regardless of the parents’ citizenship, automatically has the right to apply for a U.S. passport once of age. But for how much longer?

Senior Republicans in both houses of the Congress have backed their party’s push to revise the 14th Amendment, which legalized birthright citizenship back in 1868. The first hearings on the issue are scheduled for September or October, when Congress reconvenes after the summer recess.

Senate Republicans believe that the amendment is allowing for an “invasion by birth canal.” Children “arriving” in America via this “canal” are referred to as “anchor babies,” who make it easier for their non-citizen parents to obtain legal residency and eventually citizenship.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has calculated that over 450,000 children of illegal immigrants “steal” U.S. citizenship every year, adding to the burden on U.S. taxpayers.

“People come here to have babies,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said. “They come here to drop a child. It’s called ‘drop and leave.’ That shouldn’t be the case. That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons.”

But amending the U.S. Constitution is no simple matter. America’s founding fathers were wise and had no illusions about the unruly masses. They protected their laws by double and triple lock to prevent voters from making impulsive and ill-advised decisions about the country’s fundamental laws under the influence of heated rhetoric, leaving future generations to regret it.

Adding, revising or repealing an amendment requires two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-fourths of the states to approve. The U.S. Constitution will turn 223 this September, and around 10,000 amendments have been proposed over that time; yet, only 27 eventually passed, while six more still have not been ratified by the states. Most of the amendments concern people’s rights and liberties, or the election and terms of the president and members of Congress.

The United States started “closing the door” for the first time in 1882, when it restricted Chinese immigration. Since 1917, immigrants have been required to know rudimentary English; in 1920, immigration quotas were introduced; in 1924, all immigrants were required to have visas issued by a U.S. consulate.

The last time U.S. lawmakers dealt with immigration was in 1965, when they passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which set quotas for the eastern and western hemispheres rather than for specific countries.

Whether the Republican-backed amendment will pass is unclear. It has as many opponents as supporters. Yet, the numbers of supporters have been growing lately due to the prolonged recession. America’s attitude toward immigrants is changing. This nation of immigrants is beginning to show signs of moving toward the internal passport system we have in Russia. In Arizona and Virginia, police officers now can check the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally, even if they have not committed a crime — something that was unheard-of until now. Admittedly, in Arizona this law is pending a court decision on its constitutionality.

All Americans used to see the logic behind the practice that most U.S. states still abide by. Why check people’s papers if they have not committed a crime? Indeed, what right do law enforcement officers have to do so, if the country is not in a state of emergency or at war?

But the gloomy public sentiment is playing into the Republicans’ hands. Congress is preparing for a big election in November, when all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 37 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested. Many Americans now consider President Barack Obama a liar who has failed to keep his campaign promises, while others view the Republicans as their saviors from the Democrats’ rule.

Cracking down on illegal immigration is a safe political move, so long as only illegal immigrants are targeted. The children of people with temporary residence or work visas will still enjoy birthright citizenship, or at least this is what the backers of the initiative claim.

Immigrants are no more welcome across the Atlantic. France, the Netherlands and Denmark are also planning to tighten immigration laws and step up deportations of illegal immigrants. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered authorities to deport illegal Roma immigrants to Romania and dismantle their camps. Moreover, immigrants who have obtained French citizenship can now be stripped of their citizenship for breaking the law. France’s Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said that this punishment will apply to all felonies.

France immediately came under fire from human rights groups around the world, as if it was the first country in Europe to restrict the freedom of the Roma people. Italy did essentially the same thing two years ago.

Germany also plans to deport 12,000 Roma people to Kosovo over the next one or two years. They came in 1999 after fleeing the bombing in Yugoslavia and the Kosovo war. Their children, who have grown up since then, do not even speak Serbian or Albanian, only German.

The municipal government in Copenhagen is also determined to expel hundreds of Roma from Eastern Europe. Belgium is also planning a “Gypsy purge”. So France is not the first or only European country to crack down on the local gitanes.

In fact, few are aware that France is the only European country where jus soli in its pure form is still the law of the land. Ireland abolished it in 2005. To be eligible for birthright citizenship in an EU country now, one needs to have at least one parent who is a citizen, or to have lived in the country for at least eight years (Germany). Other countries require that a person has relatives who are citizens. All European nations have made the requirements for citizenship stricter.

Andrei Fedyashin, RIA Novosti political commentator

Source: rianPopular Posts:

Zoltán András Bán on Hungary’s unenlightened absolutism

eurotopics — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:07:05 +0000

In the left-liberal weekly Magyar Narancs, literary critic Zoltán András Bán paints a gloomy picture of the attitude towards democracy of Viktor Orbán’s right-wing conservative government:

“From a social and psychological viewpoint the rise to power of Viktor Orbán and his right-wing conservative Fidesz party was a revolution of the upstarts. After eight years [in the opposition] their mentality was pathologically reduced to the equation: we have suffered until now, now it’s [you Socialists'] turn.

… Fidesz has lost its presence of mind, its common sense lies idle in the cloak rooms of parliament. … What we are seeing is pure absolutism.

… But in contrast to its 18th-century predecessor there is nothing progressive about it at all. This government does not seek to renew society, and when it does it runs roughshod over the values of modernity. The absolutism of the Orbán government wants to reintroduce long obsolete values and an anachronistic mindset in Hungary. For the government, history is not controlled by the people, but by an ill-defined God.

… It undermines the country’s secular fundament, which is essential for an efficient, modern society.”Popular Posts:

Giorgos Delastik on the unlikelihood of an end to conservative governments

The 300 News Daily — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:04:46 +0000

Europe’s social democrats are betraying their principles by failing to oppose the universally unpopular austerity policies, Giorgos Delastik complains in the left-liberal daily To Ethnos:

“‘Austerity packages kill governments.’ This could be a slogan for all Europe, regardless of how recently they were elected, how triumphal their election victories were, or how many hopes they inspired within conservative circles and the elites of each country.

