In the fourth part of his pre-election manifesto published in Kommersant daily on Monday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin touts the internet as an electronic means for making democracy more responsive to the people.

The premier is running for president in next month’s election.

Expressing the importance of “indispensable” democratic principles, Putin stresses at the same time that democracy-building is not just a matter of “copying and pasting” Western values into Russia.

“Genuine democracy cannot be produced overnight,” Putin states in the article. “You cannot just copy it by reproducing somebody else’s model; society has to be ready for democratic mechanisms.”

The Prime Minister recalls what transpired in the turbulent 1990s, when “democracy” was hastily introduced following the collapse of the Soviet Union.“What we got in the 1990s with the supposed coming of democracy was not a modern state,” writes Putin.

“What we got was turf wars between various clans and…semi-feudal fiefdoms.” By comparison, Russia’s political landscape today – with its more politically informed electorate – faces new challenges that demand new solutions.

“Today, the quality of the state does not match civil society’s readiness to participate in it,” Putin admits, in a nod to the opposition. “Our civil society has become much more mature, active and responsible – they should have the capacity to match increased public activism.”

­Spin doctors and image makers need not apply

In an apparent swipe at Western-style democracy, where, he suggests, substance has taken a back seat to sensationalism, Putin warns of the threat of democracy becoming just another form of cheap entertainment.

“We do not need the circus of various candidates competing with each other to give more and more unrealistic promises,” he says. “We don’t need a situation where all that is left of democracy is the facade, where democracy is understood as a one-time entertaining political show…where substance is forgotten for the sake of shocking statements and mutual accusations.”

Putin goes on to chastise the “spin doctors” and “image makers” who are attempting to “control politicians.”

What modern Russia needs, Putin says, is a “clear, quick and transparent mechanism for preparing, making and implementing both short-term and long-term decisions,” which will promote “constructive dialogue and mutual trust between society and the government.”

Putin advocates the active use of Internet technologies for building the foundation of responsible democratic institutions.

­Downloading Democracy

Russia, with its millions of regular internet users, has the means to overhaul its political system, right at its fingertips.

“Democracy should have mechanisms for direct and constant action… and efficient channels for dialogue, public oversight, communication and feedback,” Putin advises, offering examples as to how to use the available technology.

“It is important to create user-friendly, interactive interfaces for public authorities’ web portals, so that their plans and programs can be fully available, publicly discussed, and their implementation monitored,” he writes.

The top contender in next month’s presidential election says he will “ask web designers to assist the state” with implementing this proposal.

Putin then discusses how the internet can give voters direct participation in the democratic process, while also breaking down the mountain of red tape.

“I suggest introducing a rule for a mandatory review in Parliament of initiatives that collect one hundred thousand or more signatures on the internet,” Putin writes, citing a similar law in the UK. “Certainly the anonymous internet cannot serve this purpose, even though in a number of instances it helps reveal the mood of society… [Therefore] a procedure should be developed for the official registration of those who want to participate in this system”.

Putin believes that a widely available “internet democracy” would give citizens at the city and municipal levels “the opportunity to vote and introduce topical problems at local referendums or Internet polls.”

By way of example, Putin says residents of a given locale “should be given an opportunity to express their opinion on the performance of the head of the district police…after his first year on the job.”

The PM’s plans for promoting “internet democracy” are part of his Electronic Government project, scheduled to be completed by July.

“At present, our citizens have access to all information on political debates in Parliament, on world markets, and on the marriages and divorces of Hollywood celebrities,” Putin muses. “What they can’t do over the internet, however, is retrieve data on their utility bills, review their medical files, or find the name of their district police officer…

“Many state services are now available online… But most people need information that’s relevant for them: on their homes, nearby areas, neighboring parks, schools, and their municipalities.”

“The Electronic Government project should be aimed more precisely at the needs and requirements of the people,” Putin says, summing up his plans. “By means of information technology, state mechanisms should be made comprehensive and accessible to the public.”

­Corruption: the new cool

Addressing Russia’s perennial problem of corruption, Putin cited a conversation between Tsar Nicholas I and his chief of secret police Alexander von Benckendorff, when the former announced he wanted to stamp out graft, and got the following question in return, “Do you think there will be anyone left around you?”

The Prime Minister then quotes a recent poll on the aspirations of Russian children.

“In the turbulent 1990s teenagers dreamed of becoming oligarchs,” Putin said. “But now they want to be state officials; many view public service as a source of fast and easy cash.”

When discussing ways of dealing with individuals in high places fattening their wallets, Putin talks tough.

“The fight against corruption must become a national course, not a matter for political speculation… political exploitation,” he cautions. “We offer real, systemic solutions that will ensure a far more effective rehabilitation of state institutions and the use of new principles in our staff policy – eventually, our goal is to make reputational, financial and material losses so great, that corruption would no longer pay.”

