Ukraine: Facing up to high cost of cheap gas
17 Jul 2015
President Petro Poroshenko, in promising to clean up Ukraine's corrupt energy sector in his annual speech to parliament, said ‘opaque gas fumes will no longer light up Forbes Global Rich List with Ukrainian names.’ Ukraine’s energy sector has been plagued by an alliance of Russia, local oligarchs and a popular belief that home heating should be free. One of Ukraine's biggest lenders, the International Monetary Fund, estimates that energy subsidies cost the global economy more than $500 billion per year. This gigantic figure shows that energy flows are highly vulnerable to capture by corrupt business groups and their political allies, who claim democracy can be traded for protection from modern economic realities. Until the turn of the millennium, oil prices were low and Ukraine was a major oil and gas producer. Pipelines running through Ukraine now bring Siberian gas to Europe - but this infrastructure was built to bring Ukrainian gas to Russia. Ukraine is now unable and unwilling to auction off its sovereignty to Russia in exchange for cheap gas and continuation of corrupt schemes.
On 9 July Zurich-based FIFA banned Chuck Blazer, a central figure in the corruption scandal that has engulfed world football, for life for taking millions of dollars in bribes. ‘Mr Blazer committed many and various acts of misconduct continuously and repeatedly during his time as an official in different high-ranking and influential positions at FIFA and Concacaf,’ said a statement announcing the ban from all football-related activities. ‘In his position as a football official, he was a key player in schemes involving the offer, acceptance, payment and receipt of undisclosed and illegal payments, bribes and kickbacks as well as other money-making schemes.’ The one-time powerbroker of North American football is a former ally of Fifa leader Sepp Blatter, who has agreed to step down because of controversy over US and Swiss investigations into the world body and World Cup tournaments.
Police in Malmö are aiming to crack down on a recent wave of gun crime in the city. Violence in Sweden's third largest urban centre has escalated in the past two months, including shootings, explosions, hand grenades being thrown and cars and buildings set on fire. On Friday night a man in his twenties was shot in the street in the nearby town of Arlöv and on Thursday a 25-year-old man was in hospital after being shot in Malmö. Regional police put the rising violence down to an increased import of illegal weapons and are calling for tougher border controls on the Öresund bridge between Sweden and Denmark in a bid to tackle the problem.
Spain: Terror alert - staying safe in the Costas
17 Jul 2015
A list emerged on 10 July warning tourists intending to visit Spain to be aware of security issues from terrorists, as authorities raise the security levels at popular Spanish tourist resorts. Holiday-goers from the UK are feared to be a key target for IS extremists. The plan has been created by Holiday Travel Watch. The advice includes telling tourists to use numerous sources when researching for a holiday, follow Spanish security advice, and check that the intended hotel has good surroundings and security via Google maps.
On 9 July the EU Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) hosted a conference on the formation of an energy union tailored to consumers in Brdo pri Kranju. The event discussed the strategy for an energy union unveiled by the European Commission in February, which aims at reducing the EU's energy dependence on Russia and securing affordable energy. The five pillars of the energy union are reliable supply, internal energy market, energy efficiency, low carbon levels and research, innovation and competitiveness. Slovenia's position is that all five pillars should be developed at the same time. The conference focused primarily on the benefits the strategy is expected to bring to energy consumers in the EU.
Slovakia: Asylum dumping
17 Jul 2015
Because of the poor living conditions in one of the overcrowded refugee centres in Austria, they are planning to send hundreds of people to neighbouring Slovakia, in a move that has been criticised as ‘asylum dumping’ and a ‘disgusting horror.’ The plan of the Austrian Ministry of the Interior is to send 500 refugees to Slovakia because of the overcrowded conditions at Traiskirchen processing centre . The sanctuary currently houses around 3,200 people and lacks 900 beds. From the outset Traiskirchen was not designed to accommodate more than 480 people.The migration of refugees will start this month (July) and continue through to September. Those transferred are to be housed in university dorms in the Slovakian town of Gabcikovo. The first 50 people are to be moved shortly, another 200 in August and 250 in September. The agreement is to last two years. Relocation only shifts responsibility of care to Slovakia; asylum application processing will continue in Austria. Once awarded asylum, refugees will return to live in Austria.
Serbia has a history of violence but now Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, speaking in Brussels, said, ‘We should not engage in conflicts and exchange of hard words, but make peace in the region.’ Serbia has roots of turmoil; World War I began when a Serbian nationalist assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, leading to Austria's declaration of war against Serbia. Within months, much of Europe was at war. In 1998 the Yugoslav army and Serbian police began fighting against the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army. An estimated 1,000 Kosovars were killed in the fighting, and hundreds of thousands forced to flee their homes without adequate food and shelter. But nationalism and ethnic violence continued . In 2003 a new state was created, called Serbia and Montenegro. Today Serbia stands alone and separate from Montenegro and this week, after a meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday, Vucic said the EC president ‘supports Serbia on its European path.’ See http://www.infoplease.com/country/serbia.html?pageno=1
San Marino: Forest fire prevention campaign
17 Jul 2015
A Section Fire and Civil Defence document states that forest fires each year put too much strain on emergency relief agencies, the environment and the economy while posing a threat to infrastructure and urban settlements. San Marino has found that to extinguish forest fires they have often had to resort to the external aid of personnel and equipment available to the Provincial Command of the Fire Brigade of Rimini. The main risk factors are both intentional and negligent: fires caused during cleanup of agricultural, burning of stubble, straw and other debris getting out of control, carelessness and neglect in wooded areas, cigarette butts, matches or fireworks. In this regard, the Civil Protection Service, Police, Environmental and Agricultural Resources Managements have prepared a brochure to be delivered to all households with instructions how to behave in the event of a forest fire. See also https://ca-sanmarino.civicplus.com/144/Fire-Department