EU prepared for more flexible cooperation: After the Greek election, the European Commission wants to be more responsive to the new left-wing government. The Commission and the EU are ready to interfere less than they had in the past and cooperate on a more flexible level, EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici said. The European Commission hopes to have a constructive dialogue with the new Greek government, but it also wants a Greece that can repay its debts. Syriza had called for a restructuring of Greek public debt during its electoral campaign.
euractiv.com
IMF prepares financial support for Ukraine: In a phone call, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed their concern about Russia’s role in rising violence in eastern Ukraine and agreed on the need for financial funds to stabilize the Ukrainian economy. The International Monetary Fund is set to prepare the loan assistance. New Greek Prime Minister Tsipras has distanced himself from a joint declaration by EU heads of states and governments, which threatens further sanctions against Russia. He had not been consulted, Tsipras said. The EU rejects the criticism, stating it has observed the usual procedures.
npr.org, reuters.com, euractiv.com
EU Commission Vice President Katainen admonishes deficit sinner France: European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen has called for France to push forward with reform efforts. The reforms should have already been passed by Parliament. So far, the country has only had good intentions and promises. There would be no preferential treatment, Katainen said. Italy on the other hand is well on its way according to Katainen.
wallstreetjournal.com, bloomberg.com, europa.eu
IS threatens Europe: After the Iraqi Kurds managed to stave off the Islamic State onslaught at Kobane, the terrorist militia IS now defines new targets and plans to unsettle Europe with new terrorist attacks. A new European commission counter-terrorism plan will require the blanket collection and storage for up to five years of personal data records of all passengers flying in and out of Europe. The plan would require 42 separate pieces of information on every passenger, including their bank card details, home address and even meal preferences, to be stored on a central database for access by the police and security services.
bbc.com, telegraph.co.uk, theguardian.com
Commission takes its time with statement on road toll: The European Commission wants to take its time with its final inspection of the German road toll plans. European transport commissioner Violeta Bulc said in front of the German Bundestag’s Transportation Committee, that the Commission should wait with its final evaluation of the toll plans until after a resolution in the Bundestag. The German Länder had demanded a prompt statement by the European Commission because they fear a successful appeal against the toll system, which could put a higher burden on domestic consumers.
express.co.uk
Gazprom puts Nord Stream gas pipeline on hold: The Russian company Gazprom has put an expansion of its Nord Stream gas pipeline on hold, rowing back for the second time in two months on plans to extend its European network. Reason for this is the difficult political situation as relations between Russia and the West grow more tense over the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In early December, Russia abandoned its South Stream project, which was to supply gas to southern Europe without crossing Ukraine, citing EU objections. It instead proposed an undersea pipeline to Turkey.
bloomberg.com, reuters.com
Public hearing International trade and legal affairs committees hold joint public hearing on TTIP europa.eu
Climate goals Plenary debate on roadmap for Paris climate agreement europa.eu
Artillery attack on Lebanon Spanish UN peacekeeper killed euronews.com
„The Greek policies are no longer concerned with left- or right-populism. It is rather about whether the country’s debt in its current form is acceptable or not. The two former governing parties Pasok and Nea Dimokratia could not stand each other, but stil managed to work together because both agreed with the Troika program. We – Syriza and the Independent Greeks – do not believe the debt load is acceptable and plan to renegotiate.“
The new Greek health minister Panagiotis Kouroumplis explains the unusual governing coalition in Athens.
nytimes.com„If German companies continue to dominate the European legislation process, that would be a good reason to leave Europe.“
The inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, James Dyson, makes more profit in Germany, but believes Germans are too dominant in Europe and is thus speaking out for a U.K. exit from the EU.
