Terra

TERRAPublication of European Forum Tulln

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This is the very last is-sue printed for this ses-sion and at the same time the only Terra is-sue. In contrast from Aero, this publication offers you articles which are more analytical and critical.

The times we live in are full of dramatic events, surprises and sudden political changes. 2012 is definitely a great year to be a young active citizen. Terra will offer you a collection of 10 very engaging and pro-vocative features and comments.

Our pieces range from current issues such as an analysis of the Pussy Riot affair in Russia and the Teddy bear attack in Belarus, to features on human rights and the idea of neo-Ottoman-ism.

Our aim is to provoke your thoughts through

very engaging pieces and give you unique perspectives on a range of issues which we con-sider essential for the ‘2012 young active citi-zen’.

The red thread of this publication is the con-structive critical ap-proach that all the piec-es utilise in analysing European affairs.

As editors we are very proud indeed for the work of our journalists and we can only hope that you take the time to read and engage with the material.

Yours in journalism,Jan Bubienczyk and Jon Vrushi

Editorial

3www.tullnmediateam.wordpress.com

4 Turkey and neo-Ottomanism.

6 Pussy Riot affair.

8 blogspot.com

10 Everyone’s a hypocrite.

12 Vicious cycle.

14 Living in the eye of the storm.

16 Conscript.

18 Is the euro divisive?

20 Teddy bears in Belarus.

22 Stylised swastikas.

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While the negotiations are still running to obtain a full member-ship to the EU, Turkey is hesi-tant to put all of its eggs in one basket.

Since 2002 when the AKP (Jus-tice and Development Party) came into office, the former Ke-malist approaches to pro-Euro-pean foreign policies have been discarded. Turkey has been re-establishing its relationships with its neighbouring countries, left neglected, while seeking EU’s approval. The formerly ‘European’ Turkey reinforcing its strong bonds with its former Ot-toman regions has the EU facing its biggest fear of Turkey siding with Islamic countries.

Countries like Bosnia, among others in the Balkans, have been subject to Turkish influence for more than five hundred years, so

it should not come as a surprise to the now-concerned Western diplomacy that Turkey is suc-cessfully bonding with its neigh-bours and ex-imperial regions. However, as new regions (e.g. Iran) that are predominantly Islamic enter Turkish domain, EU is contemplating the motives of this newly-formed ‘union’. Hav-ing to represent the west civili-zation, the EU will soon have to start ‘fighting’ for the loyalty of the abovementioned regions.

It is not, however, only about democratic representation and political influence; EU’s econom-ic interests are at stake. Among the Caucasus, the Balkans and former Soviet Union countries, there are many regions valuable for their energy. If Turkey em-ploys a successful neo-Ottoman policy the EU could potentially lose its influence over the afore-

mentioned regions. This would result in EU Member States, such as Germany and France, hav-ing to withdraw their refusals and let Turkey finally enter the EU in order to regain access to regions rich in energy.

The question remains, however, to which extent is Turkey going to use the neo-Ottoman ap-proach meant to reinforce the anti-European sphere of influ-ence? Ahmet Davutoglu, Turk-ish foreign minister since 2009 and the “construction leader“ of the current foreign policy, has strongly rejected the term “neo-Ottomanism“ when describing Turkey’s foreign policy, although he does talk a lot about the Ot-toman legacy (maybe a rem-nant of his times as a professor at university). Mr Davutoglu describes his country as the Turkish Republic instead of a

A Turk and an Estonian scrutinise the neo-Ottoman doctrine and assess how it affects Western diploma-cy. By: Zeynep and Karin-Liis.

Turkey and neo-Ottomanism


neo-Ottoman empire. “Beyond representing the 70 million peo-ple of Turkey, we have a historic debt to those lands where there are Turks or which was related to our land in the past. We have to repay this debt in the best way,” he says.

Maybe western diplomacy’s concern lies with the fact that Turkey is using something more than just an economic union to entice its allies. The whole con-cept of neo-Ottomanism relies on similarities in the cultures, histories and traditions of these countries. What if the economic security that EU offers is not enough to keep some of its members from seeking cultural asylum with Turkey? Given the current economic problems, the EU should tread carefully, yet quickly, always keeping Turkey’s ever-present influence in mind.

