MarrShow: Ex PM John Major on Europe, UKIP (16Nov14)
Ex-Conservative PM John Major talks rubbish on European Union, UKIP, and looming later this week the Rochester by-election. Recorded from BBC1 HD, Andrew Marr Show, 16 November 2014.
By: liarpoliticians
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MarrShow: Ex PM John Major on Europe, UKIP (16Nov14) - Video
Improving Berry Production in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The USAID and Sida joint Fostering Agriculture Markets Activity project (USAID/Sida FARMA) helps Bosnia and Herzegovina increase competitiveness, meet European Union standards, reduce poverty.
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Improving Berry Production in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Video
The European Union plans to imposesanctions against Israel if it continues to thwart a two-state solution of the conflict with Palestinians by continuing to build settlements in certain areas of the West Bank, according to confidential documents cited by European diplomats and senior Israeli officials in Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The documents, released by the EUs European External Actions Service (EEAS) to officials of the 28 EU member states, discuss actions the EU would take if Israel continues to build settlements, according to a Sunday report in Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
While Israeli officials reported the existence of the documents and some of their contents back to the countrys Foreign Ministry, they are not believed to have obtained a full copy. However, the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has denied the claims, saying that the EU has no intention of imposing any sanctions.
The peace process is in deep freeze, but the situation on the ground is not. There is big frustration in Europe and zero tolerance for settlement activity. This paper is part of the internal brainstorming being done in Brussels [the de facto capital of the EU] these days, about what can be done to keep the two-state solution alive, a European diplomat familiar with the details of the discussion around the document said.
The document represents a change in policy that would signal the EU is taking a hard-line approach to Israel. Previously, the Union did not oppose building in the West Bank as long as Israel was seen to be advancing the peace process, whereas the new policy appears to view the settlements as an explicit action that is endangering the two-state solution.
European diplomats who have seen the documents told Haaretz that there was now a specific red line that Israel should not cross -- including, for example, building further settlements in whats known as the E1 area in between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem, which would further fracture the territorial integrity of any future Palestinian state.
Some of the proposed sanctions include restricting free-trade agreements between the EU and Israel, limiting cooperation with Israel in general, and even marking products manufactured in the settlements for sale in EU supermarkets.
The documents are the beginning stages of a larger discussion between diplomats from EU officials who are experts on Middle East politics. This paper is an uncooked dish and the process is only beginning, but it is slowly continuing, a senior European diplomat told Haaretz.
The revelations have caused concern within the Israeli government, which is facing growing international calls for a boycott of Israeli goods, tied to the controversial BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement.
Around a month ago, similar internal EU documents called for a beginning of talks between diplomats from the EU and Israel making it clear that sanctions would begin if Israel crossed the newly drawn red line.
According to Haaretz, the Israeli government viewed the talks as merely a hearing before a foregone conclusion. Even before we began the talks that the EU requested, they had already started planning for them to fail and to impose sanctions, a senior Foreign Ministry official said.
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European Union Gears Up For Sanctions Against Israel Over Settlements
BRUSSELS: European Union foreign ministers will discuss Monday hitting Russia with fresh sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, but they must keep the door open to Moscow, new foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said.
The ministers met in Brussels against a backdrop of fresh fighting in eastern Ukraine despite a September ceasefire between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels, who also angered the west by holding elections on November 2.
"We will for sure discuss sanctions," said Mogherini as she arrived to meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin before chairing her first regular meeting of foreign ministers from the 28 EU nations.
"But sanctions in themselves are not an objective. They can be an instrument if they come together with other measures," she said.
The EU had to find a "a complete strategy" which included pushing Ukraine to adopt reforms, especially on restrcturing "civilian security", Mogherini said.
They would also discuss "how to relaunch or how to engage in a dialogue with Russia as European Union", she added.
The EU talks come on the heels of a glacial G20 summit in Brisbane that highlighted the deep rift between the West and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The sanctions to be discussed Monday would most likely be limited to adding individuals to the list of those already hit with travel bans and asset freezes, rather than wider economic measures, ministers said.
"We are ready to support these sanctions to physical persons and this will probably be one of the main points on the agenda," Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek told reporters.
He said wider sanctions would most likely be considered by EU leaders at a summit in December.
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European Union poised for fresh Russia sanctions over Ukraine
The European Union is contemplating a variety of measures that would punish Israel for its occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to an internal EU document obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Among the measures proposed in the document are sanctions against European companies that do business in Israeli-occupied settlements. The document also calls on the EU to reconsider funding or capacity-building activities indirectly helping to perpetuate the status quo of occupation and urges support, or non-opposition for Palestinian moves like applications to international organizations and seeking recognition. Moreover, the document proposes that European leaders consider recognizing Palestinian statehood, as more than 130 countries, including Sweden, have done.
The EU clearly intends the measures as a means of advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, for even as the document proposes punitive measures targeting Israel, it also leaves the door open to punishments for Palestinians in response to adverse actions.[T]he EU could continue to dissuade [the Palestinians] from moving ahead in the context of international organizations and use its leverage to that end, the document says. Additionally, the document suggests, in line with the more for more, less for less policy, that the EU distribute more funds to Israel in exchange for Israeli actions that move the peace process forward.
Though drafted by the EUsPolitical and Security Committee in Brussels, the impetus for the proposals contained in the document was actually a coordinated push by member state leaders in response to concerns over the failure of the peace process and the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A large group of member states pushed for this move after the failure of the talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and after the war in Gaza, European diplomats told Haaretz. The fact is that there is an agreement among all 28 member countries of the European Union to discuss measures against Israel, and that is what should worry the government in Jerusalem and the Israeli public. This paper will be handed over to the political echelon in Europe, which will decide which actions, if at all, to take, they added.
Update, 4:14 p.m.: The European Union is disputing the Haaretz report, according to Reuters. EU foreign policy chiefFederica Mogherini said Monday that the document obtained by Haaretz amounted to only a technical working hypothesis, and that the EU does not have plans to sanction Israel.
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Updated: Is the European Union about to sanction Israel?