“We will act consistently, reasonably and with determination. We will remove the fundamental causes for corruption and punish particular officials. We will boost motivation for those who want to serve Russia in good faith. We have always had plenty of such people, and they will be given a chance.”

“We have defeated oligarchy, and we will defeat corruption.”

In conclusion, Putin says that his solutions will help to make the power of the people – democracy – a genuine one.

“It’s these solutions that make public service function in the interests of people,” Putin writes. “And together, they ensure that Russia and its people enjoy sustainable and successful growth.”

Source

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It took researches 30 years of drilling through a four-kilometer-thick ice to reach the renowned subglacial lake. Most importantly, million years-old secrets will be unveiled without causing harm to the lake’s ecosystem.

­“Yesterday [on Sunday] our scientists at the Vostok polar station in the Antarctic completed drilling at depths of 3,768 meters and reached surface of the subglacial lake,” RIA Novosti quoted unnamed Russian scientist.

Lake Vostok is a unique aquatic ecosystem hidden under some four kilometers of ice. Its water has been isolated from the atmosphere – and therefore from the outer biosphere – for millions of years. Scientists believe that surveys of the lake can provide invaluable details on past and future climate changes.

It is not yet known whether the lake’s waters are inhabited – certain bacteria and, perhaps, more complex creatures, could potentially live – but scientists have everything now to find this out. The importance of such potential discovery is difficult to overestimate.

Drilling works around Vostok Station in the Antarctic began in the 1970s, at a time when scientists still had no idea that a lake lay under the four-kilometer-thick ice shield. It was only in 1996 that Russian specialists, supported by their British counterparts, discovered what later proved to be one of the world’s largest freshwater reservoirs.

However, in 1998 drilling was halted only 130 meters from the lake’s surface when the international community voiced concerns that its ancient waters risked being polluted if special precautions and technologies were not employed.

The relevant technology was developed in 2003 in St. Petersburg, and the international working group conceded that it was now safe to continue drilling.

Work resumed in 2005.

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A new international project is scheduled to be launched to assess the threat posed by asteroids or comets and look for solutions to protect Earth from an impact.

The new European-led NEOShield project will calculate any threat posed by Near Earth Objects (NEO) and figure the best possible way to shield the Earth.

The project initiated by the German space agency’s (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research is planned to set laboratory experiments by using the latest science.

“We’re going to collate all the scientific information with a view to mitigation,” the state-funded BBC quoted project leader Prof. Alan Harris as saying.

“What do you need to know about an asteroid in order to be able to change its course – to deflect it from a catastrophic course with the Earth?”

Scientists and engineers working on the project expect the study period of the NEOShield to end in three and a half years.

Experts have warned that although the NEO threat may seem distant, the geological and observational records have proved it to be real.

Scientific observations indicate that a small-sized object will enter the Earth’s atmosphere every year that will be seen as a fireball in the sky.

A bigger object will impact the Earth about every 2,000 years or so that will cause major local damage.

Every few million years, a kilometer(s)-sized rock turns up that can have dire global effects.

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French workers attend the rally in Paris on January 18, 2012.

Thousands of people have participated in a rally in Paris, attacking French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans for dealing with the country’s unemployment crisis, Press TV reports.

As France gauges the international fallout from losing its triple-A credit rating, Sarkozy has called for the formation of an emergency jobs council to try and boost his dipping popularity at home ahead of presidential elections, which are to be held in two rounds in April and May.

After a four-hour-long meeting at the Elysée Palace with labor and business leaders, the president on Wednesday announced an EUR 430 million (USD 550 million) plan to reduce unemployment and restart economic growth.

On Wednesday, the protesters took to the streets of the capital to voice discontent over the measures included in the plan.

Activists have blamed Sarkozy’s failed economic leadership for the official unemployment rate, which stands at over 10 percent, the unofficial figure amounting to over 17 percent, and the recent downgrading of France’s credit rating by the New York-headquartered credit rating agency, the Standard & Poor’s.

The downgrade comes, despite Sarkozy’s having used to present himself as the person capable of steering the eurozone’s second-largest economy out of crisis.

After the meeting, Sarkozy also said that he would introduce his employment plans before the end of January.

The president stated that he would shift part of the burden of social welfare from companies onto consumers and convince workers to agree to payment cuts in exchange for job security.

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Protesters trample a burnt European Union flag during a demonstration in front of the EU Parliament and Committee headquarters in downtown Budapest, January 14, 2012.

Thousands of Hungarians have protested against the European Union, urging their country to pull out from the bloc while Budapest seeks EU’s backing to evade insolvency.

