On the same day the EU officials lifted visa restrictions for three Balkan states, Serbia has announced its official application to join the European Union. Serbia's application to join the European Union now goes to Sweden, who currently holds the rotating EU presidency. Belgrade had said it would apply for membership to the 27-nation bloc last month, but had since been debating the timing of the application. Serb President Boris Tadic said EU officials have discussed his country's potential membership, and he expressed optimism for his country's bid. "This is a great day for Serbia and its citizens," he said, adding that "no one can doubt the road that Serbia has taken: Serbia is going towards European integration."
Serbia's application to join the European Union now goes to Sweden, who currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
Belgrade had said it would apply for membership to the 27-nation bloc last month, but had since been debating the timing of the application.
Serb President Boris Tadic said EU officials have discussed his country's potential membership, and he expressed optimism for his country's bid.
"This is a great day for Serbia and its citizens," he said, adding that "no one can doubt the road that Serbia has taken: Serbia is going towards European integration."
I'd wager that the UK has a lot more war criminals on the loose than Serbia
Heh, debatable about numbers but I take the point. Y'see ours wear suits rather than militia uniforms. It's an effective disguise.
Just like breaking and entering for a couple of hundred is a bigger crime than corporate fraud which nets millions. keep to the Fen Causeway
Duh.
We shouldn't allow a country with the status of democracy like Italy into the EU, but it's a lot harder to kick them out.
The hypocricy play doesn't excuse the Serbs, and I hope my country will continue to bear a chip on its shoulder until we are sure of full cooperation.
Serbian, Montenegrin and Macedonian nationals can travel visa-free inside the EU's borderless Schengen zone from Saturday. A group of 50 Serbian nationals left Belgrade after midnight for their first visa-free visit to several European Union countries. The visit, organized by the Serbian authorities and supported by the European Commission's Directorate General for Enlargement as well as by the embassies of France, Italy and Germany, symbolically marks the abolition of visas for Serbian citizens to travel to the EU. "These are ordinary people who have done something extraordinary and have so far never seen Europe," Bozidar Djelic, Serbia's deputy prime minister in charge of European integrations, told a press conference prior to the trip. Travel restrictions were lifted following a November 30 decision by the EU that nationals of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia would be able to travel without visa to all its member states, except Britain and Ireland.
A group of 50 Serbian nationals left Belgrade after midnight for their first visa-free visit to several European Union countries.
The visit, organized by the Serbian authorities and supported by the European Commission's Directorate General for Enlargement as well as by the embassies of France, Italy and Germany, symbolically marks the abolition of visas for Serbian citizens to travel to the EU.
"These are ordinary people who have done something extraordinary and have so far never seen Europe," Bozidar Djelic, Serbia's deputy prime minister in charge of European integrations, told a press conference prior to the trip.
Travel restrictions were lifted following a November 30 decision by the EU that nationals of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia would be able to travel without visa to all its member states, except Britain and Ireland.
Turkey says it wants the European Union to drop visa restrictions on its citizens seeking to travel to the bloc after restrictions for three other non-EU countries were lifted Saturday. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says the country deserves to have visa restrictions against it dropped by the EU after Serbian, Montenegrin and Macedonian citizens were granted visa-free travel rights to the Schengen area. Davutoglu said the visa waiver should be granted despite little progress being made with Brussels on Ankara's EU membership aspirations. "It's unacceptable that certain Balkan countries that are in the initial stages of the membership process and have not begun negotiations have been given the Schengen privilege, while Turkey, considering the level that Turkish-EU relations have reached, has not," Davutoglu said at a news conference. "We will follow this closely from now on," he said, according to the state-run Anatolian news agency.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says the country deserves to have visa restrictions against it dropped by the EU after Serbian, Montenegrin and Macedonian citizens were granted visa-free travel rights to the Schengen area.
Davutoglu said the visa waiver should be granted despite little progress being made with Brussels on Ankara's EU membership aspirations.
