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Origins of ‘Europe’
I don’t believe that ‘Europe’ comes from the name of a Phoenician princess, abducted by Zeus, who assumed the form of a bull. Sculptures inspired by this legend, in front of EU institutions in Brussels...
View ArticleCongratulations Bokova!
My compartiot and good friend Irina Bokova was elected yesterday night Director General of UNESCO. You can find details here. I have worked under Bokova in the mid nineties, when she was deputy foreign...
View ArticleMr. Barroso, be fair to the East
The Commission is transparent enough to make obvious the huge East-West gap in the EU administration highest posts’ distribution. The data are appalling. At the highest level of the administration,...
View ArticleNíl or Ne, there will be no enlargement!
I’m not very optimistic these days. Either the Irish will say no (níl) to the Lisbon Treaty, which I think they will be wise enough not to do this time, or the Czech ‘no’ (ne) camp around Klaus will...
View ArticleIs 2020 OK for Turkey in EU?
This is the question I asked to Turkish chief negotiator Egemen Bagis yesterday in Brussels, after he declined to disclose what are Turkey’s aspirations. He didn’t say it was bad (maybe because before...
View ArticleDoes Eastern Europe care about climate change?
East European leaders may be bargaining for a fairer deal on climate funding, however the impression remains that they are less interested in the subject, compared to their colleagues from ‘older...
View ArticleMacedonia deadlock?
Prominent MEP Eduard Kukan, chair of the Parliament delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo, gives advice to those willing to listen. Kukan has been...
View ArticleBorissov in coalition with Ataka?
The Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov has embraced the move by extremist leader Volen Siderov, leader of Ataka, a xenophobic party, to hold a referendum for banning a short TV news programme in...
View ArticleEU loses stick to pressure Bulgaria, Romania; Mafia wins?
The murder of a journalist in broad daylight in Sofia raised many questions. One is: has the EU lost its “stick” to pressure the latest newcomers to the EU? When Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU on 1...
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