Eurogroup in disagreement on how to handle Greece: The German government sees no need to abolish the role of the troika of inspectors from the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund. France offers its support to Athens in its efforts to get the country back on its feet after five years of austerity, but warned that there would be no write-down of Greece’s debt and pressed Athens to continue with reforms. According to recent reports, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wants to scrap the troika as well. President Barack Obama has criticized the EU and warned that imposing tough austerity programmes on Greece could backfire on its creditors. Greece previously ruled out seeking aid from Russia as it seeks better financial bailout terms.
wallstreetjournal.com, nytimes.com, reuters.com, telegraph.co.uk, dw.de
US considers supplying arms to Ukraine: The United States are now considering providing defensive weapons and equipment to Kiev’s beleaguered forces in Ukraine’s fight against the separatists. Secretary of State John Kerry and General Martin Dempsey are open to new discussions about providing lethal assistance. German Chancellor Angela Merkel insists the conflict can still be resolved with negotiation, and rules out supplying any German weapons to Kyiv. Merkel calls for unified European policies in the crisis. The separatists in Donetsk plan to mobilize 100,000 additional fighters. Ukrainian troops have allegedly been surrounded and trapped in Donetsk.
cnn.com, euronews.com, reuters.com
Germany’s trade surplus is a thorn in the side of EU: According to calculations of the Ifo institute, Germany’s current account surplus is likely to have hit a new record of 220 billion euros in 2014. No other country in the world has an export surplus that is this high. China was second with a current account surplus of about 150 billion euros. Ifo said the German surplus was equivalent to 7.5 percent of gross domestic product, meaning it would once again breach the European Commission’s recommended upper threshold of six percent. In March 2014, Brussels admonished Germany. The US Ministry of Finance has repeatedly condemned the surpluses as a risk for the financial stability worldwide.
reuters.com
European Parliamentary Week: The economic policy making of the European countries needs to be increasingly coordinated. This Tuesday and Wednesday, members of the European parliament will meet their colleagues from the national parliaments to discuss what needs to be done to get the EU out of the crisis. The Commission’s Annual Growth Survey calls on the EU countries to continue to cut their budgets, even though the lack of investment is hampering growth.
europa.eu
Suspicious vehicle in front of European parliament: Belgian police evacuated hundreds of people Monday from three buildings of the European Parliament because of a suspicious vehicle. The visitors‘ center in central Brussels was also cleared as a precautionary measure while the car was searched. The obviously intoxicated suspect had said to police that he parked his car filled with weapons and explosives near the parliament, and that he wanted to meet the president of the parliament. Police gave the all-clear just before 1 p.m. Brussels time, and staff returned to their offices.
foxnews.com, abcnews.com
Kobane IS militia forced back further bbc.com
UN UN condemns beheading of Japanese hostage by IS ibtimes.com
MH17 Team at crash site recovers more remains yahoonews.com
„We estimate the costs for the Greek side to be around 1.5 billion dollars. That is the biggest foreign investment for this country.“
Michael Hoffman, the External Affairs Director of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, sees the pipeline, which is intended to connect the Caspian Sea with Italy, as a growth impetus for Greece.
derstandard.at„The members of the conservative movement are increasingly talking about the Russian identity, the Russian way, without understanding the processes that are taking place in the economy.“
The former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin criticizes the growing isolation and lack of reforms in Russia.
welt.de
Le Pen’s popularity grows: Marine Le Pen, president of the right-wing party Front National, can celebrate her rising popularity in polls and an electoral win in an eastern French department. The far-right FN came top in the first round of a French parliamentary byelection on Sunday, knocking former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right party out of the running in the process. The FN candidate, Sophie Montel, won 33 percent of the votes in the first round. Le Pen was having trouble to stay on course after the terrorist attacks in Paris, now she appears to be back in the limelight.
theguardian.com, independent.co.uk
Turkey tightens stringent anti-protest laws: The Turkish government wants to strengthen its anti-protest laws and extend the powers of its police force. A legislative package will be discussed in the Ankara parliament this week. The draft proposes a ban of face masks. Even partially covering one’s face with a scarf could result in a prison sentence of up to five years, if the authorities deem a demonstration a supporting event for a terrorist organization.
spiegel.de, yahoonews.com
Merkel stresses freedom of the press and diversity of opinion: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has emphasized the importance of civil liberties and an opposition to the government at a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Even for a government with a broad majority, as it exists in Hungary, it is very important in a democracy to appreciate the role of the opposition, civil society and the media, Merkel said to Orban.
dw.de
Mother of seven accused of treason: A 37-year-old Russian woman has been arrested by the FSB security service and has been in prison ever since. The mother of seven is being accused of treason for calling the Ukrainian embassy and informing them that a local military base was empty, suggesting soldiers there had been deployed across the border. She had also overheard two Russian soldiers on a public bus saying troops of the Russian military intelligence service would be sent on a mission. The woman is being held at a high-security jail in Moscow in the latest sign of Moscow attempting to cover up its intervention in its neighbouring state.
yahoonews.com
Fight over alleged coup: Macedonia’s chief opposition leader was charged by police with conspiring with a foreign intelligence service to topple the government. Zoran Zaev, leader of the Social Democrats, denied the charges, his passport has been confiscated. Three persons were arrested, amongst them former intelligence chief Zoran Verusevski and his wife. The opposition had threatened to publish what it says is evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the government, including accusations he said could harm ethnic relations in Macedonia. The conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is accusing all four of gathering intelligence against the government with the help of a foreign spy service.
abcnews.com, reuters.com, euractiv.com
Berlusconi ends community service early: Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was granted a request by his lawyers to end his community service sentence for tax fraud 45 days early for good behavior. Last year, the 78-year-old Berlusconi had a four-year jail sentence commuted into an order to spend four hours a week for a year at a center for Alzheimer’s patients, restricting his movements and political activities. From March 8, Berlusconi will get his passport back and no longer have any restriction on his movement, despite still being banned from public office.
yahoonews.com, reuters.com
Greece Defense minister causes tensions with Turkey theguardian.com
Switzerland Expensive Franc dampens industry enthusiasm wallstreetjournal.com
Russia Biggest bank stops cash withdrawals wallstreetjournal.com
66.9 percent of German companies are considered innovative by the European statistical office. Germany is among the top three best countries for innovation in the European Union, ahead of Italy (56.1 percent) and Sweden (55.9 percent).
sciencebusiness.net
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politjobs.de, politjobs.de/submit (Inserat schalten)
Football player Totti receives fives votes to be president: The professional football player Francesco Totti doesn’t just have fans, he apparently also has political admirers. Totti received five votes in the first round of the Italian presidential election. Those votes were invalid, because the 38-year-old Totti has not yet reached the age limit of 50 years and is thus too young to be the president of Italy. The first election round in Rome ended without results. Not a single candidate reached the needed two-thirds-majority of 673 votes.
derstandard.at, bleacherreport.com