telegraph.co.uk
Greece re-hires thousands of officals: The new leftist government in Greece has announced that thousands of public sevants who had been laid off will be wokring as public officials again. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras also halted privatization plans agreed under the country’s bailout deal, prompting a third day of heavy losses on financial markets. After announcing a halt to the privatisation of the port of Piraeus, the government indicated it would put the whole programme on hold. The newly installed government signalled that it would stand by its anti-austerity pledges, setting it on a collision course with European partners, led by Germany, which has said it will not renegotiate the aid package needed to help Greece pay its huge debts.
reuters.com, independent.co.uk, wallstreetjournal.com
No clear frontrunner at Italy’s presidential election: On Saturday, Italy will vote for a new President. Never before has the election of a new Italian head of state been so unpredictable and so full of pitfalls. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, the leader of the biggest force in parliament, still has not named a candidate. Renzi is trying to rally rebels within his party into a bi-partisan deal with the tarnished Silvio Berlusconi over the choice of a worthy successor to Giorgio Napolitano. If Renzi fails to get his candidate elected, he would likely lose Forza Italia‘s support in parliament. The party is said to play a key role in the election.
europeonline-magazine.eu
Protests in Kosovo: In Kosovo’s capital Pristina, riot police fought battles with protesters hurling rocks and petrol bombs in the worst unrest since the former Serbian province seceded in 2008. The violence was triggered by remarks by ethnic Serb cabinet minister Aleksandar Jablanovic, one of three ethnic Serbs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Isa Mustafa. Jablanovic is said to have insulted Albanian demonstrators. Protesters called for Jablanovic to resign. The latest violence has also been fuelled by a dispute over the future of a mine complex at Trepca. Kosovo’s government has hesitated to nationalise the mine complex, as Serbia claims ownership of the site.
ibtimes.com, bbc.com, reuters.com
Russia unveils anti-crisis plan: Russia has announced a 35 billion euro anti-crisis spending plan to bail out an economy battered by Western sanctions and falling oil prices. The plan said the government would collect proposals for creating a „bad bank“ to ring fence problematic banking assets. The plan focuses mainly on bailing out banks and big companies to help them weather the immediate impact of the crisis, at the expense of long-term development programs. The government plans to cut the majority of its planned expenditures by 10 percent in 2015.
reuters.com
Inquiry into Litvinenko killing brings gruesome details to light: Pathologists examining the body of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope nine years ago in London, carried out the world’s most dangerous-ever autopsy on his body. Those involved had needed to wear not one but two protective suits with specialized hoods fed with filtered air. The head of the investigation believes it is likely that the Russian government was involved. Russia and the two suspects Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun have rejected any involvement in the death.
nytimes.com, reuters.com
Memorial wins partial victory: The renowned Russian Human Rights Organisation Memorial has partially won a key legal battle. Russia’s highest court has dismissed a Kremlin bid to shut down the leading human rights group. Memorial gained a reputation by exposing Soviet-era repression. The government had argued Memorial’s charter did not correlate with the work it carried out, and it had committed a vast number of breaches, such as giving misleading information about overseas finance. Following the judgment, the ministry released a statement saying Memorial had rectified all violations and the case would now be closed.
dw.de
Austria Police prohibits rallies near academics celebration derstandard.at
Germany Pegida in management crisis, Monday protest cancelled bbc.com
4 billion euros in taxes were not paid by Greek citizens as they bet the radical left Syriza party would quickly loosen fiscal policy if it comes to power. In anticipation of the leftwing government many Greeks simply avoided the taxman.
financialtimes.com
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politjobs.de, politjobs.de/submit (Inserat schalten)
Tit for tat: Russian lawmakers said that they will discuss a proposal to condemn West Germany‘s „annexation“ of East Germany. Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of the State Duma, ordered the lower house of parliament‘s international affairs committee to look into the proposal from a Communist Party deputy, which would condemn the reunification of Germany 25 years ago as an annexation of the German Democratic Republic by West Germany. Unlike Crimea, a referendum was not conducted in the German Democratic Republic. Given the time that’s passed and the relative success of German reunification, the idea has struck many as absurd.
europeonline-magazine.eu, washingtonpost.com