Surely countries can learn from each-other. Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish columnist and author, illustrates this with the Kurdish issue in Turkey (INYT, July 24). During the civil war in the 90-ies between the Turkish state and the Kurdish PKK, thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. In the past Turkey faced a… » read more

Posted by m.apelblat

In his speech on 15 July to the European Parliament, the new president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, outlined the political guidelines for the Commission, under “A new start for Europe: Agenda for jobs, growth, fairness and democratic change”. His agenda is summarized in 10 policy areas. One of them is “9. A stronger… » read more

Posted by m.apelblat

A recent interview in EurActive with Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle on the credibility of the enlargement process has caused a minor row with Bulgaria and Romania. The two countries were singled out because of the so-called cooperation and verification mechanism which was put into place when they became EU members in 2007. What about other… » read more

Posted by m.apelblat

Regarding “The EUs weak link must hold” (INYT, January 9) by Mr Nikos Konstandaras, editor of the Greek newspaper Kathimerini: While I share his hopes for a successful Greek EU presidency, in a difficult economic and social situation, I must react against his description of Greece’s role in EU. When Greece held the EU presidency… » read more

Posted by m.apelblat