"It's unacceptable that certain Balkan countries that are in the initial stages of the membership process and have not begun negotiations have been given the Schengen privilege, while Turkey, considering the level that Turkish-EU relations have reached, has not," Davutoglu said at a news conference.
"We will follow this closely from now on," he said, according to the state-run Anatolian news agency.
Turkey are within their rights. keep to the Fen Causeway
I see no difficulty in allowing the Turkish people to enter without a visa. It's right to work/of residence that's the issue and here the EU systems are demonstrably incapable of checking this. keep to the Fen Causeway
The Netherlands is no longer alone in its permissive approach to drugs. Legislative changes in the Czech Republic look set to make it the country with the most liberal drug policy in Europe. Probably against their will, the Czechs have found themselves at the forefront of the permissive lobby on drugs. The Czech Republic traditionally pursued a policy which classified possession of "anything more than small amounts of drugs" as a punishable offence, but this vague formulation generated a great deal of confusion. To put an end to this grey area, the government and parliament set about describing in detail exactly how many grams of each category of drug may be tolerated by law. In doing so, they make a clear distinction between the possession and use of small amounts of drugs on the one hand, and trading in drugs on the other hand. No legalisation The fact that the government has painstakingly detailed permissible amounts of drugs has been interpreted by some as legalising drug use. But that is not the case. The possession and use of smaller amounts of drugs, such as 1 gram of cocaine or 15 grams of marijuana, is no longer a punishable offence but has been downgraded to a misdemeanour which can at most result in a fine.
The Netherlands is no longer alone in its permissive approach to drugs. Legislative changes in the Czech Republic look set to make it the country with the most liberal drug policy in Europe.
Probably against their will, the Czechs have found themselves at the forefront of the permissive lobby on drugs. The Czech Republic traditionally pursued a policy which classified possession of "anything more than small amounts of drugs" as a punishable offence, but this vague formulation generated a great deal of confusion.
To put an end to this grey area, the government and parliament set about describing in detail exactly how many grams of each category of drug may be tolerated by law. In doing so, they make a clear distinction between the possession and use of small amounts of drugs on the one hand, and trading in drugs on the other hand.
No legalisation The fact that the government has painstakingly detailed permissible amounts of drugs has been interpreted by some as legalising drug use. But that is not the case.
The possession and use of smaller amounts of drugs, such as 1 gram of cocaine or 15 grams of marijuana, is no longer a punishable offence but has been downgraded to a misdemeanour which can at most result in a fine.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen issued the clearest rebuff yet of President Dmitry Medvedev's pet project for a new European security pact, saying it was not needed. "I do not see a need for new treaties or legally binding documents because we do have a framework already," he told reporters Thursday. As evidence, he listed the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997, the Rome Declaration of 2002 that set up the NATO-Russia Council, and the Charter for European Security. Rasmussen, who was making his first visit to the country since assuming NATO's top post over the summer, also said Ukraine and Georgia would eventually become members of the alliance and that Georgia's territorial integrity needed to be fully respected. Despite his remarks, which were unlikely to go down with the Kremlin, the outspoken former Danish prime minister was adamant that he would achieve the goal of his visit -- to rebuild ties with Moscow that hit a post-Cold War low after the war in Georgia in August 2008.
"I do not see a need for new treaties or legally binding documents because we do have a framework already," he told reporters Thursday.
As evidence, he listed the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997, the Rome Declaration of 2002 that set up the NATO-Russia Council, and the Charter for European Security.
Rasmussen, who was making his first visit to the country since assuming NATO's top post over the summer, also said Ukraine and Georgia would eventually become members of the alliance and that Georgia's territorial integrity needed to be fully respected.
Despite his remarks, which were unlikely to go down with the Kremlin, the outspoken former Danish prime minister was adamant that he would achieve the goal of his visit -- to rebuild ties with Moscow that hit a post-Cold War low after the war in Georgia in August 2008.
ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's approval rating has risen back above 50 percent after an attack against him sparked a wave of sympathy even among opposition voters, an opinion poll showed on Sunday. Berlusconi, 73, was struck in the face a week ago by a man who broke his nose and teeth after a rally in Milan. Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi addresses a news conference at the end of a two-day EU heads of state summit in Brussels June 19, 2009. (REUTERS/Thierry Roge/Files) An opinion poll by ISPO published in Corriere della Sera newspaper said the aggression had boosted Berlusconi's popularity to 55.9 percent, compared to 48.6 percent in mid-November.
ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's approval rating has risen back above 50 percent after an attack against him sparked a wave of sympathy even among opposition voters, an opinion poll showed on Sunday.
Berlusconi, 73, was struck in the face a week ago by a man who broke his nose and teeth after a rally in Milan.
An opinion poll by ISPO published in Corriere della Sera newspaper said the aggression had boosted Berlusconi's popularity to 55.9 percent, compared to 48.6 percent in mid-November.
It is becoming dangerous to associate with economic and ideological power in Southern Europe, or what Europol calls the "Mediterranean triangle" of anarchist violence. Greece's Revolutionary Struggle detonated a car bomb at the Athens Stock Exchange in September. Citigroup's branches have been targeted twice this year. Hooded extremists attacked the rector of Athens University in his office this month, sending him to hospital with head injuries.In Milan, the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI) planted 2kg of dynamite last week at Bocconi University, the symbol of the free market in Italy. The FAI left a note threatening a "bloodbath" for capitalists. Security forces have issued alerts for the Milan bourse, Unicredit, and Barclays. Italians have begun to ask whether their country is returning to the 1970s, the "years of lead" when the Red Brigades murdered ex-premier Aldo Moro.The FAI is no friend of Europe either. It sent letter bombs earlier this decade to the heads of the Commission and the European Central Bank and to the European Parliament.In Spain, Barcelona's anarchists have been conducting a low-level campaign against bank cash machines, supermarkets, and firms such as Manpower. Valencia and Galicia have seen a wave of attacks.
Greece's Revolutionary Struggle detonated a car bomb at the Athens Stock Exchange in September. Citigroup's branches have been targeted twice this year.
Hooded extremists attacked the rector of Athens University in his office this month, sending him to hospital with head injuries.
In Milan, the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI) planted 2kg of dynamite last week at Bocconi University, the symbol of the free market in Italy.
The FAI left a note threatening a "bloodbath" for capitalists. Security forces have issued alerts for the Milan bourse, Unicredit, and Barclays. Italians have begun to ask whether their country is returning to the 1970s, the "years of lead" when the Red Brigades murdered ex-premier Aldo Moro.
The FAI is no friend of Europe either. It sent letter bombs earlier this decade to the heads of the Commission and the European Central Bank and to the European Parliament.
In Spain, Barcelona's anarchists have been conducting a low-level campaign against bank cash machines, supermarkets, and firms such as Manpower. Valencia and Galicia have seen a wave of attacks.
[Eurosceptic Alert]
It was later found out that the anarchist group in Rome was run by fascist extremists in cahoots with deviate service members. Valpreda spent three years in detention and was eventually cleared of all charges. The head of the real anarchists in Milan, Giuseppe Pinelli, helped himself jump to his death in the Milan Questura while being interrogated.
The massacre of Piazza Fontana was organized by the revolutionary fascist party, Ordine Nuovo, to provoke a state of emergency and favour a coup d'etat. The Minister of Interior however refused to declare the state of emergency.
So, most anyone who has memory of Italy's recent past highly doubts that the FAI is what it professes itself to be. Its bombs are terribly convenient.
A Eurostar executive also gave a variation of that notorious British Rail excuse - the wrong type of snow - by blaming "fluffy" snowflakes for the chaos. "The amount of snow was higher than we experienced before, it was lighter than normal, fluffier, and the temperature inside the tunnel and the humidity was higher than normal," said Nick Mercer, Eurostar's commercial director.
