Syriza wins election: The left-wing Syriza party of Alexis Tsipras has won won Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Greece. Syriza is officially projected to win 149 to 151 seats in the Greek Parliament. 151 seats are needed for an abolute majority. Syriza won 36.5 percent of votes, the up to now ruling Conservatives of the New Democracy party reached 27.7 percent. The right-populist party Golden Dawn is set to win third place in the election, with 6.3 percent. Its party leadership is currently being charged with the formation of a criminal enterprise and is in custody. The party has been organizing its election campaign from prison. The new party of former Greek socialist head of state Giorgos Papandreou is expected to reach less than three percent of votes.
bbc.com, cnn.com, yahoonews.com
Russia blames Kiev for Ukraine violence: Indiscriminate rocket fire killed at least 30 people in Ukraine’s southeastern city of Mariupol. The separatists declared that an offensive against Mariupol had begun, assuming responsibily for a deadly rocket attack which killed 20 civilians. U.S. President Barack Obama gave Russia responsibility for the most recent breaking of the cease fire at a news conference in New Delhi with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Donald Tusk, the former Polish prime minister who is now the European Council president, denounced appeasement of Moscow, some of the strongest language ever from Brussels. Russia says it has not sent troops into Ukraine, and any Russians there are volunteers. NATO says this is nonsense. NATO and the U.S. demand that Russia stop supporting the rebels. NATO will consult over Russia’s threats involving long-range bombers in February. The European Union called an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of its 28 member states.
yahoonews.com (rocket), reuters.com (NATO), bbc.com, theguardian.com, bloomberg.com
Pilot project receiving of Syrian refugees: The European Commission is working on a pilot project to receive refugees fleeing from Syria. German Minister of the Interior Thoams de Maiziere spoke of a European contingent at the World Economic Forum in Davos. 10,000 refugees, which are currently living in camps around Syria, could be received. The European Commissioner for Migration and the Interior, Dimitris Avramopoulos, will play a leading role in the project. Switzerland has also signalled its fundamental readiness to cooperate in this joint effort.
nzz.ch, resettlement.eu
Southern Europeans want less immigration: According to numbers from the International Organization for Migration, more than half of Europeans want less migration. Across Europe 52.1 percent said migration levels should drop. A total of 30.2 percent wanted to maintain the status quo while 7.5 percent wanted more migrants. The opposition to immigration is especially strong in Greece, with up to 84 percent of Greeks against any further rise in immigration. The figures for other countries were also steep with Italy at 67 percent, Spain (56 percent) and Malta (76 percent). Europe has been battling to fight an influx of migrants arriving via perilous land and sea routes.
welt.de
ElBaradei criticizes the West: Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mohamed ElBaradei partially blames the West for the growing threat of Islamic terror. Many muslims feel they are being treated like dirt by the Western countries, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said. Many muslims in states such as Afghanistan, Syria, Libya or Palestine have feelings of humiliation. Without naming anyone directly, ElBaradei accuses the U.S. of promoting Islamism. He also criticizes the different standards in dealing with terrorist attacks. Boko Haram, for example, killed 2,000 people in Nigeria, but no one so much as mentioned this.
derstandard.at
International Court investigates Gaza war: The Hague-based International Criminal Court opened a preliminary probe that could result in war-crimes charges against Israelis and Palestinians. A preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine is set to determine whether there is reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation of war crimes allegations. The preliminary investigation alone could take years. Israel and the U.S. were infuriated by the announcement. Israel did not ratify the Statute of the ICC. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced at the beginning of the year that the Palestinians accept the jurisdiction of the ICC.
latimes.com, tagesspiegel.de
Euro weakening Experts fear decline of the Euro bloomberg.com
Islamic State Federica Mogherini condemns execution of Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa europa.eu
New face of the euro ECB Executive Board member Yves Mersch opens exhibition in Osnabrück europa.eu
„We can make it cheaper to invest but others have to want to invest. That’s the job of government.“
European Central Bank board member Benoit Cœure defends the ECB decision to buy bonds in its latest, massive quantitative easing program.
