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It's more a thousand little annoyances with the narrative than 'being wrong on the facts':

  • EU 'solving' the issue of Kosovo's status as the end of the 'Yugoslav crisis'? That's a simple narrative assuming no further troubles ahead.

  • Would British papers describe Wales as tiny? It is about the same size as Slovenia.

  • It's in Central Europe.

  • Tiny country with "power over the EU's priorities" sounds like implying the undue influence of a minority that is clueless to boot. (But maybe I have my Euroscceptic-press-reading googles on.)

  • A country of two million people doesn't admit anything. Some individuals might have said so, Time should quote them.

  • There is the suggestion that a country's size relates to its diplomatic expertise. (An obvious counter-example would be Luxembourg, always punching waaay above its population-weighted weight in the EU.)

  • Help from the French -- I venture the guess that this is nothing more than a Tory pre-occupation with the Frogs, whereas Slovenia will get help from a lot more quarters.

  • Sarko dominating the agenda -- an EU Presidence does not have THAT much power, whatever the Presidency prepares must take into account the fellow governments' views and priorities or it is bound to fail.

  • The allegations about Sarko dominating the agenda for a full year are again anonymous. I again assert that they come from well-known quarters: British Atlanticists, as evidenced by the concern about European defense.


*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Tue Jan 1st, 2008 at 07:14:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]
On the other hand, reading the full article, I see the Times jumped on things actually written/said by Slovenians and put its own spin on it -- an article titled "Under France's Mantle?", and the foreign minister opining about ending the Yugoslav Crisis.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Tue Jan 1st, 2008 at 07:18:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Regarding own spin, compare

Slovenia to force Kosovo back to top of EU agenda

lovenia will become the first former communist country to take charge of the EU today with the aim of ending the "Yugoslav crisis" that led to its creation 16 years ago.

...with how the SLovenian foreign minister imagines the end of the Yugoslav crisis:

Mr Rupel said: "We in Slovenia believe that it is high time for the Yugoslav crisis to end -- a crisis that began in 1991 when [former Yugoslav leader Slobodan] Milosevic attacked Slovenia. We see the solution in EU enlargement." He added: "We are hopeful that during the Slovenian presidency EU agreements will be signed with the entire western Balkan region."


*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Tue Jan 1st, 2008 at 07:21:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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