EU & Europe

Photo: Johnson holding his first cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, 25 July 2019. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

'Fine Words Butter No Parsnips' — Behind Boris Johnson’s So-Called Liberalism

Viewpoint by Sam Fowles*

LONDON (IDN) – The UK has left the EU and plunged into a third lockdown (the latter some two weeks after doing so was recommended by the government’s medical advisers), while, in the US, right-wing terrorists stormed the Capitol.

Strangely, all three provoked responses along the lines of “Boris Johnson is a liberal”. For Robert Tombs, writing in The Telegraph, the chief benefit of Brexit is a “reinvigorated democracy”. For Robert Peston, Johnson’s repeated ignoring of scientific advice is due to “a political philosophy… that he will not restrict our liberties unless there is an overwhelming reason to do so.” For James Forsyth in The Times, "Johnson is not Trump's Transatlantic twin".

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 15 January 2021

Photo: Edinburgh is the 17th largest financial centre in the world in 2020. CC BY 2.0

The Rationale for Scotland Returning to the European Union

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Trump wants to get in. Scotland wants to get out. That sounds a bit odd. Let me explain. A few days ago, the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, said she’d heard that one of the White House’s planes had asked for permission to land in Glasgow airport a day before the inauguration of the new president, Joe Biden. She said she had refused it. The surmise was that Donald Trump wanted to escape to one of his favourite golf courses, near where his mother was born.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 12 January 2021

Photo: The Place du Luxembourg/Luxemburgplein in the European Quarter of Brussels (Belgium). View of the European Parliament (western side), including converted station entrance in front, with statue of the industrialist John Cockerill in the foreground. CC BY 3.0

There Is A Silver Lining in The Cloud of Brexit

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Writing in 1751 Voltaire described Europe as “a kind of great republic, divided into several states, some monarchical, the others mixed but all corresponding with one another. They all have the same religious foundation, even if divided into several confessions. They all have the same principles of public law and politics unknown in other parts of the world.”

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 05 January 2021

Photo: Millions of children in Ethiopia's Tigray out of reach. Credit: Anadolu Agency.

An Overview of the Situation in Tigray as 2021 Begins

By EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – More than two million children in Tigray do not have access to food, water and safety and may have been displaced. While there is a severe humanitarian situation regarding 100.000 Eritrean refugees in Tigray; full humanitarian access has not been given.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 01 January 2021

Photo: Effigy of Dominic Cummings as Boris Johnson's puppet-master at the People’s Vote march, in October 2019. [Scale proportionality adjusted] Credit: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Time to Ditch the Technocratic, Mechanical Vision of Government

Viewpoint by Matthew Flinders and David Blunkett*

SHEFFIELD (IDN) – If crises bring with them new opportunities to think afresh, then the combined impact of Brexit and COVID has been to focus attention on the capacity and structure of the British state. This rethinking is increasingly framed in terms of smart government. Dominic Cummings, the British prime minister’s now departing chief adviser, has been at the centre of a drive to “harness the power of data and technology” at every turn. Technology has a role to play in modern government, but what Cummings seems intent on fashioning appears something closer to a populist technocracy based on a belief in algorithmic governance.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 19 December 2020

Photo: Late French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and 'Emperor' Bokassa of the Central African Republic.

The Story of Giscard D’Estaing's Fascination for 'Emperor' Bokassa's Diamonds

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Early December the former president of France Valery Giscard D’Estaing died. The Guardian in its obituary described him as “the grand old man of French politics”. President Emanuel Macron said, “his presidency had transformed France and his direction still guides its way”. The New York Times said he was “a modern-minded conservative”.

Unlike many of the other obituaries, the New York Times failed to mention the scandal that was a major factor in bringing him down when he ran for a second term in 1981. He was accused and it was proved that he had accepted a gift of diamonds from Emperor Bokassa of the Central African Republic valued at about quarter of a million US dollars.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 15 December 2020

Photo: Mekelle palace of Emperor Yohannes IV (emperor of the whole Ethiopian Empire). Credit: Alexander Savin, Wikimedia Commons.

German Foreign Minister Asks Ethiopian Counterpart to Stop the Fighting

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) – "Ethiopia needs a ceasefire," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, Demeke Mekonnen, at a meeting at the Foreign Office in Berlin on November 27. The talks focused on the conflict in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray.

According to the German Foreign Office, Ethiopia and Germany are partners with longstanding relations. Ethiopia is a priority country of German development cooperation. Germany is one of the biggest buyers of Ethiopian goods, primarily coffee and textiles. The main German exports to Ethiopia are finished products such as machinery, engines, motor vehicles, chemicals and medicines.

: Jutta Wolf; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 28 November 2020

Photo: European Parliament Brussels. Credit: The Brussels Times.

European Parliament in A Joint Resolution Urges Ethiopia to Tread the Path of Peace and Dialogue

By L. Storchi

BRUSSELS (IDN | EEPA) – On November 26, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) held a plenary debate on the current situation in Ethiopia and the conflict in the Horn of Africa region. The speakers called for de-escalation and a resumption of the dialogue for peace between the Ethiopian federal government and representatives of the Tigray region. The discussion followed a draft Joint Motion for a Resolution on November 25, supported by several parliamentarians from different political parties. The motion was adopted by the European Parliament. European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic announced plans to visit Sudan to speak to refugees.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 27 November 2020

Photo: Axum airport in northern Ethiopia, in 2016. According to reports, forces from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front have meanwhile destroyed the airport. Credit: Matt Tempest. Source: EU Observer

EU Called Upon to Urgently Engage in Peace Efforts for the Horn of Africa

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Representatives of non-governmental organisations and academia from all around Europe have called upon the European Union (EU) to urgently appoint senior High-level Envoys for the Horn to engage in and provide support to international, in particular African, efforts to curb the crisis in the Horn of Africa.

The appeal is addressed in a letter to the President of the EU Council Charles Michel, President of the Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, and President of the European Parliament David Sassoli.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 24 November 2020

Photo: Pro-European Union Euromaidan protesters in Kyiv, December 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0

Outmanoeuvring Russia, Not Spreading Democracy Is US Priority

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – It’s rather revealing that during the conflict which now besets Azerbaijan and Armenia the US is barely interested, happily leaving it to Russia to do the mediating and peacekeeping and the UN to deal with the refugee problems. Quite the reverse with the Ukrainian crisis that began in 2013. Why? What’s the difference?

As the crisis evolved and fighting broke in the east and south with pro-Russian Ukrainians on one side and pro Westerners on the other the US shipped in arms and Russia sent in troops without insignia. The fighting continues to this day.