… The Europeans reject the austerity policies whether they are implemented by the Right or the Left. This behaviour on the part of Europe’s citizens could be a catalyst for bringing about the fall of conservative rule on the Old Continent. But for this to happen, the social democrats must fight the austerity measures and remain true to their alleged principles. Unfortunately this is not happening, … making the departure of the European Right highly unlikely.”Popular Posts:

Roberto Saviano appeals to mafia boss’s humanity

The 300 News Daily — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:41:52 +0000

The Italian police have arrested the alleged boss of the powerful Neapolitan Casalesi clan.

Roberto Saviano

Nicola Schiavone is suspected of succeeding his father, the notorious “Sandokan”, as the top boss of the clan after his father was sentenced to life in prison.

In an open letter published by the left-liberal daily La Repubblica Roberto Saviano calls on the father to show remorse and cooperate with the judiciary:

“You have been behind bars for ten years. Now they also have your son. Show them that you are still a human being and not just a collection of human tissue that drags itself full of resentment and greed from cell to cell.

… I know you think business is going well now. The economic crisis has given it a boost and legislation is turning into a protective shield for you, because with the new bugging law your son would never have been tracked down and arrested.

… I grew up in the land of the Camorra and I know how you think. Those who fear death and imprisonment are wimps. You and your friends always win because unlike the politicians you’re willing to make sacrifices. But sooner or later they’ll bring you to your knees. You and your dirty deals with cement, votes and toxic waste. Now you have the chance to at least make up for some of the injustices you have committed. Show your cards. Give up your power. Cooperate with justice.”Popular Posts:

Bernard Guetta on avoiding the end of the EU

The 300 News Daily — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:34:54 +0000

The European Union in its present form is threatened with failure, Bernard Guetta writes in the daily Libération.

Bernard Guetta

What the EU lacks is political unity and democratic rules, he says:

“The EU could fall apart tomorrow.

… It could very quickly go down in history as a missed opportunity. What threatens the EU most is that its people can no longer follow what is going on. Neither on the right nor or the left does the public understand this thing anymore, and no-one knows who is leading it. The apparatus is complicated, functions poorly, and European citizens are right in having the feeling that they can’t control its decisions and cannot punish it via the ballot box. Today the EU brings together too many countries – countries that are too different from one another in terms of development and political culture for them to be able to plan the future.

… An effort must be made to save this creative Utopia by reorganising European democracy. In the European elections the European parties should be discussing real programmes. The winner should be able to advance his candidate as President of the Commission. Then the EU Commission would become a government … of a political union of Europe.”Popular Posts:

Klaus Brill on the new political class in Eastern Europe

The 300 News Daily — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:47:21 +0000

The recent elections in Slovakia as well as those in Hungary and the Czech Republic have strengthened the conservative parties.

Apparently the citizens of the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Euope are rethinking their previous attitudes, writes Klaus Brill in the left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung:

“They mistrust politicians who promise them social benefits. The majority of those who do go to the polls are not in favour of leaving everything as it is. That is not to be underestimated, because most people may well suffer considerably under the expected budget cuts. What does a pensioner who has to get by on 175 euros per month, like in Romania, have to lose?

… The widespread corruption has not been reduced, which has to do among other things with the low salaries of the public sector.

… But that could soon change. For recently we have been seeing that a new generation is getting ready to replace the political class of the transitional era.

… Changes must first of all take place in people’s minds before they can take root in politics, the administration and business. Nevertheless new mentalities and new ways of thinking now have a firm foothold in the region.” (Popular Posts:

Lluís Bassets analizes the traditional parties’ lack of orientation

The 300 News Daily — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:53:23 +0000

The traditional parties in Europe, the social democratic and the Christian democratic parties, are not offering any answers to the big changes at present.

Lluís Bassets

This is another reason why right-wing extremist groups are gaining ground in several European countries, writes Lluís Bassets in his blog Del Alfiler al Elefante for the left-liberal daily El País:

“We must take the following principle as a starting point: all that has been said about social democracy also applies to Christian democracy. If the system we have known up to now is starting to collapse we can clearly see that in reality both ideologies were two branches of the same tree responsible for most of the good things we now have, like the European Union, the social welfare state, the most prolonged period of peace, prosperity and stability in our history. And if now they have entered a profound crisis it’s because with globalisation and the financial turbulences the social state and European unity have also been called into question. And because those old parties have no idea how to guide the citizens on their path towards this new Europe that will emerge from the crisis and about which we know nothing at the moment.”Popular Posts:

Pedro Lains sees chances in the European crisis

The 300 News Daily — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:27:53 +0000

Until Hungary expressed doubts about its own solvency the euro was blamed for the crisis.

But the European crisis could also be a chance for Europe, writes economist Peter Lains in the business paper Jornal de Negócios:

Peter Lains

“The financial crisis disrupts European integration and exposes the divisions within the continent. But they should be left intact because they are part of the continent’s cultural legacy. Many have tried to overcome them but none has succeeded, not even with bloodbaths. It would be wonderful if these divisions could be transformed into a platform for dialogue. This would no doubt be the most difficult task, but considerably easier that what Germany, France and the other EEC founding states achieved 50 years ago. Germany’s aspirations have changed in the meantime, which doesn’t make a solution any easier. But Europe is precisely that: a Union of diverging interests. It is up to us Europeans to insist on this Union. For a thorough awareness of Europe’s diversity is probably one of the best weapons.”Popular Posts: