Harems, sultans, concubines and images of Turkish baths are the first things that come in mind when the Ottoman World is mentioned. The European perception of the Ottomans and the Orient was mostly limited to these aspects, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. Through writings of travelers and paintings of artists, the oriental cultural…
Only one hour drive from Brussels is the Euro Space Center, located in the Belgian province of Luxembourg
By Publio Manuel Isaldi
The first time I heard of the current controversy surrounding the history of “The Mosque” and the dispute over its use, I felt a tinge of sadness. It was not always like that. In 1977, a conference on inter-religious dialogue took place in Cordoba. Muslim delegates were invited into “The Mosque”, where they were allowed to perform their Friday prayers. I would not argue in favour of turning the building into a Muslim temple, however. My point is perhaps subtler…
By Vlad Stoicescu
To get a glimpse of what is happening one should understand first the legal mechanisms that put in motion Romania’s anti-corruption framework. The National Anticorruption Directorate was set up in 2002. Back then it was a step towards judicial reform and compliance with European standards in a period in which Bucharest was negotiating the country’s accession to the EU. For a couple of years it was just a “showcase institution”, formally highlighting the political will to combat Romania’s pervasive corruption.
By Georgios X. Protopapas
The negotiations between the Greek government and Greece’s European creditors have become unpredictable, while the Greek economy remains stagnant and the state desperately needs cash to avoid default. Athens has two choices: to make compromises in order to receive bailout funds or to decide a rupture with Brussels. In addition, the government in Athens is playing the “card” of Russia as an alternative to European pressures and as part of a new, multi-level foreign policy.
By Manuel Ruiz Rico
On 13 January, by a large majority, the European Parliament in Strasbourg adopted a regulation that had little impact but which is bound to change the whole picture of GM crops in Europe. The House gave the green light to Member States, empowering them individually to approve or ban the cultivation of GM crops in their national territories, rather than this being decided by the EU. Across the breadth of Europe, due to the broad social rejection of these crops, GM is virtually banned. But everything could change from now on.
Sometimes, these things do happen. The story begins with an Australian couple who wanted to marry but didn’t have enough resources to pay for the wedding. So he goes to radio station KIIS FM 1065 to ask them if they could give him a hand with the expenses. The tale ends with the radio paying…
By Clément Fontan
On 16 March 2015, ECB chairman Mario Draghi delivered a speech at the Süddeutsche Zeitung Finance Day. Eurozone economic governance reforms were the topic of the day. The structural reforms proposed by Mr. Draghi are ideologically loaded and the creation of new institutions might worsen the democratic troubles in Europe rather than solve them. The ECB and other EU institutions have already been exploiting the financial crisis as an opportunity to implement structural reforms in a coercive manner for more than four years. The results have been worrying, to say the least.
By Alexis Boutefeu-Moraitis and Jack Copley
Misery is palpable in Athens: the increase in ‘closed’ signs outside small shops, the long queues at soup kitchens and the growing numbers of homeless and drug addicts in the streets. Currently, there is no visible change on the ground. However, optimism has replaced hopelessness in everyday discussions. In the context of brutal austerity, the victory of Syriza in January’s electoral battle came as a slap in the face to European elites.
A Portuguese take on Democracy these days. By Cristina Dias Neves
“If only we could freeze democracy for a while…” I know this is an awkward thing to say, especially if we think of those who have lived – and still live and suffer – under dictatorial regimes. And that’s the reason why a Portuguese social democrat leader got such an amazingly negative response the day she asked herself publicly if it would not be a good thing to “have six months without democracy to put everything in order”.
