The recent state visit to Ireland by Czech President Vaclav Klaus constituted a remarkable deviation from European diplomatic norms when the irascible old Thatcherite cocked a snoop at Brian Cowen’s government by placing the Lisbon Treaty at the centre of his visit, and in the process, created a predictable media storm. In breaking just about […]
The dramatic failure of the recent European Council summit meeting in Brussels highlighted a new and dangerous introspection within the EU which manifests itself especially in a reluctance to embrace further enlargement. Existential fears regarding the impact of eastern enlargement played an important role in the defeat of the Constitutional Treaty referenda in France and […]
The decision by the European Commission to recommend the EU open accession negotiations with Turkey is a momentous one. It has been a long time coming. The Turkish application for membership was first lodged back in 1963. Over the past decade Turkey has watched thirteen countries negotiate with and then join the EU whilst it […]
Burning churches, braying mobs, senseless sectarian murder, and an international presence patently struggling to contain the carnage. In an environment where the cigarette lighter has become once again a weapon of mass expulsion, the Balkans have recently returned to international attention. And for all the wrong reasons. In a grotesque reverse image of 1999, Serb […]