People gathered in front of the European Commission offices in Budapest on Saturday in a street protest called by the rightist Jobbik Party — the second biggest opposition party in Hungary’s parliament.

“This week the EU declared war on Hungary in a very harsh and open way,” said Csanad Szegedi, a Jobbik member of European Parliament, addressing the protesters.

Szegedi was referring to the bloc’s threats of legal action against Hungary over a series of new laws passed by the two-thirds majority of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party.

The EU says the law curtails the independence of the country’s central bank, its judiciary and its national data protection authority.

The most disputed point of the legislation, which went into effect on January 1, is a plan to merge the central bank and the financial regulator, a de facto demotion for the country’s central bank president.

Although Hungary made a set of changes to the central bank law to more closely comply with the criteria of the European Central Bank, some of the most controversial points, including new nomination procedures for senior central bank officials, were passed without change.

However, Hungarian protesters on Saturday urged the government not to bow to international pressure, insisting that Hungary should go its own way and keep its national sovereignty.

The EU is pressing Budapest to change controversial legislations on its central bank and judiciary, and even threatened to suspend vital EU funds to Hungary if Orban does not make budget deficit cuts sustainable.

Hungary will have to make significant changes to win the European Commission’s green light for aid talks, as the EU’s executive prepared to announce its verdict on some key Hungarian laws next week.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said the government would examine the EU’s concerns and pledged that Budapest will do its best to secure an agreement with the European Commission and International Monetary Fund.

Source

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For once, I find myself on the same side as David Cameron, the David who stands alone against the fiendish Goliath of the European Union, that all-engulfing rampaging monster which gobbles up national identities, disregarding its citizens as it makes sweeping decisions over their heads, sending the lemmings scurrying over the cliff-edge…

I could not have disagreed more with David Cameron over his policy in Libya, as indeed I have disagreed with Britain’s jingoistic and arrogant foreign policy for as long as I can remember – the last five Prime Ministers have been involved in nine wars, sowing the seeds of hatred for years to come, as the Foreign Office believes it is a sort of external Department of Trade and Industry and sees military campaigns as good business.

The bottom line cementing where I agree with David Cameron on the first point and disagree on the second is based upon the notion of sovereignty in a globalised world.

Globalisation, sovereignty and federalism

Those of us who dreamed of a global nation of brothers and sisters living along the shores of our common lake – the seas – helping one another more through altruism than self-interest, have been brought tumbling to Earth time and time again as collectively, a great number of nations, usually centred around NATO, egged on by the nonchalance or disinterest of the rest of the international community, committed outrages against international law, human rights and common decency.

Those who had hoped that globalisation of economies would walk hand-in-hand with a new globalised spirit of common values, common practices of goodwill and a new spirit of fraternal relations, looked on aghast as the world community proved incapable of solving the Middle East crisis (basically through an absence of will fuelled by interests and lobbying) and as NATO swung into action against Serbia, supporting Albanian terrorists, then Afghanistan (and no, the real reason was not 9/11 but that is a long story), then Iraq and now Libya. The sovereignty of these nations was disrespected, flouting the terms of the UN Charter, UNSC resolutions and violating the norms of all diplomatic agreements since Westphalia (1648) and in the unilateral creation of “Kosovo”, the countries jumping on the bandwagon disregarded their obligations under the Helsinki Final Act (1975).

This Act was signed by the USA, Canada and all European States with the exception of Albania and Andorra and its underlying principle was the recognition of existing frontiers, the laying down of guidelines for sovereignty and the inviolability of this precept. While the foreign policy of David Cameron’s United Kingdom has violated this principle, along with its NATO bed pals in recent decades (and we ask, how Constitutional is NATO in its Member States, for where in any Constitution can the conduct of a State’s foreign policy be handed over to external parties?), his courageous stance on Europe is commendable.

Only yesterday, as I called him a “spineless jellyfish” I was hoping that he would prove me wrong, and I am very happy to say that he has. The question as to whether it was a strategic or a political one, pandering more to the needs to hold together his own party after a substantial number of Tory backbenchers started showing signs of revolt, is irrelevant.

The point is that David Cameron’s stance is one in favour of sovereignty and the European Union’s is not. And what happened this Thursday and Friday in Brussels is worthy of note: one nation stood up to the Euro-monster, which dictates your internal policy to you, controlling your finances, controlling your fiscal policy, controlling your national interests and imposing sanctions when national policy fails to implement the Grand Plan. David Cameron’s position is one of Sovereignty versus Federalism.

It makes sense to form a Federation out of States certainly with a common identity, probably with common values, maybe not common cultures. How, then, do you form a Federation out of the Tower of Babel which is the European Union? Compare the USA, the Russian Federation, the Federal States of Micronesia and Brazil with the European Union and you will see that where it makes sense with the former, it certainly does not in the case of the latter.

