Ad astra per aspera
Czech President Vaclav Klaus has compared the Lisbon Treaty on EU reform to an unstoppable speeding train, suggesting he may have to sign it.A staunch opponent to the treaty, he said even if it did come into force, it would not be "the end of history". He was speaking in an interview with Saturday's Lidove Noviny newspaper. His signature is now virtually the last hurdle before full ratification of the treaty, which is aimed at streamlining the 27-member EU's decision making. "I do not consider the Lisbon Treaty to be a good thing for Europe, for the freedom of Europe, or for the Czech Republic," Lidove Noviny quoted Mr Klaus as saying. "However, the train has already travelled so fast and so far that I guess it will not be possible to stop it or turn it around, however much we would wish to."
Czech President Vaclav Klaus has compared the Lisbon Treaty on EU reform to an unstoppable speeding train, suggesting he may have to sign it.
A staunch opponent to the treaty, he said even if it did come into force, it would not be "the end of history".
He was speaking in an interview with Saturday's Lidove Noviny newspaper.
His signature is now virtually the last hurdle before full ratification of the treaty, which is aimed at streamlining the 27-member EU's decision making.
"I do not consider the Lisbon Treaty to be a good thing for Europe, for the freedom of Europe, or for the Czech Republic," Lidove Noviny quoted Mr Klaus as saying.
"However, the train has already travelled so fast and so far that I guess it will not be possible to stop it or turn it around, however much we would wish to."
He has paralysed the European Union by refusing to ratify the Lisbon treaty and dismisses global warming as a "myth". Yet in one respect Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic has confounded his reputation as a man who likes to say no -- his predilection for young blonde airline stewardesses. The 68-year-old provocateur now holds the future of Europe in his hands but last year he found himself explaining to his wife, Livia, how he was improving his grasp of aeronautics in the company of yet another comely flight attendant. She was his third. His first recorded indiscretion with a stewardess -- Eva Svobodova -- was in 1991, when he was a rising political star in the post-communist Czechoslovakia. The second was with Klara Lohniska, a 24-year-old flight attendant on his official aircraft. Last year, on the morning after winning re-election, he was photographed outside a hotel in Prague with Petra Bednarova, a 25-year-old stewardess on a government plane. Klaus does not look or sound like a ladies' man. A Financial Times journalist, who once took the Czech leader to tea at Fortnum & Mason in London, noted that he had "no small talk" and challenged nearly everything said to him. Even Fortnum's lapsang souchong was not his cup of tea.
He has paralysed the European Union by refusing to ratify the Lisbon treaty and dismisses global warming as a "myth". Yet in one respect Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic has confounded his reputation as a man who likes to say no -- his predilection for young blonde airline stewardesses.
The 68-year-old provocateur now holds the future of Europe in his hands but last year he found himself explaining to his wife, Livia, how he was improving his grasp of aeronautics in the company of yet another comely flight attendant. She was his third.
His first recorded indiscretion with a stewardess -- Eva Svobodova -- was in 1991, when he was a rising political star in the post-communist Czechoslovakia. The second was with Klara Lohniska, a 24-year-old flight attendant on his official aircraft. Last year, on the morning after winning re-election, he was photographed outside a hotel in Prague with Petra Bednarova, a 25-year-old stewardess on a government plane.
Klaus does not look or sound like a ladies' man. A Financial Times journalist, who once took the Czech leader to tea at Fortnum & Mason in London, noted that he had "no small talk" and challenged nearly everything said to him. Even Fortnum's lapsang souchong was not his cup of tea.
Slovakia may also seek an opt-out from part of the Lisbon Treaty if the Czech Republic gets an exemption designed to prevent ethnic Germans expelled after World War II from claiming back their property. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico explained the decision on national TV on Sunday (18 October). The Slovak flag seen though a droplet of water "We will not leave Slovakia in a situation of uncertainty if we feel that one of the seceding countries of former Czechoslovakia has negotiated an exception," he said. "For us the Benes Decrees are such an important part of the rule of law, that we cannot allow for Slovakia to be left in any kind of legal uncertainty." Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak reinforced the message in a separate TV appearance. "Anything which is to be arranged for the Czech Republic has to be approved by everybody, which means by us as well. We would not agree to something that would leave us at a disavantage," he said.
