Europe Archives

RIGHTS-SPAIN: Immigrant Bill Approved in Blow to Gov’t

The Spanish government suffered a major defeat Wednesday as parliament passed a law on foreigners, with an absolute majority voting in favour, while the only votes against were cast by legislators from the governing centre-right Popular Party (PP).

RIGHTS: Whatever Happened to the Balkan Stability Pact?

By IPS Correspondents

The citizens of southeastern Europe, the war-ravaged Kosovar Albanians and Serbs; the divided communities of Bosnia; the Croats, and their needy neighbours, the Romanians and Bulgarians, are all glumly expecting a Christmas stocking that will be virtually empty.

CULTURE-RUSSIA: Copyright Piracy is Rife

By IPS Correspondents

Russia's internationally acclaimed culture and arts have been adversely affected not only by the country's economic downturn - rampant copyright piracy is also widely viewed as a threat.

POLITICS-SPAIN: Police Thwart Renewed ETA Bombings

By Tito Drago

The Basque separatist organisation ETA is ready to renew its bomb attacks in Spain, concluded analysts Tuesday after the police frustrated what could have been the biggest bomb explosion in ETA's history.

POLITICS-RUSSIA: Election Results to Prolong Endemic Troubles

By IPS Correspondents

While president Boris Yeltsin's loyalists herald Sunday's parliamentary elections as an opening for much- needed stability, critics say the poll is a study-case on how the Russian people are an easy prey for media manipulators.

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Party Militia Ignites Fear of Civil War

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

For some time now, fears are growing that the political climate in Serbia is leading the country towards a civil war.

CONFLICT-CAUCASUS: Russia Isolated at G-8 Meeting

By IPS Correspondents

There was little pretence of unity at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Group of Eight largest industrialised countries meeting in the German capital Friday, with its newest member, Russia, increasingly isolated from the rest.

EUROPE: Funding Scandals Taint European Governments

By IPS Correspondents

Once regarded as the squeaky-clean nation of Europe, Germany has been infected by political funding scandals, damaging the public image of the two main parties, and tarnishing the legacy of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, seen as the titan of German reunification.

RIGHTS-RUSSIA: Market Reforms Left Children Behind

By IPS Correspondents

While millions of Russians are struggling to survive an economic slide, boys and girls appear as the system's prime victims.

RIGHTS: On Trial – Darkest Blot in Spain’s Democratic History

By Tito Drago

The trial of the blackest stain on Spain's history as a democratic nation, the 1983-86 dirty war waged against Basque separatists, opened Monday.

POLITICS-EUROPE: Turkey and Solana Win, Prodi Loses in Helsinki

By IPS Correspondents

At the European Union's two-day summit in Helsinki this weekend, Turkey appeared as the clear winner, by becoming a candidate to join the exclusive club, with full support from the United States and the EU's representative for foreign affairs and defence, Javier Solana.

RIGHTS-POLITICS: Gender Issues Sidelined in Russian Elections

By IPS Correspondents

As Russia's parliamentary election campaign reaches nadir, a number of important problems - notably gender issues - appear to be ignored by the Russian political establishment.

RIGHTS-YUGOSLAVIA: Ethnic Albanian Rights Activist Sentenced

By IPS Correspondents

Flora Brovina, an ethnic Albanian doctor, writer and human rights activist from Kosovo, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison by a Yugoslav federal court.

POLITICS-GERMANY: Rediscovering Social Democratic Values

By IPS Correspondents

Whether German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's turn to his Social Democratic Party's left flank is merely a tactical ruse or a statement of policy, it is plain that he joined the club of political leaders who intend to give politics a greater role in shaping the globalisation process.

RIGHTS-SOUTHEAST EUROPE: A Time For The Gypsies

By IPS Correspondents

It Is unlikely that the oldest displaced persons in Europe, the Romas, look forward to the world's Human Rights Day Friday ( Dec 10) with any sense of achievement seeing that they have been on the lowest rung of society in almost every country for the millennium that has just past.

POPULATION-EUROPE: Spain Shuts Door on Immigrants

By IPS Correspondents

Spain is known as Europe's southern door for immigrants, and is on the verge of slamming it shut as a bill on foreigners dies in parliament, leaving immigration law in limbo, and jeopardising thousands of immigrants, until a new parliament is elected sometime next year.

RIGHTS-YUGOSLAVIA: ‘Violence Unchecked’ in Kosovo, OSCE Says

By IPS Correspondents

Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo suffered systematic "humiliation and discrimination" from Serbia for ten years, but ethnic cleansing occurred only after NATO began bombing Yugoslavia in March, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said here Monday.