The last five thousand years of history have taught Europe to stand together through Treaties of friendship and cooperation, which is largely what existed with EFTA and with the beginning of the Common Market but which has been overtaken by a fast-lane occupied by budding Eurocrats who have tried to go too far and too fast. What happens to those who drive too fast and do not pay attention to where they are going?

Twenty-six nations, joined by Sweden, Hungary and the Czech Republic, countries which had initially stood alongside Britain but which buckled spectacularly under the pressure at the last minute, will now try to get out of the hole they have dug for themselves by digging themselves further in. They will not ask their citizens whether they want to have their sovereignty taken further away from them, they will just plough ahead and guess who will pay for the consequences of their actions?

David Cameron can sleep well tonight knowing he stepped out of the hole at the right moment and knowing that the UK is the one country in the European Union that can use leverage mechanisms which its partners have signed away. David Cameron knows that he has an Atlantic trading triangle to exploit with the USA and Canada, and the UK has the Commonwealth which it turned its back upon partially when it joined the EU. David Cameron has defended his country’s sovereignty, the UK has options.

And therefore those thirty kilometres of Channel which separate the British Isles from France may just be enough for the EU not to constitute a stone around Britain’s neck when it sinks. When it does, the citizens of the EU will look to their leaders and ask them why they did not act like David Cameron. 26 against 1 does not necessarily mean that the 26 are right.

Source

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On October 23, Switzerland elected the lower chamber of the parliament – the National Council. The favorite of the election was considered the ultra-right People’s Party. It stands for the drastic restriction of immigration and is against joining the EU.

Its program is best characterized by the pre-election poster: three white sheep standing on the Swiss flag are kicking a black one. The three white sheep symbolize the German, French and Italian- speaking indigenous people. The black one represents the people from Asia, Africa and south-east Europe. Or another poster: a Muslim woman wrapped in a veil from head to toe against minarets made in the form of launched rockets.

The far-right can be given credit for the result of the referendum in 2009 that resonated nearly in the entire world. Then most people in Switzerland were in favor of a ban on minarets. Subsequently, through the efforts of the People’s Party a law on expulsion from the country of migrant workers who have committed crimes on Swiss territory was adopted. In addition, the lower house of the parliament passed a law banning wearing of the burqa, but the upper (Council of States) rejected it.

Once, the People’s Party has caused a rustle. Four years ago, it won a landslide victory, gaining just over 29 percent of the vote. This time the result was more modest – 25.9 percent, and for the first time in 20 years, the support for the “populists” has diminished. Accordingly, they would get 55 out of 200 seats in the National Council (it used to be seven more). At the same time, the next candidates were significantly behind, therefore the victory is still quite convincing.

The runner-up, the Social Democratic Party, gained the support of 18.1 percent of voters, the liberal Free Democratic Party – 15.3 percent, the conservative Christian Democrats – 13.1 percent. The Green Party, the Liberal Green Party and Bourgeois-democratic party also made it to the Parliament. The last three parties secured from five to eight percent.

It would be wrong to consider the results of the current right-wing voting a failure also because many other parties in recent years too abruptly turned “right”. The conservatives supported the People’s Party when voting to ban the burqa. The need to tighten immigration policies was discussed by many other parties, and the question of joining the European Union is no longer on the agenda. There was a partial overlap of the slogans of the far right, which led to a drop in their rankings.

In no other country in Europe the far-right could win elections, while in Switzerland it has happened twice already. This is largely explained by the specificity of the country. It is difficult today in the Old World to find another country where such a high percentage of the population lives in rural areas. Residents of the Alpine mountain villages are completely integrated in the modern life and keep up with the times, but they cherish the tradition stronger than in other places.

All major political forces in the country have to take into account the desire of its people to hold on to traditional ways and resist newcomers trying to break it. (Switzerland is the country of direct democracy, where every year several referenda on a variety of issues take place). Accordingly, the rules for obtaining citizenship in the Alpine Confederation are perhaps the toughest in Europe. First you have to obtain citizenship in the community, then – in the canton and only then – on the country level.

Despite all the obstacles, the number of migrant workers in Switzerland is over 20 percent of the population, but in absolute terms there is half million people. Immigrants work in construction, hotels, and all kinds of menial work. However, highly skilled engineers and programmers are also welcomed. The level of education among the indigenous Swiss is relatively low (due to the large number of people living in rural areas), but it still is higher than that of the newcomers.