Slovakia may also seek an opt-out from part of the Lisbon Treaty if the Czech Republic gets an exemption designed to prevent ethnic Germans expelled after World War II from claiming back their property.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico explained the decision on national TV on Sunday (18 October).
The Slovak flag seen though a droplet of water
"We will not leave Slovakia in a situation of uncertainty if we feel that one of the seceding countries of former Czechoslovakia has negotiated an exception," he said. "For us the Benes Decrees are such an important part of the rule of law, that we cannot allow for Slovakia to be left in any kind of legal uncertainty."
Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak reinforced the message in a separate TV appearance.
"Anything which is to be arranged for the Czech Republic has to be approved by everybody, which means by us as well. We would not agree to something that would leave us at a disavantage," he said.
And why is everyone so afraid of Germany? En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
The multiplication of last-minute amendments to Lisbon is a headache for EU leaders who had hoped to use an upcoming summit in late October to decide on appointments for a new set of senior posts in Brussels.
As he still might be.
Brussels Riddle: Will Blair Become Europe's First President? - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
As such, it seems unlikely that a candidate will be selected prior to the next EU summit in Brussels at the end of the month. Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt, current holder of the rotating EU presidency, doesn't think any decisions will be made until December.
Royal Mail will recruit up to 30,000 temporary staff to deal with upcoming strikes by postal workers and the Christmas rush, the service has said.The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called national strikes on Thursday and Friday over pay and reforms. Royal Mail said it would hire twice the usual number of extra pre-Christmas staff to cut the impact of "unjustified and irresponsible" industrial action. But the CWU described the decision as "a stupid move". "I think it's something that's not going to help resolve the dispute - it's going to inflame things," CWU general secretary Billy Hayes told the BBC. But speaking on the Andrew Marr programme, he stopped short of describing the temporary workers as strike-breakers. Employing extra people to do the work of staff who are on strike is illegal under employment law.
Royal Mail will recruit up to 30,000 temporary staff to deal with upcoming strikes by postal workers and the Christmas rush, the service has said.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called national strikes on Thursday and Friday over pay and reforms.
Royal Mail said it would hire twice the usual number of extra pre-Christmas staff to cut the impact of "unjustified and irresponsible" industrial action.
But the CWU described the decision as "a stupid move".
"I think it's something that's not going to help resolve the dispute - it's going to inflame things," CWU general secretary Billy Hayes told the BBC.
But speaking on the Andrew Marr programme, he stopped short of describing the temporary workers as strike-breakers.
Employing extra people to do the work of staff who are on strike is illegal under employment law.
Union leaders today condemned Royal Mail's plans to recruit an extra 30,000 temporary staff to combat a postal strike beginning this week and warned that the move would face a legal challenge.Billy Hayes, leader of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which has called national strikes for Thursday and Friday, described Royal Mail's announcement of the biggest recruitment drive in its history "to help keep the mail moving" as symptomatic of a divisive management culture."I think it's a stupid move, more than anything else. It's something that's not going to help resolve the dispute. It's going to inflame things," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.As householders and businesses braced themselves for massive disruption, the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, said he was "beyond anger" with the union for obstructing change and modernisation.
Union leaders today condemned Royal Mail's plans to recruit an extra 30,000 temporary staff to combat a postal strike beginning this week and warned that the move would face a legal challenge.
Billy Hayes, leader of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which has called national strikes for Thursday and Friday, described Royal Mail's announcement of the biggest recruitment drive in its history "to help keep the mail moving" as symptomatic of a divisive management culture.
"I think it's a stupid move, more than anything else. It's something that's not going to help resolve the dispute. It's going to inflame things," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.
