Switzerland braces itself for a troubled campaign of Islamophobia after the far right drums up enough support to force a vote to ban minarets.
France this week jolted Europe into establishing common policies on immigration, refugees and asylum, but the move has not been welcomed by all.
The US drive to gain access to the private data of Europeans is the latest episode in a systematic American campaign.
Carla del Ponte, the former chief prosecutor for war crimes in former Yugoslavia, has unleashed a storm of recrimination with allegations of a trade in human body parts in Kosovo and Albania after Nato bombed Serbia in 1999. Del Ponte’s claims are based on what she describes as credible reports and witnesses.
A British citizen was charged on Thursday with war crimes in the Balkans 16 years ago and faces trial in Belgrade for allegedly taking part in the murder of at least 200 Croatian prisoners by Serbian firing squads. Milorad Pejic, a Croatian Serb from the Croatian border town of Vukovar, lived in Corby in Northamptonshire for 10 years until last month.
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/ 25 February 2008
The United States and the European Union were the midwives attending the birth of Europe’s newest country this week. Brussels now takes on the role of foster parent, attempting to raise its infant ward to adult statehood. It is a tall order, the EU’s toughest ever. Sunday’s independence declaration launches it on its most ambitious exercise in state-building.
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/ 23 February 2008
Passengers travelling between European Union countries or taking domestic flights would have to hand over a mass of personal information, including their cellphone numbers and credit-card details, as part of a new package of security measures being demanded by the British government. The data would be stored for 13 years.
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/ 2 February 2008
A former cemeteries manager known as the ”Undertaker” stands his best chance of becoming head of state when Serbia votes on Sunday in a fateful presidential election. To his many critics, the extreme nationalist Tomislav Nikolic will be digging Serbia’s grave if he repeats his first-round victory.
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/ 10 December 2007
Kosovo is again the front line in a showdown between Serbs and ethnic Albanians and in a wider dispute between Russia and the West. Mediators are to tell Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, on Monday that they have failed to forge a deal between Serbian leaders and Kosovan Albanians over the fate of the province.
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/ 15 October 2007
North of Berne, in an idyllic Alpine valley, cowbells tinkle, a church steeple rises, and window boxes tumble with geraniums. It has always been like this. But down by the railway station the 21st century is rudely intruding and the villagers of Wangen are upset. ”It’s the noise, and all the cars. You should see it on a Friday night,” complains Roland Kissling, a perfume buyer for a local cosmetics company.