Until certain time Switzerland drove people rather close in terms of culture. After the war, people of southern Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece came here to work. Since the 1960s the former Yugoslavia residents – Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims, and Albanians began to emerge. Gradually the Turks began to move to the German part of Switzerland (there are many of them in Germany), and the Arabs and immigrants from Africa – to the French. Colonies of the Kosovo Albanians since the early 1960s were in German and Italian regions.
To date, Muslim immigrants make up about a quarter of all visitors (400,000). The most numerous of them are Albanians, Turks, Arabs, and the Bosnian Muslims. Practicing Muslims account for not more than 50 thousand, but Switzerland has some 170 mosques – even if only four have a minaret. Women wearing the hijab and burqa have long been an integral part of the urban landscape in Geneva and Zurich.

Many indigenous Swiss simply shudder at their national soccer team. Among its leaders are Turk Gokhan Inler, Eren Derdiyok, Hakan Yakin, Albanian Valon Behrami and Dzherdana Shakira, Black Johan Djourou and Gelson Fernandes. The image is complete with the Spaniards and the Croats. It may seem that already half of the Swiss population is newcomers. Yet, it is still not the case.

It should also be borne in mind that the Swiss had suffered for their present peace and prosperity after going through many wars and conflicts. They came up with such a government in which members of one linguistic group have their own mono-ethnic area (Canton), but ultimately different cantons form a government with three state languages ​​(German, French, Italian), and one official (Romansh).

The emergence of new ethnic groups will certainly upset the balance. Hence the success enjoyed by the People’s Party. Incidentally, the Swiss far-right differ from their colleagues in Europe because they represent different linguistic and religious groups. They defend the Swiss idea, and the German, French- and Italian Swiss, Catholics and Protestants vote for them. All of them (albeit in somewhat different degrees) would like to keep the way of life that led to the prosperity of Switzerland.

In addition to the issue of immigration, the Swiss see that things in the neighboring European Union are not that great. The Euro (in contrast to the Swiss franc) fluctuates significantly. And if we talk about business immigrant, now EU leaders one by one accept that the policy of integration into the society (especially of the Muslims, but not only them) has failed. The desire for relative isolation in Switzerland is strong. It is reflected in the outcome of the elections.

Source

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An international survey of 23 countries by Ipsos has found opposition to immigration in numerous countries across the world, with majorities often considering its effects to be negative and its scale excessive. European nations were typical of this trend.

Majorities in countries as diverse as Germany, South Africa, Russia, Turkey and the United States were found to consider immigration to have a “very or fairly negative impact”.

Anti-immigration sentiment was particularly strong in Europe, with over 65% of Spaniards, Italians and British polled strongly or partly agreeing that “there are too many immigrants in our country”.

Sweden and Poland were the only European countries surveyed that did not have majorities who considered immigration to have a negative impact. In no country did a majority consider immigration to have been beneficial.

Majorities in most EU countries surveyed agreed that immigration had made it more difficult for citizens to find employment and “placed too much pressure on public services,” such as health care and education.

Anti-immigrant sentiment has put significant strain on freedom of movement within the EU. On 11 August, the European Commission approved Spain’s measures to exclude Romanian workers from its labour market. The Spanish unemployment rate is by far the highest in the EU at 21%. Bulgaria and Romania recently saw their accession to the Schengen border-free area postponed.

The Dutch and Danish governments, whose parliamentary majorities are dependent on the support of far-right anti-immigrant parties, have pushed particularly hard to limit immigration. In the case of Denmark, the unilateral imposition of new border controls was harshly criticised by the European Commission and Germany.

Immigration in Europe: Declining and uneven

The number of migrants in the world has increased dramatically over the past decade, according to the International Organisation for Migration, soaring from 150 million in 2000 to 214 million today. Immigration to the European Union, however, has dropped somewhat in recent years due to the economic recession.

A major study published last month by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that immigration to most European nations declined in 2009, including in France (7%), Germany (13%), Spain (18%) and Italy (25%). Immigration rates to Ireland and the Czech Republic virtually halved over the course of that year.

Similarly the EU’s own statistical service, Eurostat, found that immigration to EU member states dropped by 6% in 2008, while emigration increased by 13%. But Eurostat also indicates that the number of foreign residents in various EU countries has nonetheless been on the rise, increasing from approximately 28,913,000 in 2007 to 32,493,000 today (including EU citizens residing in another member state).

While anti-immigration sentiment, according to the poll, is broadly shared across Europe, there are significant national differences. The number of foreigners in some countries, particularly Belgium, France and Germany, has grown relatively slowly over the past decade or has even declined.

Other countries, often traditionally lands of emigration, have seen spectacular increases in foreign residents. According to Eurostat, between 1999 and 2010 their numbers increased from 1.2 million to 4.2 million in Italy, from less than 120,000 to 420,000 in Ireland, and from 650,000 to 5.7 million in Spain.

