China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-biggest economies, indicated support forEurope’s new rescue fund as they pushed for quick implementation of measures to solve the region’s crisis. China will “cooperate” with the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent 500 billion-euro ($648 billion) fund that started this week, People’s Bank of China Deputy Governor Yi Gang said […]
Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union Friday, former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland, the hapless award committee chairman, said: “We want to focus on what has been achieved in Europe in terms of peace and reconciliation.… It is a message to Europe to secure what they have achieved … and not let the continent […]
There is relentless speculation in the French news media about whether former president Nicolas Sarkozy could announce a political comeback. In a TV interview, Valérie Pécresse, who was Sarkozy’s spokeswoman and budget minister until François Hollande won election in May, was asked if her boss was “dead and buried”; and Pécresse responded, “There is a […]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will tell Greeks she wants to keep their country in the euro when she visits Athens this week, but she faces a hostile reception from a people worn down by years of austerity and recession. Many Greeks blame Merkel, who has publicly chastised them for much of the past three years, […]
Austria has a newcomer on the political scene and, in contrast to neighboring Germany, it is not a rabble-rousing band of computer nerds. Billionaire Frank Stronach made a fortune in the auto parts industry. Now, he has created a new political party in the hopes of shaking up the status quo. Read Here – Der […]
Silvio Berlusconi, the flamboyant former Italian prime minister, does not love Germany. He made that blatantly clear during his last skit in Rome, when he appeared at a press conference to present a new book by Renato Brunetta titled “The Great Scam”. “Germany is a hegemonic state, not a country that acts in solidarity”, Berlusconi […]
One of the most mind-boggling debates going on in euroland right now – only one of many, but particularly guaranteed to make the head spin, this one – is over the build-up of so-called “Target 2” claims and liabilities. Target 2 is the mechanism by which money is transferred around the euro area to ensure […]
Beyond his zebra-rearing, art-collecting eccentricities, we don’t know all that much about Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose Georgian Dream coalition won a shock victory in Monday’s parliamentary elections here. But after his victory news conference, we do know one thing for sure: He’s no orator. In a long meeting with the media in a sweaty room at Georgian Dream […]
Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili’s opposition coalition unexpectedly won the most votes in a parliamentary election yesterday, dealing a blow to U.S.-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili. Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream group took the most ballots for party lists, according to some exit polls, while Saakashvili’s United National Movement claimed a stronger performance in single-member districts. The parliamentary majority […]
Germany shoulders much of the blame from the rest of the Eurozone. Instead of searching for fiscal solutions, many countries are retreating to stereotypes of the past. For four years, Europe has been trying to solve its financial difficulties. Those who hold political power – especially Germany and France – are attempting (with limited success) […]
looking beyond borders 