Taking into consideration the speed and efficiency Turkey’s new foreign policy enticed the old Ottoman regions in the Caucasus, the Balkans and the Middle East, Turkey should not be dismissed easily. According to Dr Srdja Trifkovic, writing for

the Research Institute for Eu-ropean and American Studies, “many civil servants, diplomats and generals who do not care for that much for the neo-Ot-toman paradigm are, however,

willing to support its ‘quantita-tive’ aspects.” It is also true that even if a positive outcome has Turkey joining the EU, Turkey will still wish to continue being the regional power on its own and acting as a stabilising mediator between the western and Islamic civilizations.

No matter whether it is neo-Ottomanism or not, Turkey does have a game plan. So, before trying to disassociate any pos-sible allies of Turkey, EU should try to reassess their own policies in order to keep their Member States healthy and happy. One is for sure, whether the EU has Turkey among its ranks or on the opposition, fifty-five years has nothing on over five centu-ries.

No matter if it is neo-Ottomanism or not, Turkey does have a game plan.

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Every day we listen to music: on the radio, on our MP3 Play-ers, in the supermarket and at the train station. Barely a day passes without hav-ing heard at least 3 notes of music; but have you ever lis-tened to a song that changed your life? Pussy Riot is an anonymous female performance arts group that produces music that changes not only the lives of others but also the ones of the group members. Three of them have been sentenced to two years of im-prisonment and all the others live under the constant fear of being taken into custody while performing and pro-testing. But still they do not

give up and keep on fighting with their peaceful weapon.

Pussy Riot songs criticise Vladimir Putin, their presi-dent, and even call for his retirement from office. The reason for their rage is the basic human rights being threatened in Russia, such as the lack of gender equality, democracy and freedom of expression. The group that formed in October 2011 had a couple of peaceful per-formances in highly visible places but it was not until the events of February 21st this year that they became inter-nationally known. After a one minute performance in the priests-only section of Mos-cow’s Cathedral of Christ the

Saviour they were arrested and finally, after 5 months (of illegal detention practices), sentenced to two years in prison. The performance, which aimed at making peo-ple aware of the special re-lationship between President Putin and the leader of the Russian-Orthodox Church, was described as an act of hooliganism by the state. This unjust sentence and the violation of human rights prior to it, attracted the at-tention of various organisa-tions from all over the world.

What distinguishes Pussy Riot between other riot groups is their way of get-ting the attention. Handing out flyers in the street may

Our own Sarah exposes the real impact of punk music on 21st century politics.

PussyRiot Affair


arouse the attention of a few people but music is dif-ferent from flyers, blogs or newspapers. It cannot be thrown away or burned; you cannot close your ears like you can close your eyes and you cannot simply erase it. Once it is out there in the world or in the World Wide Web, it will always be there, forcing people to listen to it in the streets, listen to the message it carries and think about it. Once people have started thinking about the problem there is a chance that they will realise that the artist is right. Music can be very powerful, it can influ-ence people in a way that no other medium can. Pussy Riot is the perfect example

of this since the songs and stories of them managed not only to upset Russia’s lead-ers but also raised aware-ness in many other countries. Although it was well known

that President Putin is un-like western presidents, the events brought these prob-lems nearer to the rest of the world. Still, other countries can only help until a certain point. No one from the out-side can provoke a revolu-tion - it has to be done from

within.

The young women belonging to Pussy Riot are extremely courageous and determined. They are risking their lives for a better future and give those who feel suppressed hope. Their songs cannot be ignored as the reaction of the Russian parliament clearly shows. And I am sure that this is not the end. We will for still hear a lot about this group and I truly hope they achieve their goals. Maybe this will even inspire other suppressed groups to revolt - maybe also with music.

you cannot close your ears like you can close your eyes

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Human behaviour is based on reaction. We react to informa-tion, be it a physical stimulus, an intuition or receiving new intelligence. Information, either received from the outside or re-vealed from the inside, directs our behaviour and has almost complete control over our reac-tions. Therefore, the medium of information flow holds a rather important place in our lives. This medium basically feeds it-self from two different features: its information providers and its target audience. The bigger these features, the stronger the medium. No doubt internet has become a medium with almost the strongest branches – but how about the different pieces of it? The recent increase in the number of websites with a “.blogspot.com” ending in any given Google search raises the question: Does their increasing

number indicate that the public started to accept internet blogs as a legitimate source of infor-mation?

This trend of ‘civil journalism’ became more common dur-ing and after the Arab Spring, since the only sources of inside information during the upris-ings in Northern Africa were these blogs of the civilians liv-ing in the field. The blogs were not only the information source for the outsiders, but were the milestones of the uprising. After its active role in Arab Spring, is blogging becoming a new me-dium of information flow?

It is more than justified to say the Arab Spring began with in-ternet blogs; or at least, it owes its snowballing effect to it. The very first ‘provocative’ blogs are mainly protests after the

self-immolation caused by job-lessness and despair of a young man in Tunisia. The negative reactions grew and turned into an uprising, which was sup-ported through videos and calls for ‘rebels’. The most popular social networking sites became portals to spread the move-ment and share the videos of previous protests. The govern-ment, however, did not imple-ment any extra censorship and the uprising remained mainly in the virtual world, rather than becoming a fist-to-fist street fight.

Other countries such as Egypt, in which this ‘fight through internet’ trend started to show its effects, took more dramatic measures – examples include posting misleading videos, as well as slowing down (but clev-erly, not censoring) the access

Zeynep from Turkey analyses the political power of blogging.

blogspot.com


to the websites in question. Social media had less impact on the regime changes of coun-tries like Jordan, Libya, Syria and Yemen; the videos and blog updates on the movement were, however, available almost day by day.

Posting videos, on the other hand, is hardly a way to over-throw a regime – the ac-tual fight still happens on the streets. Then why take what a bunch of internet users think or write about a regime all that seriously? This is where the two features come back into the game. In-ternet may not be the ultimate place to plan out a rebellion strategy, but it is an easy portal for idea exchange and general discussion – which, through interactive reading via com-ments, means new ideas that

are the collection of intellectu-ally and culturally dispersed people. The variety in points of view makes the creation of more effective solutions pos-sible.

The wide reach of blogs also provides very fast information exchange, weakens the govern-ment’s authority, lessens the fear, gives a sense of unity and grabs international attention to the subject. Through internet, quick decisions on rebellious movements can be made. The simplicity of openly oppos-ing the government secures the self-confidence of any given ‘rebel’, thus changing the fear into power through unity. Although it has no immediate effect on close combat, the international attention it takes increases the chances of out-side intervention or support in the long term.

Internet, considering how in-terwoven it is with our lives, is bound to have an effect on our opinions. Online blogging, with its active role in 21st century’s most important political chang-es, took this effect to a whole new level, where opinions can count as information. Beneficial as it is to social awareness, one must be aware of its potential of misleading. It obligates the reader to go the extra mile and separate information from opinion. In audiences that don’t have the habit of doing so, internet blogging is a double-edged sword – in the right hands, it is a revolutionary step in the history of public aware-ness; in the wrong hands, it’s a blindfold against the greater good.

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Maslow hierarchy dictates that the need for water and food is the greatest basic need of human beings. The aforemen-tioned Article 25 (1) declares this need as a human right. Human rights are therefore fully protect-ed, if every person has access to that which is promised within these rights. However, today’s world is far from the ideal and harmonic place the 14th Dalai Lama envisions it to be in his teachings. The world map clear-ly indicates that the violation of human rights is either directly or indirectly connected to poverty and famine resulting from it. Even though economic and so-cial human rights are primarily affected, poverty is also starting to have an increasing effect on civil and political human rights, especially in countries where according to the World Bank daily consumption is 1.25 dollars

or less.

American economist William Easterly says: “the only useful definition of human rights is one where a human rights crusader could identify WHOSE rights are being violated and WHO is the violator.” Poverty does not fit this definition. Firstly, there is no vio-lator responsible for worldwide poverty. Secondly, the border between the rich and poor is arbitrary and artificial – it is different by country, therefore, one cannot say for sure whose human rights are being violated and whose are not.

If we do, however, consider poverty a violation of human rights, should the wealthy not be helping the poor? One may say that the rich states are already providing developing countries with aid. It is as if the rich have

imposed a world order that further impoverishes the already poor regions. Because the ef-fects of globalisation have been foreseeable for a very long time, especially taking into considera-tion the consequences of coloni-sation and slavery the world has already experienced, the rich now have the duty to eliminate poverty.

