Europe

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on November 18th, 2011
EPA photo

The most important statistic that came out of Greece this week had nothing to do with the economy.

The EU said that 300 migrants are illegally crossing the border from Turkey every single day.

Frontex, the EU Border Control agency which has monitors on the Greek-Turkish border, said that the total number for the month of October was 9,600, representing "an absolute monthly record".

It describes the situation as "dramatic".

In other words, the Greek economic crisis appears to be having no impact whatsoever on the numbers of people trying to enter the country

Afghans are still the biggest group, but there have been significant increases in the numbers from Pakistan, Algeria and Morocco.

Of course, the vast majority of these people don't want to stay in Greece.

They plan to move on to more prosperous parts of Europe, travelling via Italy or the Balkan countries.

But many migrants discover it is not so easy to do this, or t

Tags: Turkey
By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on November 7th, 2011
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou waves as he leaves the presidental palace in Athens [AFP]

I was watching one of our old Al Jazeera reports the other night. It was from October 2009, the night George Papandreou became prime minister of Greece.

A warm autumn evening.  I was there, and I remember it well. Thousands of supporters of the Socialist PASOK party were celebrating on the streets of Athens.

Papandreou walks through the crowd with a beaming smile. A young woman says to our camera “I’ve looked so hard for work but I can’t find any. I have no money. But, now, I think everything will get better. I’m so happy”.

Was that really just two years ago? It feels like a lifetime. How sad, and how poignant, to look back at those pictures, knowing what we know today. It seems incredible, but remember that during that election campaign, George Papandreou rode to victory with promises to actually increase government spending should he win. Was he being naive, or cynical?

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on October 30th, 2011
Photo by GALLO/GETTY

It hasn't been the best of weeks for Chelsea captain John Terry.

It ended with him face down in the grass after a calamitous slip, allowing Arsenal's Robin Van Persie to glide elegantly past and score the vital goal in an absorbing London derby.

Arsenal supporters will relish that moment for a long time (and you might have guessed where my loyalties lie…) but John Terry's problems do not end there. 

The Football Association (FA) is investigating allegations that he racially abused Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand in Chelsea’s previous match.

Terry, who is also the captain of the English national team, vigorously denies the allegation, and says he’s looking forward to clearing his name.

Two weeks ago, in another high profile case that is also being investigated by the FA, Manchester United’s Patrice Evra said that Liverpool’s Luis Suarez repeatedly insulted him with a racist epithet during the match between the two giants of northern E

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on October 26th, 2011
Photo by AFP

 The talk is all of EFSF, firepower, leverage and haircuts. But amidst all the jargon of the Eurozone crisis, it's easy to forget that there are livelihoods at stake, and that real people are seeing their world turned upside down.

Nowhere more so than in Greece.  So here are a couple of reminders. Somebody sent me this videoclip on twitter. It speaks for itself. We don't expect to see a grandmother out on the streets throwing stones, but it's happening because people in Athens are desperate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OvModwZRWI

And here's an excellent story from my friend Joanna Kakissis, which ran on America's National Public Radio.  

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/10/24/pm-suffering-greek-family/#.TqfPkkdD2_w.facebook

Tags: Greece
By Laurence Lee in Europe on October 17th, 2011



Almost entirely unreported in the British media, there's a revolution taking place in working practices in the public sector in this country.

The location is the rural county of Shropshire, near the English border with Wales. Over the summer, every one of the council's 6,500 workers was sent a letter from the chief executive.

Entitled 'Changes to Shropshire Council Staff Terms and Conditions of Employment', it explains that the authority has decided to terminate the contracts of all current staff, instead making everyone an offer of immediate re-employment on new terms and conditions.

Tags: Britain
By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on October 16th, 2011


The border between Serbia and Northern Kosovo is a joke. 

The Serbs have erected barricades on the main roads, making it impossible for NATO troops from the Kosovo peacekeeping force (KFOR) to move. 

The Serbs are demanding the withdrawal from the border posts of customs officials belonging to the mainly Albanian Kosovo government in Pristina, whose authority they do not recognise. 

Meanwhile, the Serbs use a series of tortuous mountain tracks to cross back and forth between Southern Serbia and Northern Kosovo.  

KFOR makes a half-hearted effort to control these, whilst issuing rather vague ultimatums to the Serbs for the removal of the barricades.
By Neave Barker in Europe on October 12th, 2011

The remote village of Tashtagol lies in the mountains of Siberia in Russia's Kemerovo region, more than 3,500km east of Moscow.

It is an isolated place with a harsh climate; 40 degrees in summer and minus 40 in winter.

By Alan Fisher in Europe on September 22nd, 2011
File 47482

I have had dealings with Martin McGuinness, a former Irish Republican Army (IRA) commander, for almost 20 years. I know his background, I know the stories they share about him.

Yet I find him more human, easier to deal with than his colleague Gerry Adams. Even during the stressful early days of the peace process, McGuinness never lost his sense of humour or easy way with the media. 

The decision by Sinn Fein to run him as a candidate in the Irish presidential election is opportunistic but not surprising.

Senator David Norris was the early favourite. Smart, personable and openly gay he is well regarded in many parts of Ireland but errors of judgement were highlighted and he dropped out of the race.
By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on August 19th, 2011
Photo by EPA

 

England's streets are calm again. But there's still plenty of interesting debate going on as to the causes of the riots that swept across London, Birmingham, Manchester and several other towns, and have now resulted in well over 2,000 arrests.

Here are three thought provoking articles. The first is by Lara Pawson on Pambazuka News.

And here's one from the Daily Telegraph, by Peter Oborne.

By Al Jazeera Staff in Europe on August 19th, 2011
British police officers are carrying out raids on people identified as participants in the recent riots [AFP]

Follow the latest developments as riots spread to new areas of London and beyond in Britain's worst violence in decades.

 

Al Jazeera staff and correspondents update you on important developments in the Libya uprising.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

 

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