Europe Archives

ENVIRONMENT-EU: Pressure Group Fears Nuclear Double Standard for Safety

Austria's threat to hinder the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union (EU) over concerns for nuclear safety has underscored the need for international standards for atomic energy, says Friends of the Earth ¡ Europe (FoEE).

POLITICS-RUSSIA: Moscow Faces Decades Of Violence In Chechnya, Say Analysts

By IPS Correspondents

The Kremlin hopes that eventual economic normalisation in Chechnya could help to achieve political settlement in the breakaway region.

EAST TIMOR-U.N.: Concern About Security Conditions For Volunteers

By IPS Correspondents

The United Nations is keen to ensure that adequate security conditions prevail for the more than 400 volunteers working under its umbrella in East Timor.

TURKEY: Former Political Prisoner Assesses Ankaras Progress on Human Rights

By IPS Correspondents

Turkish human rights activists said Wednesday that Ankara has made significant progress towards meeting the political criteria required to accede to the European Union (EU), but that it needed to implement concrete measures to guarantee basic rights for its citizens.

ECONOMY-YUGOSLAVIA: The Uphill Task Of Rebuilding The Economy

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

The deep turmoil in Serbia, that culminated in street protests and Slobodan Milosevic's being forced to accept defeat has another side to it.

DEVELOPMENT: Food Insecurity Delays Progress On World Food Summit Target

By IPS Correspondents

Four years after the World Food Summit, 792 million people in 98 developing countries are not getting enough food to lead normal, healthy and active lives, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

EUROPEAN UNION: Summit Gives Decisive Backing to Yugoslavia

By Julio Godoy

The participation of Yugoslavia's new president, Vojislav Kostunica, in the meeting of European Union (EU) heads of state and government consolidated the reconciliation of his country with the rest of the continent, made possible by the removal of Slobodan Milosevic.

RACISM-GERMANY: Government Walks A Tight Rope Over Ban

By IPS Correspondents

Eager to show it is acting to clamp down on rising extreme right activity after a spate of attacks on Jewish buildings and sites, and deadly assaults on foreigners, the German government is almost certain to seek a ban of the extreme right- wing German National Party (NPD).

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: President Kostunica Fights His First Battles

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

In all his addresses to the public, be it before the September 24 elections or later, Vojislav Kostunica named two key goals for his future work.

RIGHTS: Nobel Peace Prize Awarded To South Korean President Kim Dae Jung

By IPS Correspondents

The South Korean president, Kim Dae Jung, has won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on democracy and human rights in South Korea and East Asia and for his efforts to reach peace and reconciliation with North Korea.

POLITICS-EU/ACP: First Joint Parliamentary Assembly

By IPS Correspondents

When all is said and done, often more is said than done.

TECHNOLOGY: Two Biotech Companies Withdraw Embryo Patents

By IPS Correspondents

Two biotech companies, that had applied for a patent on human-animal embryos, have declared that they will no longer include human embryos in their patents anywhere in the world.

ECONOMY-YUGOSLAVIA: New President Faces Daunting Task, Report

By IPS Correspondents

A new independent study underlines the gravity of problems inherited by Yugoslavia's new president, Vojislav Kostunica from his predecessor, Slobodan Milosevic, who was defeated at the Sep 24 elections.

RIGHTS-ROMANIA: Homosexuals Fight For Their Rights

By IPS Correspondents

Two years ago Florin Buhuceanu, 30, was studying Theology until he decided to come out of the closet and admit to being homosexual.

POLITICS-BELGIUM: Electoral Gains But No Access To Power

By IPS Correspondents

This weekend's results of local and provincial elections have confirmed the electoral advance of the neo-fascist Vlaams Blok in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Milosevic Steps Down, EU to Lift Sanctions

By IPS Correspondents

Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic Friday formally accepted defeat and said he would hand over power to opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica.

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Serbia Rejects Milosevic

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

For Serbia and Belgrade, the end of this week brought with it the end of an era - the era of Slobodan Milosevic, who leaves power after more than 10 years of undisputed rule.

YUGOSLAVIA: Western Europe Relieved at Milosevic’s Overthrow

By IPS Correspondents

Western European governments heaved a sigh of relief as Yugoslavia's opposition, backed by one-day long mass protests, brought an end to President Slobodan Milosevic's 13-year rule Thursday.

GERMANY-IRAN: Expanding Economic Ties

By IPS Correspondents

Germany and Iran are quietly expanding economic and financial relations, building on President Mohammad Khatami's visit to Berlin in July.

DEVELOPMENT-RUSSIA: Moscow Auction May Liberalise Land Sales

By IPS Correspondents

For the first time since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Moscow this month auctioned plots of its land, in a move that may signal the freeing up of trade in land to boost the ailing agriculture sector.