Albeit, the problem does not lie in the wealthier states not help-ing, but helping for the wrong reasons. Rich countries see it as an act of kindness, as charity, not as a legal and moral duty set forth by the human rights. And why should they when the basis of human rights does not demand it? Human rights are full of negative duties such as the duties of non-interference: although nobody should deprive people of their basic necessi-

Our very controversial Karin-Liis, calls us all hypocrites while analysing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Everyone’s a hypocrite


ties, nobody is responsible for helping them gain access to them either. So, the very basis of human rights is something liber-tarians often attempt to defend their unequal privilege with and in essence they are right. They have no positive duty to help the poor, equivalently meaning that the poor have no right to their help.

Taking into consideration that wealth disparity brings about repressive and exploitative conditions in poor regions, the rich states should be legally bound to helping poor states. When one of the parties in trade relations is severely impover-ished, the consequences are even more terrifying. Inequality makes the poorer parties ac-cept conditions (e.g. working conditions) that they would not consider otherwise.

The same sort of conditioning agreements might be happen-ing between a government and its people. In a society where people are legally forced to ac-cept living and working condi-tions will see repression grow

into an expression of physical violence. In the words of the Dalai Lama: “Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed and where individuals and nations are free.” Although all people

have the right to water, food and other necessities, nothing besides their social conscience actually results in rich countries providing for the poor. A society where the access to basic needs is inhibited or sub-standard, has little, if any chance of even giving thought to respecting human rights. Poverty also gives the respective government the chance to manipulate its people, which also makes their respect-ing human rights that much more difficult. Although nobody can actually consider not help-ing ease poverty a violation of human rights due to the nega-tive duties featured in human rights, it is clear that measures to help poor countries should have been implemented in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights a long time ago. One is for sure, everybody’s a hypocrite anyway.

Everyone has a right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services – (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25, section 1)

Everyone’s a hypocrite

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We are killing our planet. Companies, governments and public households are all pitching in to kill our planet by overexploiting our food, medicine and material re-sources. For example, due to careless fishing, over 80% of wild stocks have been de-pleted, while deforestation for the production of paper or the ‘ecologically friendly’ produc-tion of bio-fuel have crippled the sustainability of many tropical ecosystems, putting many species on the brink of extinction.

Environmentalist extraor-dinaire Jared Diamond de-scribes the four threats as an ‘Evil Quartet’ of Biodiversity consisting of habitat destruc-tion, overhunting of species,

introduced species, and sec-ondary extinctions. Although extinction is natural over time, scientists estimate that hu-man influence has acceler-ated the natural process from 100 to 1000%, resulting in a third of the world’s flora & fau-na being in danger of extinc-tion. We have known this for the past decade, yet we have chosen to remain ignorant of the results of our actions.

In habitat destruction, areas of natural habitation are ren-dered unusable for the local ecosystem as the areas lose their ability to support the species present. It is increased by urbanisation, the exploita-tion of natural resources and mostly by agriculture. Overall it is the main cause of degen-

erating biodiversity.

Most ecosystems are sepa-rated by barriers, resulting in a separate evolution of the species separated by those barriers. In the case of an invasive species these barri-ers become more passable, resulting in the diminishment of another species if a more aggressive habitant overtakes their ecological locker. Hu-mans have, in the course of time, transported animals to new ecosystems as a short-term solution to solve an ecological issue, but in the majority of the cases this has proven to have shown upmost stupidity. For example in Aus-tralia in 1935, they introduced cane toads in order to tackle the cane beetles feeding on

Tree-hugger Waltter teaches us a lesson on loving the planet we call home.

Vicious cycle


the cane fields. This resulted in a population boom for the toads due to the lack of a natural enemy and free eco-logical locker. Nowadays they threaten the Australian biodi-versity by killing local fauna with the toxic chemical emit-ted from their parotid glands.

Secondary extinction is a cascading effect and a con-sequence, in which one spe-cies’ extinction is entwined with another’s. It is a vicious cycle causing more and more species to go extinct, due to the fact that when you lose an animal from the food chain the immediate effects are that the dependant animals, both predators and parasites on the lost animal, are in need of a new food source and if one

is not found the species will become extinct, causing the pattern to begin anew.