As householders and businesses braced themselves for massive disruption, the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, said he was "beyond anger" with the union for obstructing change and modernisation.
And NuLab wonders where its voters went...
The international job fair for health professionals, which opens today in Bucharest, is an opportunity for countries in need of doctors, such as the United Kingdom, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden, to fill health service vacancies -- and they have the means to offer wages and working conditions that are far beyond the scope of Romania"s health budget. At this and other fairs, which are regular events in several major cities across Central and Eastern Europe, Western health-care recruiters lure Romanian doctors abroad with salaries that they could never hope to earn at home: typically, they offer between 2,000 and 3 000 euros per month (a starting salary in Germany's biggest chain of private hospitals, Asklepios Kliniken), as opposed to the 300 euros per month that can expect to earn in Romania. In Scandinavia and the UK, it is not unusual for medical specialists to take home between 10,000 and 12 000 euros per month. Recruitment agencies from more than ten European countries, and also from Australia and New Zealand, have announced they will be participating at the current fair, which is organized by MediPharm Careers, a Polish recruitment agency specializing in medical staff, along with Hearty Europe LLC (an American medical tourism company), and Romanian communications specialist Houston NPA.
The international job fair for health professionals, which opens today in Bucharest, is an opportunity for countries in need of doctors, such as the United Kingdom, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden, to fill health service vacancies -- and they have the means to offer wages and working conditions that are far beyond the scope of Romania"s health budget.
At this and other fairs, which are regular events in several major cities across Central and Eastern Europe, Western health-care recruiters lure Romanian doctors abroad with salaries that they could never hope to earn at home: typically, they offer between 2,000 and 3 000 euros per month (a starting salary in Germany's biggest chain of private hospitals, Asklepios Kliniken), as opposed to the 300 euros per month that can expect to earn in Romania. In Scandinavia and the UK, it is not unusual for medical specialists to take home between 10,000 and 12 000 euros per month.
Recruitment agencies from more than ten European countries, and also from Australia and New Zealand, have announced they will be participating at the current fair, which is organized by MediPharm Careers, a Polish recruitment agency specializing in medical staff, along with Hearty Europe LLC (an American medical tourism company), and Romanian communications specialist Houston NPA.
Rich western countries that are too cheap to train their own doctors come to the less wealthy parts of the world and steal the health care professionals so that the less wealthy parts of the world have worse health care as well.
Parasitical by design keep to the Fen Causeway
The EU's Javier Solana has welcomed the decision by Macedonia and Kosovo to settled a long-running border dispute. It paves the way for the two Balkan countries to establish full diplomatic ties. Parliamentarians in Kosovo and Macedonia on Saturday ratified an agreement ending an eight-year dispute over a border region that was used by Albanian guerrillas during Macedonia's rebel Albanian insurgency in 2001. The deal demarcating the 150-kilometer frontier comes after months of negotiations under the auspices of the European Union and the United States. Details of the agreement were not immediately available, but Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said that it respected "the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and the peaceful settlement of disputes." He also said the deal would make it easier for Kosovans who own land in Macedonian territory to cross the border.
Parliamentarians in Kosovo and Macedonia on Saturday ratified an agreement ending an eight-year dispute over a border region that was used by Albanian guerrillas during Macedonia's rebel Albanian insurgency in 2001.
The deal demarcating the 150-kilometer frontier comes after months of negotiations under the auspices of the European Union and the United States.
Details of the agreement were not immediately available, but Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said that it respected "the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and the peaceful settlement of disputes."
He also said the deal would make it easier for Kosovans who own land in Macedonian territory to cross the border.