Source

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Denmark fences itself off from the EU

Denmark is to put the barriers back up on its borders with Germany and Sweden. The move is not going down well with EU colleagues who say it violates Europe’s much-heralded open border agreement.

From Tuesday, 50 Danish customs officers will be stationed at the country’s borders to perform spot checks on vehicles. The move is part of a plan approved by parliament last Friday, which also see permanent buildings installed on the borders.

The Danish government insists that the re-establishment of border checkpoints is meant to prevent drug flow and illegal migrants from entering the country. The move is regarded as a bad sign by left-wing politicians and the opposition in Denmark itself, where many are seeing it as a concession to nationalists which may damage the country’s economy.

It has also been strongly opposed by EU officials in Brussels, and especially by Denmark’s neighbor Germany. They insist that this is a violation of the Schengen Agreement on open borders in Europe. They also say that this is not at all a wise move to make at a particularly volatile time for the European Union when members states are bickering over border disputes as well as over money issues. Some believe this may even herald the end of a united Europe.

But Danish officials insist that their move will not cause any damage to the free flow of goods, tourists and transportation across the border.

It is not the first time the issue has raised its head in the European Union recently. Earlier this year, France and Italy entered a bitter dispute over the flow of illegal migrants across their borders.

The situation has been aggravated by the extremely volatile situation in North Africa. Most of the migrants who come to Europe and flood countries like Denmark, Belgium, Italy and France are from the northern African region. This latest move by Denmark may send quite worrying signals to other European countries which may decide to follow suit.

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Orban says Hungarian renewal provides model for Europe as country recaptures lost respect during EU presidency.

Hungary has provided practical examples for Europe by the renewal of the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament on Monday.

Assessing the six-month Hungarian EU Presidency, Orban said Hungary had recaptured much of its lost respect over the past six months.

Opposition party spokesmen welcomed some of the presidency’s achievements but criticised the government for goals not met within the presidency’s timeframe.

Orban told lawmakers that EU heads of government had all qualified Hungary’s performance as outstanding at a session last week. He said Hungary had successfully delivered the message that “pessimism, despair, small-mindedness and defeatism must be countered”.

“We have understood that the problems facing our country and the EU are of a similar nature,” he said.

The Hungarian government has provided practical examples for Europe instead of theoretical formulas, Orban said, adding that two such examples of a common sense put forward by Hungary were: “daring to be ourselves and not letting others tell us who we are and what to do”.

While until very recently Hungary had been among those who added to the EU’s problems, by now it has worked down some of that debt and the Presidency has helped regain respect for Hungary, Orban said.

“Hungary over the past six months had stood by Europe, our joint values, achievements and Central Europe,” he said, adding that Central Europe would definitely once again have to be reckoned with.

“The region from the Baltic to the Adriatic Sea could become the strongest engine of post-crisis economic growth in Europe,” Orban said.

The Hungarian Presidency has focused on dealing with the impacts of the fiscal crisis on Europe and efforts to prevent crises from happening in future. Hungary has taken economic governance to the point of breakthrough and the European semester has become a strong tool introduced and first used to success under the Hungarian Presidency, he said.

Closing EU accession talks with Croatia by the end of June was on the priority agenda, and has become reality, he said, adding that this achievement was a great step towards bringing about stability in the Western Balkans. He added that Hungary vowed to continue this “mission” beyond its presidential stint. The fact that Romania and Bulgaria met the criteria for joining the visa-free Schengen zone is another great achievement of the presidency, he said.

On the subject of responses to the “Arab spring”, and the following wave of refugees, Orban said, he himself did not believe that Europe should stand helpless in the face of the flow of illegal immigration, but the solution is not necessarily the curtailment of free movement within borders, but the reinforcement of external borders.

Orban said it was right for Hungary to be able to close down its borders promptly in case of problems and enforce border control.

On the Roma strategy, shepherded by the Hungarian Presidency, Orban said Hungary’s government had made it very clear that Europe’s demographic and labour shortage problems cannot be solved by immigration. Instead, policies targeting families should be strengthened and untapped labour resources within the EU mobilised, he said.

Lajos Mile, green opposition LMP party spokesman, welcomed the advances on financial policies and the Roma strategy, but criticised that the economic governance six-pack had not been approved, that Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen zone membership had not yet been finalised and that the Eastern Partnership summit had been moved to a later date.

Zoltan Balczo, of the radical nationalist Jobbik party, said the government had contributed to making the European Union “a strong super state controlled from Brussels” and he called the European semester a step towards “giving up self-governance”.

Attila Mesterhazy, leader of the Socialist party, said the presidency had not improved but worsened Hungary’s reputation abroad. He insisted that the government, taking advantage of its strong two-thirds support in parliament, had started work on programmes which should have waited until after the presidency, among them drafting Hungary’s new constitution. Mesterhazy praised the work of foreign minister Janos Martonyi and state secretary of foreign affairs Zsolt Nemeth, but said the prime minister had not done a good job.

