Italy is still in crisis and like this is not enough there are bad news coming from Spain, where a crisis is brewing and the Prime Minister is facing a confidence vote this Friday. An it is not the only bad news, other coming from Turkey, where European banks have a significant financial exposure. The situation in Italy remains tense after President Mattarella appointed Carlo Cottarelli (a former IMF official, of all things), intensifying populist anger. Fresh polls suggest new elections could result in a strengthened result for the two populist parties, who can leverage popular outrage at financial considerations directly linked to the euro, i.e., credit spreads specifically referred to by Mattarella in his rejection of the finance minister choice Savona. The EU elite has a tall task in coming up with a plan that can convince Italian voters to alter their choice at the next election round, set for September at the earliest. ”As if the situation in Italy … [Read more...] about Bad news for the European Union coming from Spain too, not just Italy
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Leave.EU fined by British elections watchdog for breaking spending…
LONDON (Reuters) - One of the main Brexit campaign groups in Britain’s 2016 EU referendum was fined 70,000 pounds on Friday for incorrectly reporting what it spent and exceeding a limit on expenditure, the Electoral Commission said. FILE PHOTO - A cake waits to be cut at a Leave.eu party after polling stations closed in the Referendum on the European Union in London, Britain, June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville The commission said Leave.EU incorrectly reported what it spent at the EU referendum, failing to include at least 77,380 pounds in its spending return and thus exceeding a spending limit. Such is the seriousness of the offences that the commission said it suspected criminal offences may have been committed by the person responsible and referred the case to the police. “These are serious offences,” said Bob Posner, the Electoral Commission’s director of political finance and regulation. “Leave.EU exceeded its spending limit and failed … [Read more...] about Leave.EU fined by British elections watchdog for breaking spending…
Iceland’s EU fate to be decided on Independence Day
According to EU information, the leaders of all the EU nations will meet on 17th June and one of the agenda items is Iceland’s application to join the bloc and whether or not to begin formal accession negotiations.According to RUV sources it is not believed the ongoing Icesave dispute with the UK and the Netherlands will have any impact on the EU decision next Thursday. The final agenda for the leaders’ summit will not be made public until Friday or the beginning of next week. Many within Iceland had hoped the EU decision would not come on that day, with both pro and anti-EU voices feeling it is unnecessarily divisive to receive such important EU news on the National Day. … [Read more...] about Iceland’s EU fate to be decided on Independence Day
News.Az — Your Window to the RegionPKK supporters break into Council of Europe building, clash with police
Around 30 people, reportedly supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), on April 5 broke into the Council of Europe’s Agora building in Strasbourg, France, where they clashed with police. The group managed to get past a security checkpoint into an area where nearly 600 people were working, according to a correspondent from state-run Anadolu Agency at the scene. The alleged PKK sympathizers hung a banner calling for the release of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and damaged the building during clashes with intervening police. The group was removed by police after breaking some of the building’s windows and employees at the building were moved to other floors under security measures. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU. News.Az … [Read more...] about News.Az — Your Window to the RegionPKK supporters break into Council of Europe building, clash with police
Dutch MPs in plan to shut EU website on Russian propaganda
Dutch MPs are planning to make prime minister Mark Rutte call on EU leaders to delete a website on Russian propaganda, if Dutch ministers do not do it first. "We're not yet asking Rutte, we'll try this way first [at ministerial level] … but if the minister comes back with no outcome, we'll have to take it to another level, to ask the prime minister," Peter Kwint, a Dutch MP, told EUobserver. "A huge majority in parliament wanted this, so if it doesn't work out, we'll create pressure for the prime minister [Rutte] to take over," Kwint said. Kwint co-wrote a motion, passed by the Dutch parliament last week, calling on Rutte's government to make the EU take down a website, EUvsdisinfo.eu, which is run by the EU foreign service, and which red-flags Russian "disinformation" in European media. The affair began earlier this month, after the EU site flagged stories in three Dutch media, who then took legal action to overturn the move. Kwint hails from the opposition Socialist … [Read more...] about Dutch MPs in plan to shut EU website on Russian propaganda