businessinsider.com„It’s hard to predict what the effects will be, but in Europe they will probably be less than they were in the United States.“
Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has doubts about the effectiveness of the ECB bond-buying plan and voted against it.
reuters.com
British government announces new autonomy rights for Scotland: British Prime Minister David Cameron proposed legislation to give Scotland new powers, moving forward with a pledge made to the Scottish people ahead of last year’s independence referendum. The legislation would come into effect after the general election in May. It would give Scotland more control over welfare spending and give the Scottish Parliament the ability to raise the majority of its revenue, including increased powers over income tax. But the Scottish National Party, which spearheaded Scotland’s independence campaign, immediately accused the prime minister of not going far enough, stating that aspects of the legislation appeared to be significantly watered down from what was originally promised.
wallstreetjournal.com
British government cooperated with Gaddafi: The British government and Libya worked together to arrange for Libyan dissidents to be kidnapped and flown to Tripoli, along with their families. A dozen opponents of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi were targeted by the two countries’ agencies during a covert cooperation. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair even wrote to Gaddafi to thank him for the cooperation between the two countries’ counter-terrorism agencies. London lawyers are now bringing damages claims on behalf of the dissidents.
theguardian.com, dailymail.co.uk, nydailynews.com
Spanish police arrests suspected terrorists: Police in Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta arrested four presumed Islamic extremists suspected of belonging to a militant network that may have been planning an attack on the Spanish mainland. The two pairs of radicalised brothers were prepared to carry out a suicide attack, according to police. The Spanish Ministry of the Interior said there were many parallels with the two brothers who attacked the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo earlier this month, but did not elaborate on a connection between the two separate cases.
theguardian.com, bbc.com
Terrorist funeral: What should be done with the bodies of the Parisian terrorists? This question also involves the identity of the two Kouachi brothers and their accomplice Ahmedy Coulibaly. All three are immigrant children as well as native Frenchmen. They do not have Algerian or Malian citizenship. Coulibaly’s body was buried as discreetly as possible at dawn in the Parisian suburb of Thiais. Cherif and Said Kouachi’s funeral was in Gennevilliers near Paris. Meanwhile, the French Constitutional Court ruled that it is legal to strip the citizenship of those convicted of terrorism.
nytimes.com
Clashes in Cremona: In the Northern Italian town of Cremona, 2,000 demonstrators took part in a solidarity march in support of far-left activist Emilio Visigalli, who was attacked earlier this month, allegedly by members of a far-right group called CasaPound. Some of the demonstrators threw stones and flares at police officers, as well as smashing shop windows. Police used tear gas to disperse protesters, who were also marching against far-right groups.
euronews.com
New left movement in Portugal: The Portuguese movement Juntos Podemos – together we can – was established only a few months ago. It is not yet a party but is already taking the Greek Syriza and the Spanish Podemos as its examples. Juntos Podemos wants to give all those a home who do feel that they are not sufficiently represented by the established parties. Politics in Portugal are currently affected by savings policies and corruption affairs.
irishtimes.com
Italy/Switzerland Arrests for illegal antique trade euronews.com
Germany Anti-Islam rally by PEGIDA draws smaller crowd utsandiego.com
120,000 Serbian households manipulate electric meters and electricity grids to obtain electricity for free. Even artists, athletes, and prominent restaurateurs are amongst the thieves. Stealing electricity is slowly turning into a national sport.
n-tv.de
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Vodka production slumps: With an unprecedented decline in production, the Russian national beverage Vodka has fallen prey to the severe economic crisis in Russia. The production of Vodka declined by 22.3 percent in 2014, according to a newspaper report citing the statistical authority in Moscow. One reason for the decline in production are illegal distilled spirits, which have displaced legal goods because of their high consumer tax.
n-tv.de, salon.com