In his response, Orban said, Hungary should be taking the opposite direction Greece is, where forced privatisation is currently taking place. As an example he mentioned the government’s recent repurchase of a 21.2 percent stake in Hungarian oil and gas company Mol from Russia, and said there were still assets which should be taken into state ownership in the interest of the population.

Orban added that the government had done its job by “helping Romania and Bulgaria to a better position” regarding Schengen, while other countries had put fresh obstacles to their membership.

“It is not Hungary’s task to convince these countries to change their minds,” he said.

Concerning the postponed Eastern Partnership summit, he said that there was no need for alibi meetings. “The first summit was not successful either, it was empty,” he said.

As regards the country’s sovereignty, Orban insisted that it is enshrined in the new constitution that EU-Hungary relations are based on national sovereignty.

Source

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Croatia's Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor is welcomed by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy.

Croatia has been given the conditional go-ahead to join the EU, after six years of preparations marred by slow democratic reforms in Zagreb and the EU’s reluctance to expand.

The former Yugoslav state of 4.4 million people should be able to wrap up accession negotiations next week, EU leaders said at a summit in Brussels, but warned the Zagreb government that it has to continue to fight widespread corruption with “vigour”.

The recommendation marks a turnaround for Croatia, which struggled for years to convince the EU’s 27 governments that its judiciary reforms will produce genuine results and prove it has recognised its role in the Balkan wars in the 1990s.

However, its efforts will face more EU scrutiny in the coming months, and its hopes of joining the EU in July 2013 could be jeopardised if reform slip-ups persuade some of the EU’s national parliaments to delay ratifying the accession treaty.

Many EU politicians are hopeful that rewarding Croatia for a last-minute reform push would persuade other governments in the western Balkans that the EU is willing to accept new members if they are ready.

Source

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Several nationalist and anti-immigration parties have become the most popular in their countries, topping recent opinion polls in France, Austria and Finland.

France’s Front National, Austria’s Freedom Party and Finland’s True Finns have all headed voters’ surveys in recent weeks.

In March, Marine Le Pen’s party received 23 per cent in a poll of voting intentions for 2012’s presidential election. The survey, carried out by the Harris Institute and published in the newspaper Le Parisien, put Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling UMP and the Socialist party at 21 per cent each.

The Front National received a 15.06 per cent vote share in the first round of France’s regional elections in March; however, that total would have been higher had the party contested more seats.

This week the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) also proved the most popular in its country.

The FPÖ would secure 29 per cent of the vote if there were a general election held today, according to a poll by the OGM institute on behalf of the Kurier newspaper. For the first time, the FPÖ overtook the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), who polled 28 per cent, and the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), who earned 23 per cent.

The FPÖ stands opposed to EU membership, Turkey’s joining the EU, the Islamificiation of Austria, and immigration.

Previous Austrian polls this year have shown support for the FPÖ at around 24–29 per cent, on par with the SPÖ and ÖVP. Among people under 30 years of age, the FPÖ has the support of 42 per cent.

The BZÖ, a breakaway party from the FPÖ that also advocates stronger immigration controls and opposes Turkish accession, scored highly too, at 13 per cent. The FPÖ already holds 38 seats in the Austrian national parliament, and the BZÖ holds 17.

Meanwhile, in Finland, the anti-immigration and anti-EU True Finns party also surged into the lead.

A poll commissioned by a group of regional newspapers found that 22.4 per cent of those questioned said they would vote for the True Finns, compared with 20.6 per cent for the centre-right National Coalition party and 19.1 per cent for the Social Democrats.

The result reflects another rise in support for the True Finns, whose opposition to EU bailouts and the erosion of Finnish culture saw them become the country’s third-largest party in last month’s national election. The party earned 19.1 per cent of the vote in April, just 1483 votes behind the Social Democrats, who also gained 19.1 per cent, and 1.3 per cent behind the winning National Coalition Party.

The rise of nationalist sentiment is also felt in the Netherlands, where support for Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) increased this week.

A Maurice de Hond poll gives Wilders’ PVV 26 seats if there were a general election tomorrow, three up on the previous poll. The ruling centre-right VVD fell by two seats to 32.

Source

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While the EU forces France to accept more and more immigrants, the country has already had enough, with anti-ethnic sentiments growing every year, believes Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right party National Front.

Marine follows the political line of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front, who is famous in France and all over the world for his conservative and anti-immigration views.

In her interview to RT, Le Pen claims the EU is expanding at France’s expense.