Not only are the negative impacts on the lack of diver-sity and its causes completely disregarded. We live in times when the overall ecological importance is being trampled by other ‘more current’ ones as the EU’s economic situation is given the closer attention. This, however, is not the main issue. Currently, especially in the EU, ideas of self redemp-tion have taken over Brussels as we are constantly reducing the exploitation of our na-ture, but we are shifting more and more of our industries and production to develop-ing countries and polluting their ecosystems. In having

hypocritical aims to make the world greener we only pose vague and inefficient meas-ures, never being able to meet the targets we set to ourselves as they are just for our deci-sion makers to get their good nights sleep.

Biodiversity benefits us all by improving the quality of the air, the water we drink, the food we produce, by having more alternatives in case of a contamination of some sort, not to forget how much medi-cine relies on nature’s boons. Open your eyes to what is happening around you and start demanding actions, it is time we started giving back to the land that had provided us with all we have and will ever need.

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Most European citizens are well-acquainted with the Eurozone crisis: the sovereign debt, the bailouts, the austerity measures. Greece is widely ac-knowledged to be at the epi-centre of this crisis, given that its economy is shrinking 7% year on year. However, with all this talk of economics it is easy to forget how the crisis and the austerity measures imposed by the EU in return for bailouts are affecting real people in Greece today. With the help of our resident Greeks, Stamos Tahis, Thanos Saitis and Erini-Rea Ntika, Terra has uncovered what living in crisis-struck Greece is like.

The economic crisis has af-fected almost every Greek citizen. For example, Erina-Rea has had to cope with the worry

of her school scholarship being cut off and Stamos and Thanos have seen their budgets shrink dramatically. Everyday people are crippled by money worries and faith in the government is at an all-time low. The crisis has seen unemployment soar to 21% and to 54% amongst young people, causing a large decrease in household income. It is now estimated that one third of all Greeks are below the poverty line and even professionals are lining up for charity food packages, a sight that is shocking to see in an EU Member State. And in these hard times, businesses are struggling – more than 20% of shops in Athens’ historic city centre are now empty.

As a result of the lack of jobs and soaring taxes in the cities,

many Greeks have been forced to move back to the country-side. In the time after World War Two, when Greece’s cities were growing and prosper-ous, hundreds and thousands moved to urban areas from their villages. The economic downturn has reversed this phenomenon. In a recent BBC survey 70% of people were considering returning to the Greek countryside to escape the hardships of the cities. Some Greeks are even leaving Greece altogether. Erini-Rea is planning to study in the US, because, according to her, “there is no future in Greece.” One of the darker sides of the economic downturn is the crime wave that has struck Greece, a country which until recently enjoyed one of the

Mairi investigates how the financial crisis has affected real people’s lives in Greece,

Living in the eye of the storm


lowest crime rates in the EU. In the last year alone burglaries have risen by 50%. This is just the tip of the iceberg accord-ing to the criminologist Stratos Georgulas, originally talking to Chloe Hadjimatheou for BBC News, “There is something we call the ‘dark number’ which describes unrecorded crime and this figure tends to be far higher than the official statis-tics.” Austerity has resulted in a drop in the number of police-men so Athens is nowhere near as safe as it once was. Civic unrest is also increasing, as anti-austerity protests deterio-rate into rioting and arson. The extreme right-wing Golden Dawn Party have used this crime wave to their advantage by blaming it, as well as the increasing levels of unemploy-

ment, on immigrants. Stamos, Thanos and Erini-Rea are all in agreement that this is one of the very worst aspects of the crisis. Stamos admitted to being “really worried” that the Golden Dawn now have

18 seats in parliament and “ashamed” that the Greek people had voted for a party which uses a stylised Swas-tika on its logo. According to Thanos, in hard economic circumstances many feel the

need to “shift the blame” for the difficulties that the country is facing. Greece is obviously divided on the EU bailouts and man-datory austerity measures, however understandably the anti-austerity movement is growing, not only in Greece but in centre-left parties all across Europe. Only time will tell if these parties’ policies, based on growth, will be more effective in solving the crisis. What must be taken from this is that no matter how western-ised a country may be, it is not immune to financial collapse. The warning signs must be taken more seriously and pre-ventative measures instigated before a crisis unfolds.