An Italian television channel owned by Silvio Berlusconi has shadowed and secretly filmed a judge who ruled against the prime minister's family holding in a bribery case, describing him as "eccentric" for wearing turquoise socks.REUTERS - Italian magistrates and the opposition are up in arms after a television channel owned by Silvio Berlusconi shadowed and secretly filmed a judge who ruled against the prime minister in a bribery case. Days after Judge Raimondo Mesiano ordered Berlusconi's holding company to pay 750 million euros in damages to a rival, the media mogul's Canale 5 channel aired a video of the judge taking a walk, smoking and getting a shave at the barber. Dubbing the judge's behaviour "eccentric", a narrator points to him smoking the "umpteenth" cigarette, calls his turquoise socks "strange" and says: "He's impatient ... he can only relax at the barber's".
REUTERS - Italian magistrates and the opposition are up in arms after a television channel owned by Silvio Berlusconi shadowed and secretly filmed a judge who ruled against the prime minister in a bribery case.
Days after Judge Raimondo Mesiano ordered Berlusconi's holding company to pay 750 million euros in damages to a rival, the media mogul's Canale 5 channel aired a video of the judge taking a walk, smoking and getting a shave at the barber.
Dubbing the judge's behaviour "eccentric", a narrator points to him smoking the "umpteenth" cigarette, calls his turquoise socks "strange" and says: "He's impatient ... he can only relax at the barber's".
A large number of those who have been chosen as primary recipients of the H1N1 vaccine are declining the injection, apparently because many Danes have the impression that swine flu is not as dangerous as first suggested. Some 360,000 police officers, nurses, doctors and others deemed to be in key functions have been offered the vaccine but under a third have applied. "After planning and and carrying out 12 seasons of mass vaccinations against influenza, I would think that at the moment only about 30 percent of those in key functions are prepared to take the vaccine," says Danske Lægers Vaccinations Service (DLVS, Danish Doctors Vaccination Service) Chairman Karsten Østergaard. The DLVS is Denmark's largest vaccination agency, which is in constant contact wioth national and local authorities in connection with the vaccination of key personnel, and based on reporting from these authorities the service says only few want the vaccine.
Just weeks before the Dutch vaccination campaign against influenza A(H1N1) is due to begin, the reluctance to have the vaccine is increasing. In the Netherlands, two thirds of nursing staff say they do not want to be vaccinated against the A(H1N1) virus. There is little enthusiasm for the flu jab in other European countries such as France, Belgium and Spain. In a small pub often visited by nursing staff near Amsterdam's university hospital, the AMC, the question "Who wants to have the vaccination?" immediately sparks a lively debate. People have their doubts. "For me it's not really clear whether there is a reduced risk in vaccination or not, if there is a reduced risk for the patient. And it's not very clear so far. There are discussions on television and in the papers, but so far it's not very clear." Ute, who works in a home for people with a handicap, says she would not even consider having the vaccine: "No, I certainly wouldn't. For a start it is very difficult to really protect yourself against flu. Every flu jab targets a certain virus. And there are hundreds going around, so you are not protected at all. The side effects can be really serious. And it seems like there is a lot of panic-spreading going on. It is only the pharmaceutical industry that stands to benefit from it."
Just weeks before the Dutch vaccination campaign against influenza A(H1N1) is due to begin, the reluctance to have the vaccine is increasing. In the Netherlands, two thirds of nursing staff say they do not want to be vaccinated against the A(H1N1) virus. There is little enthusiasm for the flu jab in other European countries such as France, Belgium and Spain.
In a small pub often visited by nursing staff near Amsterdam's university hospital, the AMC, the question "Who wants to have the vaccination?" immediately sparks a lively debate. People have their doubts.
"For me it's not really clear whether there is a reduced risk in vaccination or not, if there is a reduced risk for the patient. And it's not very clear so far. There are discussions on television and in the papers, but so far it's not very clear."
Ute, who works in a home for people with a handicap, says she would not even consider having the vaccine:
"No, I certainly wouldn't. For a start it is very difficult to really protect yourself against flu. Every flu jab targets a certain virus. And there are hundreds going around, so you are not protected at all. The side effects can be really serious. And it seems like there is a lot of panic-spreading going on. It is only the pharmaceutical industry that stands to benefit from it."