“We no longer control our own territory, our currency or our laws. We don’t decide who comes in, or stays in our country. They impose directives on us without even consulting people. All this is hurting our economy and discouraging foreign investment.”

According to Le Pen, the European Union wants to force 150 million immigrants on France over the next 30 years, explaining it by low birth rate.

“Well let’s encourage people to have kids, as they do elsewhere in the world, rather than wave in the immigrants,” argues Le Pen.

She believes the problem is also that French people should be liberated from the inside, freed of the “guilt that their leaders have placed in them for so many years”.

“Immigration is an organized replacement of our population. This threatens our very survival. We don’t have the means to integrate those who are already here. The result is endless cultural conflict.”

Having worked as a lawyer who defended immigrants, Marine Le Pen claims she does not hate immigrants themselves, she is only against ceaseless immigration.

“You can be against immigration, fight immigration, suspend all immigration, but not hate immigrants as individuals. I understand immigrants want a better future here. But I honestly say to them – ‘you can’t find a better future here.’ We’re finding it hard to give a better future to our own people as it is.”

Le Pen insists that no community should shut itself off from the state, having its own laws or rights.

“Everyone must submit to the French way of life, its practices, traditions and rights, with no exceptions.”

Le Pen calls the National Front “a party of patriots” and says it is understandable why the current French government does not like them.

“Since we defend our country and give power back to our people, so a nation can be sovereign and people can make their own decisions, the political elite see us as a threat.”

She believes that France should stop “bowing to America’s decisions” and strengthen its ties with Russia instead.

“I believe we should turn to Russia for economic and energy partnerships. I think very objectively this ‘Cold War’ imposed by America on relations with Russia is a huge political error.”

Source

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By the end of the current year, Russia is expected to finish the establishment of air and space defense troops. According to General Lieutenant Oleg Ostapenko, the commander of space troops of the Russian Federation, the concept for establishing air and space defense troops has been approved.

The decision about the new type of troops was made by President Medvedev in 2010. In his Address to the Federal Assembly, the head of state put forward the idea to unite the systems of air and missile defense under the joint strategic command. The new command will also administer the issues of preventing missile attacks and controlling space.

In accordance with instructions from the president, the troops must be established before December 1, 2011. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov personally control the process.

The need to establish air and space defense troops appeared a long time ago. Nowadays, under modern conditions, if a defense system operates independently, it will not be able to react promptly to all forms of attacks in the atmosphere of the planet and in space.

The debate and the development of adequate plans had been conducted for several years. The establishment of the new troops started in 2001 – at the time when Russia set up space troops. Ten years later, there is a hope that the country will soon have air and space defense troops.

According to the commander of space troops, the defense ministry does not have any doubts about the success of the project. Oleg Ostapenko also said that Russia would launch several new rockets in the near future.

At the end of 2011 – in the beginning of the first quarter of 2012, Russia is planning to launch Soyuz 2-1B light carrier rocket. The turn for light and heavy Angara rockets will come in 2013.

The official also said that the new troops will not be in charge of the issues of asteroid security.

Alexander Sharavin, the director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, said that the establishment of air and space defense troops stipulates the unification of several existing structures into one.

“Something will be established anew, of course, But on the whole, it is just a process to reorganize the things that we already have,” the expert told Pravda.Ru.

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Large numbers of north African migrants have been landing on Italian shores.

Authorities in France temporarily blocked trains from Italy in an attempt to stop north African migrants from entering the country.

Trains were stopped at the border for hours – prompting Italy to launch an official complaint with France. Services were later resumed.

Italy has angered France by giving temporary resident permits to thousands of Tunisian migrants.

The permits allow them to travel freely in many European countries.

The Italian foreign ministry said the French move was “illegitimate and in clear violation of general European principles”.

Schengen infringement?

Speaking earlier on Sunday, Maurizio Furia, a spokesman for the Italian rail company, said that trains were not being allowed to pass into Menton, France, from the Italian border station of Ventimiglia.

The BBC’s Hugh Schofield says a demonstration in support of the Tunisian immigrants had been planned, in which some 300 protesters had planned to ride what they dubbed “the train of dignity”.

Because of the closure, the demonstration was unable to take place.

France has said migrants have to prove they can support themselves financially and has set up patrols on the Italian border.

But Italy says that France’s actions are not in line with the EU’s Schengen passport-free travel zone.

“We have given the migrants travel documents, and we gave everything (else) that is needed, and the European Commission recognised that, it has said that Italy is following the Schengen rules,” Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said in an interview on Italy’s Sky TG24 TV.

Italy and other European countries have been increasingly concerned about migration from north Africa following the political turmoil in the region.

Earlier this month, Italy and France agreed to launch sea and air patrols to try to prevent the influx of thousands of people from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

Source

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