One of the darker sides of the econom-ic downturn is the crime wave that has struck Greece

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Annually in Finland 13 400 new recruits, consisting mainly of young males of the age of 19 to 20 years embark on an extended summer camp, which takes away in the worst case two whole university terms, delaying any plans of further education or entering the labour market by one to two years. This results in a drop of 4% in the potential economic growth per decade.

Every autumn the men reach-ing the legal age of 18 are called for a health inspection and an evaluation to deter-mine whether the candidate wishes to go through military or civil service, and where the service will be served. If some-one refuses to be conscripted they have to be, according to Finnish law, imprisoned for 181

days, unless they have a press-ing reason or an exception, like the Jehovah witnesses or males from the demilitarized zone of Åland isles.

The conscription system was founded in 1878 when Finland was under the Swedish reign during the gathering of the estates and has from that time been a lasting tradition. The military service usually lasts from 180 days to 270 or 362; depending on which further specialisation the recruit chooses or is placed in. During the calling all recruits are as-signed to their respective gar-risons where they, when they start their service, will spend their weekdays in complete isolation, sometimes hav-ing weekends off from Friday evening until Sunday evening

to return to their families.

Here is the Finnish military sys-tem in a nutshell: recruits start their service with the basic training period – the P-period. During this performance, both mental and physical conditions are tested to see who is cho-sen for the leadership-training program. This is followed by 9 weeks of specific training ac-cording to the recruits’ cho-sen field of specialty ending in another 9 weeks of further training.

I remember hearing the phrase, “You meet the whole of Finland in one tiny barracks,” by many advocates of the service. It does help you create a strong network of connec-tions and feeling of brother-hood when you spend numer-

Finnish boy Waltter questions whether military service in his country and other EU Member States is still per-tinent in the 21st century.

Conscript


ous of days with people you have mostly never met before and experience all together the hardships of the training process. Additionally you are able to pick up a few useful skills about leadership and first aid during your service, but we have many others and I would say even better ways of achieving these skills.

It has always been a widely debated topic whether the army should retrain its old tra-ditional form and be funded as much as it is being at the mo-ment. As we currently live in the times of peace and becom-ing a target of a large scale ground attack seems highly unlikely as the current national security risks are more com-monly related to cyber attacks and terrorist threats. Focusing

in the wrong fields takes away our resources and does little to help in the case of a future attack.

We are stuck with a tradition.

The majority of Finnish men, as they have gone through the army, are blind to the faults that deeply infest our current system. Running in the forest for 8 months playing war with enemies from the east is not

something I am too keen on using a quite a large propor-tion from our yearly budget on. Especially when it is to maintain a force of which only a fraction is used for opera-tions abroad annually.

The majority of countries within Europe have opted for professional armies for both economic benefits and to reduce the time consumed by it. We need to take a dive into the future. We need to have an army, there is no question about that, but why not leave the military for those who find their calling for it?

Focusing in the wrong fields takes away our resources and does lit-tle to help in the case of a future attack.

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The idea of having a common currency in Europe was first expressed in the end of the 1960s and in 1970 a team of experts outlined the concept for the European currency union. In 1988 the idea was brought up again, when plans of the European market were made. A new strategy was developed and by signing it, countries agreed to implement the new currency until January 1st 1999. The creation of the Euro in 1999 was the culmina-tion of a common vision of an integrated Europe with fewer borders, more transparency, easier trade and travel be-tween members of the Euro-zone as well as a bigger clout on the world stage. In terms of European integration, it was the biggest step forward since the creation of the European

Economic Community in 1957. However, the Eurozone crisis has cast doubts onto the ben-efits of European integration. Many countries in the Eurozone are not generating enough growth to be able to pay back bondholders, leaving them crippled by sovereign debt. Defaulting on these debts is not an option, given the likeli-hood of contagion. In return for bailouts from the European Stability Mechanism, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Greece and are now subject to harsh aus-terity measures in an attempt to reduce debt. As a result, tensions are grow-ing between members of the Eurozone. There is currently a new division emerging in the EU that transcends the

old east-west divide, and that is between the north and the south. The wealthier north countries resent having to pay for the economic failings of their southern counterparts, and there are equal, if not more, amounts of resentment in the southern countries due to austerity measures which they view as unfair. One of the most notable clashes is be-tween Greece and Germany. The next progress report is due in October and it seems unlikely that Greece will meet its strict austerity tar-gets, which will cause much exasperation in Germany. Meanwhile in Greece, some protestors are comparing the EU-imposing austerity meas-ures to the Nazi occupation during the Second World War.

