Merkel had it her way with the refugees & immigrants but can Greece and Turkey deliver?

Early in the morning of 7th March, ahead of the first meeting in the series of the latest traumatic gatherings of the 28 EU leaders with the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, this newspaper argued that the EU had to prove on that day it could remain in one piece. This didn’t happen then. Last […]

Spending another 3 billion euros on Turkey feels better than admitting EU’s failure

The migration summit which took place yesterday in Brussels between the 28 EU leaders and the Prime Minister of Turkey was a surprise. The reason is that Ahmet Davutoglou came to the meeting with specific proposals which are able to allow Turkey to take the upper hand and take advantage of the refugee crisis to better […]

The EU has to prove it can remain one piece

Today the European Union has to prove that it can solve its stalemate, which the immigrant and refugee flows from Asia and Africa have created. Some years ago nobody could imagine that an unseen before movement of people, could lead to the unraveling of the EU project. To deal with this problem, the 28 EU […]

Syria: Why did the US now take the Russian offer for a truce? What next?

The US-Russia plan for a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria, endorsed by the UN Security Council on Friday 26 February kicked off in the early hours of Saturday and two days after is still more or less observed. Understandably the cease-fire may collapse at any moment but the US and Russia seem determined to keep […]

Migration crisis update: The “Habsburg Empire” comes back to life while EU loses control

It is today that Austria is arbitrarily hosting a Western Balkan counties migration meeting called “Managing Migration Together” where the Interior and Foreign ministers of seven countries (Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, FYROM, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) have been invited to participate, with Greece, the main migrant gate, to be paradoxically excluded from the discussions. […]

The Syrian knot cannot be cut without devastating consequences

Brussels seems quite lost with what is happening now in Syria. The statement issued last Monday 15 February by the European High Representative Mogherini and Commissioner Stylianides on the atrocious and murderous attacks on hospitals and schools in Syria stands as an infallible witness to that. At this point in time, the foreign powers, regional or […]

Is there a way out of the next financial crisis? Can more printed money or austerity save us all?

Every time Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, tries to fight very low inflation and indirectly support growth and job creation in Eurozone with monetary measures, the Germans stand in his way. Last Thursday 28 January, Jens Weidmann, the governor of the German central bank the Bundesbank, did it again. In an […]

Migration crisis update: Greece could probably say goodbye to Schengen really soon

It was two days ago when the European Commission’s draft report revealed “serious deficiencies” of the Greek government to comply with its obligations under the Schengen’s Agreement rules regarding the control of the migrant influx. If these suggestions are voted by the majority of the EU member states, then Greece will be given a 90 […]

The EU bows to Turkey in view of the talks for a political settlement in Syria

On 27 April 2015, in relation to the efforts to stem the refugee and immigrant flows to Europe, this newspaper predicted that “Turkey won’t cooperate”. Last Monday this prediction was not only confirmed but the European Union quasi accepted, that so far Turkey has done enough. The relevant passage of the Press release issued by […]

WEF Davos 2016 LIVE: “We need more Schengen but reinforce control!”, France’s Minister of Economy Emmanuel Macron emphasises from Davos

Earlier today in Davos, WEF organized one more session on Europe in order to find ways to deal with one of the most important issues that the old continent is facing which is no other than the refugee crisis. The session that took place in the Sanada room was called “Europe at a tipping point” and was moderated by Lyse […]

WEF Davos 2016 LIVE: “No other problem has jeopardised the EU as much as the refugee question” Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, cries out from Davos

Migration crisis is one of the most important issues in Europe currently and Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum invited yesterday Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, to speak about this heartrending problem since the German Chancellor is not attending the WEF this year. The plenary session […]

Terrorism and migrants: the two awful nightmares for Europe and Germany in 2016

Less than two weeks have passed since the dawn of 2016 and terrorism and the migration crisis continue afflicting Europe and especially Germany. Yesterday’s horrible terrorist attack in Istanbul that caused the lives of at least 10 people and left 15 injured shocked the entire world and particularly Angela Merkel since eight Germans were among the victims. Terrorism left […]

The three sins the EU committed in 2015

During 2015, the year that now ends, the European Union has brought its well-known inability to manage the egocentric and centrifugal action of its major three nations (Britain, France and Germany) to new highs, a practice that has lately led to ineffectiveness and Euroscepticism. The EU cooperated this year with Britain, France and of course […]

EU to manage external borders against the will of member states; Greece to be the first target

Last Tuesday 15 December the European Commission adopted a groundbreaking proposal for the establishment of a powerful European Border and Coast Guard to ensure strong management of the Schengen area external borders and better administration of immigration flows. According to the Commission, this Guard should be able to intervene with or without the consent of […]

Unemployment and immigrants haunt the EU; who can offer relief?

On Tuesday 1st December, Eurostat the EU statistical service reminded us all that in the euro area the October unemployment rate still remained in the double digit region with 10.7%. Understandably, this is the official percentage of people without a job, while the real unemployment rate may be double that, as this newspaper has proved, […]

EU: Turkey to shelter Syrian refugees and turn other immigrants back in return of €3 billion

A genuine Turkish bazaar took place last Sunday in Brussels during the meeting of the EU heads of state or government with the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The horse-trading was about what it will cost the EU to stem of the flow of immigrants who pass through Turkey on their way to Europe. Finally […]

G20 LIVE: “Re-envisioning the economy to enable women to reach their full potential” live from Antalya Turkey

Gender inequality pervades G20 economies and beyond. Women carry out the vast majority of unpaid labor around the world and are vastly overrepresented in informal, insecure and vulnerable employment. They are also subject to occupational discrimination and lack access to social protection and pension systems. Women’s unemployment accounts for three quarters of the global job […]

