Europe Follow

Every Major city in Europe is near a river — Rome on the Tiber, Paris on the Seine and London on the Thames. The earliest civilisations grew in river valleys. For most of human history water was a communal resource.

One of the greatest myths about the Second World War is that Allied armies liberated Europe from Nazism on their own. The truth is that many national liberation movements played a key role in driving the Nazis out of their own countries.  

A damning report published last week by the International Commission on the Balkans has slammed United Nations and European Union peacekeeping in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Anticonstitutionnellement, meaning anti-constitutionally, is the longest word in the French dictionary. The referendum campaign on the European Union (EU) constitution promises to be very long indeed for the French president, Jacques Chirac, and the Socialist Party leader, François Hollande.

Coming events

The Rifondazione Comunista (Communist Refoundation) conference last week was an important and significant success for party leader, Fausto Bertinotti. This is the largest far left organisation in Europe — 130 foreign delegations were mixing with hundreds of Italian delegates in a snow-bound Venice.

New free trade agreements are being negotiated right now between the European Union (EU) and 77 former colonies. They are a real threat to the future of millions of people across the world, yet there is almost no effective public debate about the process.

George Bush’s recent visit to Belgium was not the sweet love-in envisaged by European Union governments and the European Commission, as this picture shows. The US president was greeted by three days of demonstrations in Brussels, called by various non-governmental organisations, peace groups and trade unions. Despite the best efforts of the weather and the police, the protests were lively and noisy, attracting up to 5,000 people.Hugh Jenkins Brussels

"The tone is different, but the tune was the same." Republican Senator William Cohen on George Bush’s recent visit to Europe

The threat from the fascist British National Party (BNP) has never been greater. They received over 800,000 votes in the European elections and over 90,000 votes in the London elections in 2004, representing the highest ever votes for a fascist party in Britain.

The US war drive goes on regardless. Whatever the diplomatic niceties surrounding George Bush’s visit to Europe, it is business as usual in Washington.

The year 2005 is critical for anti-poverty activists in Britain. It is a unique opportunity to improve the lives of millions of poor people around the world. The G8 summit of the world’s most powerful leaders will be taking place in Scotland in July and Britain will hold the presidency of the European Union in the second half of the year.