5 Stories from Europe You May Have Missed
1. New Push To Pass Domestic-Violence Law Angers Russia's 'Traditional Values' Conservatives
At a time when alarming cases are drawing attention to domestic violence in Russia, activists are pushing -- again -- for a law that would criminalize it. Conservative groups are pushing back. Russia is the only country in the Council of Europe that has no criminal statute on domestic violence. Of the 47 member states, only Russia and Azerbaijan have failed to sign the 2011 Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women and domestic violence.
More than 40 times over the last decade, bills on domestic violence have been introduced in the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, but none of them has passed even the first reading.
In each instance, the efforts have met staunch resistance from socially conservative organizations and self-professed advocates of so-called traditional values. That history is now repeating itself as activists and their allies in the Duma prepare yet another bill seeking to address the persistent problem.
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In October, more than 180 "traditional values" organizations and their regional branches signed an open letter denouncing the proposed bill as a purported product of "gender ideology" and an "instrument for the fundamental and forcible alteration of the basic foundations of Russian society and the destruction of our traditional family and moral values."
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-domestic-violence-law-traditional-values-conservatives/30283060.html
2. Malta's PM urged to step back from case of murdered journalist
A senior European monitor is calling for Malta’s prime minister to distance himself from the investigation into the killing of the prominent investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia due to a potential conflict of interest.
Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, has the power to grant immunity from prosecution to a key witness who may have vital evidence about those who commissioned Caruana Galizia’s assassination two years ago.
However, two current members of Muscat’s government have been linked to a businessman arrested on Wednesday in connection with the killing.
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Investigations have revealed Fenech as the owner of a secretive offshore company, 17 Black, which Caruana Galizia was looking into at the time of her death. It was later revealed 17 Black was due to make payments to other offshore companies belonging to Konrad Mizzi, Malta’s then energy minister, now in charge of tourism, and Keith Schembri, Muscat’s current chief of staff.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/22/maltas-pm-urged-to-step-back-from-investigation-into-journalists-killing
3. Spain tracking mobile phones on massive scale for statistical survey
Spain's National Institute of Statistics (INE) has launched a controversial survey this week involving tracking mobile phones on a massive scale — and without the consent of customers.
The move raised concerns over consumers' privacy and data protection, with some questioning the legality of such a survey.
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The purpose is to understand mobility dynamics within the national population on workdays or during holidays
https://www.euronews.com/2019/11/20/spain-tracking-mobile-phones-on-massive-scale-for-statistical-survey
4. Court acquits mountain guide charged with helping asylum seekers
A French appeal court ruled on Thursday that mountain guide Pierre Mumber committed no crime in providing help to asylum-seekers in the Alps last year, his lawyer told Euronews
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The verdict is a relief to Mumber and his advocates, who kept saying the mountaineer only offered hot tea and warm clothes to four West Africans who arrived in France through the mountains from Italy.
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Since the beginning of the migration crisis in 2015, Mumber, like hundreds of other people living along the French-Italian border, has been participating in “maraudes”- the name that is given in France to roaming operations intended to help those in need.
The incident Mumber was charged for occurred on January 6 last year. The mountain guide and other volunteers were roaming the border when they found four migrants. One of them was a seriously injured Nigerian woman.
https://www.euronews.com/2019/11/20/crime-or-act-of-kindness-french-mountaineer-faces-suspended-sentence-for-helping-asylum-se
5. Merkel successor challenges party to back her or sack her
The embattled leader of Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats has challenged delegates at the party’s conference to back her vision or else “end it here and now”, amid deep divisions over the future direction of the party.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the CDU’s annual conference in Leipzig she was putting her future on the line in response to stinging criticism over her leadership style.
The 57-year-old, who took over as CDU head from Angela Merkel almost a year ago, shocked party members towards the end of a rousing 90-minute speech by inviting them to move to vote her out if they wanted to.
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Kramp-Karrenbauer has been seen as Merkel’s successor, sometimes even referred to as “mini Merkel” since she was narrowly elected party leader last December. She was subsequently appointed as defence minister and has drawn both praise and criticism for pushing for Germany to play a stronger role on the international stage.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/22/merkel-successor-annegret-kramp-karrenbauer-back-her-or-sack-her
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Someone pm'd me asking what the criterion I used for stories I chose. I choose stories that I think are interesting and, I think, will be of interest to others. Some stories do get coverage in Europe, like the kidnapping in Romania that I posted stories last spring and how it exposed the incompetence and corruption within sectors of the Romanian government, the journalist murdered in Malta and the corruption in the Malta government that it has exposed.
Some I do not post are stories involving Trump, Brexit stories and the Separatists in Spain --unless they're peripheral (both Brexit and Spanish separatists): I debated whether to include a story on a restaurant in the UK that has said it will provide a place for homeless to vote -- I thought that was interesting (it will appear in its own thread). Brexit and Catalonia stories are easy to find and the cacophony surrounding Brexit and Catalonia are covered everywhere.
Kramp-Karrenbauer probably also is getting decent coverage in Europe right now as well. Not sure if it's getting a lot of coverage in the states. I know coverage of Malta has been sparse in the states
I do wish to thank the people who regularly check out these threads. It's nice to see the numbers of views.
Thank you
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Since Germany is where I get most of my news, I am not sure if she is making too many headlines eslewhere, although due to the obvious impact economic policies and immigration policies here in Germany have on its neighbors, and the fact that Merkel's party still will probably dominate the next coalition (thus making AKK the next chancellor), I would think neighboring countries are paying attention. AKK and Ursula von der Leyen are certainly the two most prominent voices of moderation in the CDU. Their male counterparts are less charismatic and somewhat more to the right. Merz, in particular, has been showing remarkable restraint for someone who thought he should have been the next chancellor-designate.
Ursula von der Leyen, smart, charismatic and outspoken, apparently terrified the old boy network in the CDU for years, and has been the victim of an in-party marginalization for a long time. AKK, probably (and unfairly) due to her unassuming appearance, was considered to be the more manipulable, and thus weaker choice. As usual, Merkel, who chose her, was smarter than them all, and chose a tiger in mouse's clothing.
As for tracking mobile phones, the Belgians have been doing this for many years. At least one corrupt branch of their financial police systematically goes after small dealers in diamonds and/or gold, confiscates all they have, accuses them of money laundering, and then, after years of "investigations, " either negotiates a fine (in lieu of more years of "investigations"
, or declares innocence, and returns whatever portion of the seized goods they feel like. In one famous case that came to light, they seized millions of euros worth of gem quality diamonds from a dealer, took years of "investigation" to find that he was innocent, and then returned the correct amount of carats of diamonds--except that over the years, the police had switched the gem quality diamonds for industrial diamonds--worth 5% or less. I didn't see this in the German press, but I once had lunch with the majority leader of the Belgian Senate, and she knew all about it, and said it was well-known in Belgium.
These cops have run up a bill with Belgian Telecom of millions of euros, all for tracking and listening in on and recording conversations. I know of one case where a gold dealer in Brussels was accused of counterfeiting money because a friend on vacation in Italy called him to say that you could buy fake €20 euro bills on the street in Naples for €1. THAT was the evidence that they used to accuse him of being involved in counterfeiting money. Belgium still has great waffles, chocolate and architecture, but there is a lot of rot behind the façade.
Much appreciated for your additions