G20 LIVE: “United States and Turkey stand in solidarity with France and its people in handing the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice”, US President Barack Obama underlines from G20 in Antalya Turkey

It was just before noon on November 15 in Antalya when the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a joint press conference with Barack Obama, president of the United States of America following the completion of their meeting in the context of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. The major topic that was discussed between the two leaders […]

Erdogan’s electoral win on a ‘me or chaos’ dilemma means trouble for everybody

The dilemma ‘me or chaos’ that the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hurled at his compatriots in last Sunday’s election paid dividends. And this despite the fact that he did what he could to produce frightening samples of the kind of chaos he had in mind. Understandably, then the Turkish voters didn’t give a super-majority […]

Migration has set EU’s political clock ticking; the stagnating economy cannot help it and Turkey doesn’t cooperate

The more action clauses a document of a Western Balkans-EU agreement contains, meant to “improve cooperation and step up consultation between the countries along the migration route”, the less cooperation there will be. That was the case last Sunday 25 October when 11 leaders of Balkan and EU countries met in Brussels. They knew very […]

EU takes again positive action on migration crisis while Turkey asks for dear favors in exchange for cooperation

A mini-summit took place in Brussels last weekend involving the Western Balkan countries and aiming at tackling the escalating migration crisis in the EU. The outcome was the promotion of a 17-point plan which aspires to tackle the issue. The problem that keeps on lingering though is whether the EU countries will look at the greater good of […]

Europe slammed by Turkey’s shaky Erdoğan; both playing with immigrants’ agony

Probably the greatest achievement of last Thursday’s European Council was that its conclusions were refuted within hours after they were published. While the official text of the Council results boasts about a “joint action plan with Turkey”, to stem the immigration flows to the EU, the Turkish minister of Foreign Affairs Feridun Sinirlioglu commented otherwise. […]

Refugee crisis update: Commission still in panic while Turkey is to be added in the equation

It was only last Wednesday that Russia officially launched airstrikes in Syria which are supposed to target terrorist groups such as Islamic State (IS). The attacks however aim at western Syria where “strangely” IS has no activity. Consequently, while Russia is mitigating the war in Syria backing-up Assad and his government, refugees continue leaving massively the […]

A new global financial crisis develops fast; who denies it?

During the last two weeks the world’s largest stock markets had a wild time not seen since Lehman Brothers went bust on 15 September 2008. The New York stock exchange in Wall Street lost more than 8% of its capitalization in a few days and then recovered some of the losses to close last Friday […]

Migration crisis will keep deteriorating as common EU political will is simply not there

The migration crisis in the European Union was the main issue of the Western Balkans Summit yesterday in Vienna, but was largely overshadowed by the deaths of at least 20 refugees who were found dead in a truck in Austria. This tragic event shocked everyone in the Summit who expressed the need for immediate actions by […]

The West – the EU and the US – is writing off Turkey’s Erdogan

For the first time in the history of the EU-Turkish relations the European Parliament openly and loudly welcomed last week the heavy losses of the governing party in a general election. The MEPs actually rejoiced on “the most inclusive and representative parliament in Turkish modern history, reflecting the country’s diversity”, forgetting that it’s a hang […]

Why is the EU launching a doomed policy in stopping immigrant waves? What are the real targets?

For what it’s worth, the Libyan government, the one recognized by Europe and the West, rejected the EU plan to carry out military operations in the country’s territorial waters and soil against the traffickers of immigrants. This reaction by the one of the two Libyan governments is quite understandable, because it’s practically impossible to distinguish […]

The EU threatens to occupy Libya militarily; is another colonial war brewing?

It was really deplorable to watch the 28 EU leaders who gathered in Brussels last week after the hecatombs of drowned emigrants, to solemnly discuss aggressive military operations on the soil and the sea ports of their Mediterranean neighbours. They decided to use military force and thus kill people, in order to forcefully reverse the […]

Merry Christmas from Erdogan, Putin, Mogherini and the Polish firefighter

One month is more than enough in international diplomacy to flip the world. During the last month of this long 2014 we were cought by surprise by the speed of the evolutions regarding the “EU-Turkey” project. Things were changing so fast every week of this December that even the most experienced analysts remained numb and thus preferred […]

Turkey presents a new strategy for EU accession but foreign policy could be the lucky card

Last Thursday, September 18, while the entire continent was looking towards Scotland, Turkey announced a new strategy to join the EU. Despite the tensions that characterized the country’s recent history, which is made by protests, brutal actions by the police, attempts by the government to shut down social platforms such as Twitter and You Tube, Turkey has […]

#TwitterisblockedinTurkey and so is Erdogan

Last Thursday night Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially ‘declared war’ to Twitter. With a public, old authoritarianism-scented speech at late evening, he announced that he wants to “eradicate Twitter”, adding that the social media platform is a “menace” and he’s “not interested in what the international community says”. “They will see the power […]

The US banks drive the developing world to a catastrophe

How is it possible that the good news of the growth of the American economy which has raised its gear, also brings forth crisis and possibly destruction in developing countries? Yet this is exactly what is already happening in our brave new world. The good news is that the US economy now grows at a […]

OECD tells Eurozone to prepare its banks for a tsunami coming from developing countries

OECD is not like the IMF. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, unlike the International Monetary Fund doesn’t chew its words, when it comes to the economic prospects of the global economy. The reason is that its mandate obliges the Organisation to effectively protect its 34 member states from the dangers lurking ahead, by […]

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