Is the EUROdivisive?

Mairi from the UK displays her British cynicism against the common European currency.


The problems stop at the boundaries of the Eurozone. Countries like the UK who do not use the common currency are undoubtedly being pushed away from further integration by the crisis. David Cameron’s veto on the financial transac-tions tax in November 2011 was met with anger by Angela Mer-kel, who said: “Britain had the responsibility to make Europe a success.” and that she would not allow David Cameron to “get away” with his veto. Now there are calls for a referen-dum on EU membership within the UK and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne blames most of the UK’s eco-nomic problems on the Euro-zone.

Despite all this, however, there are still some ways in which

the single currency is helping European integration. It allows people across the EU to travel between Member States with ease. There is a case to be made that despite the current difficulties, the single currency

has linked the countries within the Eurozone closer than ever. Even the fact that it is called the ‘Euro’ reminds people of their European identity within the EU.

However it does seem that the common currency is, right now, not causing European coun-tries to come closer together, but further apart. In many countries, such as the US, the richer states have to subsidise the poorer southern states. The problem seems to be that although the EU has a single currency it is not one country. Therefore countries are reluc-tant to bail out other Member States, who in their eyes are unfairly benefitting from their more efficient economy and fiscal policy. The single cur-rency has been a disaster for European integration. Not only has it shown that the currency itself has serious flaws, but it has also created serious ten-sions between the EU’s Mem-ber States.

The single curren-cy has been a dis-aster for European integration

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Alexander Lukashenka, leader of the last dictatorship in Eu-rope, has long been a source of embarrassment for the EU. Recent events in Belarus, when teddy bears carrying pro-democracy messages were dropped from planes by a Swedish PR firm, have just brought public attention back to the human rights situa-tion in the country. Swedish diplomats have now effec-tively been expelled from the country and Lukashenka’s air defence chief has been sacked. Although reports sug-gested that the EU might call for a mass recall of EU am-bassadors from Belarus, this did not happen. With general elections, widely predicted to be rigged in Lukashenka’s favour, being held to Septem-

ber, and no sign of the human rights situation improving, the EU has to ask itself whether it is doing enough to help the citizens of Belarus to find freedom. It is evident that some sort of action must be taken. The convictions and subsequent executions of Dmitry Kono-valov and Vladislav Kovalyov for bombings in Minsk have been widely criticised by the EU; the trial was unfair and there was much evidence that the suspects were tortured in the country’s infamous prison, the Amerikanka. An exact number is hard to come by but it is estimated that 300 people have been executed in Belarus since the collapse of the USSR. “Things are getting

worse,” according to Aleh Hu-lak of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, a human rights group, originally speaking to The Economist. Members of the opposition remain in pris-on and the Belarusian people do not know the meaning of free speech. The EU’s measures so far have been far-reaching but unfortunately ineffective in persuading Lukashenka to introduce reforms. 243 people currently have their assets frozen within the EU and as well as 32 business entities, and the same 243 people are banned from entering the EU. An arms embargo has also been introduced along with an embargo on any materials that could be used for repres-

Mairi questions the extent of EU intervention in the last European dictatorship.

TeddyBearsin Belarus


sion. Harsh economic sanc-tions had a large impact in 2011, when inflation reached 209%, and Belarus has been becoming increasingly reliant on Russia to bail them out of such situations. As part of a plan for a Eurasian Union, Lu-kashenka received a generous package from Putin in No-vember. Belarus’ export mar-ket heavily leans on Russia to keep its economy afloat. The danger is that in the long-term economic sanctions will turn Lukashenka permanently east and the EU will lose what little influence it still has.

Despite these Russian loans propping up the economy for now, the last few years has seen a substantial decrease in support for the government. Lukashenka’s approval rat-ing has dipped to 20%, down

from 50% at the time of his re-election. This will make September’s election even more contentious, as it will be even more obvious if the elec-tions are rigged, which they will probably turn out to be. The opposition parties are still

undecided on whether they will take part – on one hand, a boycott would demonstrate the falsity of the elections to the international community, but on the other, participating would increase public aware-ness for their cause and help

them to train activists. It seems clear therefore that now is the time to put pres-sure on Lukashenka. Condi-tions are worsening, Russia is gaining influence and there is growing unrest among the Be-larusian population, which is likely to grow after the elec-tions. The EU should toughen its existing measures, whilst stalling further economic reforms which would push Lukashenka further into the arms of Putin. Many human rights activists also correctly argue that the EU should also become more involved in civil society, in order to incite the people of Belarus to fight and gain the freedoms that we in Europe have been enjoying for centuries.

It seems clear there-fore that now is the time to put pressure on Lukashenka.

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Stylisedswastikas

The EU has long been con-sidered a place of tolerance and diversity; however this is an image under threat from a growing extreme right wing across its Member States. From Italy, where the popular-ity of the extremist right-wing Northern League is striking, to the Netherlands, where the radical Parti Voor Vrijheid (PVV) held 24 seats in an 150-member parliament, to France, where National Front leader Marine Le Pen gained an astonishing 18-20% of the vote in the recent Presidential Elections, it is clear that the extreme right wing poses a widespread and dangerous threat to the EU’s core values. The most worrying aspect of this new-found extremism, both in mass movements and

in the parties themselves, is the rise of xenophobic dis-course in the public sphere. Consider the situation in France: Marine Le Pen has re-placed her father’s anti-Sem-itism with an anti-immigrant, anti-Islamic stance, which is somehow deemed more ac-ceptable. Even if anti-Semitism is widely seen as abhorrent by voters nowadays, the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, which uses a stylised Swastika on its logo, has had considerable success in the recent Greek elections. The main concern of voters seems to be that their country’s ‘national identity’ is somehow endangered by im-migrants and minorities.

The previously mentioned Dutch PVV has even gone to the extent of arguing for the

expulsion on ‘imported’ ani-mal species such as Highland cows. The defence of this so-called identity, as well as the imminent threat of Muslim extremists is used by parties to endorse racism. There is no reason why this should be tolerated in an educated and civilised society. The Eurozone crisis has added an economic aspect to the problem; it seems no coinci-dence that arguably the most right-wing party to enter a European legislature since the Nazis in Germany was the Golden Dawn in Greece in the May 6th elections. With increasing unemployment comes resentment at immi-grants accused of ‘stealing’ jobs. In the French town of Saint-Avold, badly hit by the

Mairi Innes raises the concern of the ever-growing extreme right wing in Europe.


economic downturn, a woman was quoted in Le Monde com-plaining of Turkish immigrants and asserting that “il faudrait tous les mettre dans un bateau avec un trou dedans” – liter-ally, ‘they should all be put in a boat with a hole in it’. There is a dangerous possibility, al-ready partially being realised, of a rise of extremists who claim that mainstream politics is to blame for the Eurozone’s economic woes. Cracks are also emerging within the EU itself. Findland’s True Finns party is staunchly anti-immi-grant, but its trademark issue has become creating divi-sions between the northern and southern Member States, to whom they resent paying bailouts. Even more worrying is the fact that in the past, eco-nomic crises have led to some

of the most dangerous parties in history coming into power – most notably the Nazis in the 1930s. This rise of extremists should not be ignored. These parties are constantly evolving, using

problems – both cultural and economic – to justify intoler-

ance and racism. It is the duty of both politicians and vot-ers to combat this. Politicians in the centre should address more directly the fears of a loss of ‘national identity’, as well as the possible problems immigrants may pose to the job market. They should also avoid leaning to the right in or-der to gain politically from this phenomenon, as demonstrat-ed by Sarkozy in the recent French Presidential elections, for this legitimises and nor-malises extremism. Most of all, voters across Europe should remember that the EU is, after all, ‘United in Diversity’, and not allow themselves to be swept up in the scapegoat-ing and extremist discourse of political opportunists.

arguably the most right-wing party to enter a European legislature since the Nazis in Germany was the Golden Dawn in Greece in the May 6th elec-tions.

This publication was brought to you by:

Sarah Streicher - Zeynep Özarda - Mairi Innes - Stella Näbauer - Waltter Suomin-en - Karin-Liis Lahtmäe -Heiko Brantsch - Luca Olumets - Jan Bubienczyk - Jon Vrushi

Special thanks to:

Johanna Fürst

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