Serb Progressive Party (SNS) leader Tomislav Nikolić says the ICJ Kosovo case opinion marked a complete breakdown of the state policy regarding the province. Nikolić, who heads the most popular opposition party that is neck-and-neck in the polls with the ruling Democrats (DS), told a news conference in Belgrade today that the consequences of this “collapse” should not burden the citizens and the state only, but also those who had been implementing that policy.
Posts Tagged ‘state’
Kosovo Albanian PM in U.S. trip
July 19th, 2010 |
No Comments
Kosovo Albanian Prime Minister Hashim Thaci begins his visit to the U.S., during which he would meet with White House and State Department officials.
Thaci would be meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and senior officials of the State Department and Congress.
Top state officials receive Turkish PM
July 12th, 2010 |
No Comments
Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Belgrade this Monday. The two premiers stated in Belgrade that the relations between the two countries were good but that there was room for their further development, and added that the Balkans should become an area of stability and peace rather than conflict in the region.
Serbia snubs Croatia summit
July 9th, 2010 |
No Comments
State officials from some European countries and Canada will gather for the fifth Croatia Summit in Dubrovnik, but Belgrade officials will not participate.
The reason for that, according to unofficial information from Zagreb, is the invitation sent to Kosovo Albanian Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.
French junior ministers resign over perks scandals
July 5th, 2010 |
No Comments
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has accepted the resignation of two of his junior ministers after separate spending scandals. The resignations from Alain Joyandet, state secretary for overseas development, and Christian Blanc, state secretary for the Greater Paris region, followed disclosures that both politicians had abused their office perks.
Top state officials condemn Kosovo violence
July 2nd, 2010 |
No Comments
Serbia’s president, prime minister, foreign minister and parliament speaker all reacted today to the news out of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić assessed that this morning’s attack in Kosovska Mitrovica was an attempt to provoke Serbia and destabilize the region.
Denise Richards Joins Cast Of Spike TV’s “Blue Mountain Stateâ€
July 1st, 2010 |
No Comments
Denise Richards has landed a recurring role on Spike TV’s raunchy comedy Blue Mountain State. Richards will play Debra, the ex-wife of football coach Marty Daniels. The second season of Blue Mountain State — which stars Darin Brooks, Chris Romano, Sam Jones III, Alan Ritchson, and Ed Marinaro — premieres Oct. 20.
Tadić: All potential toward EU accession
June 29th, 2010 |
No Comments
President Boris Tadić says it is necessary to engage all state and national potentials in order to realize great deeds, Beta reports. Speaking in Novi Sad on Monday, the president and ruling DS leader said the biggest of such great deeds was Serbia’s inclusion in the “European family of nations”.
Romania: Media pressure seen as weakness
June 23rd, 2010 |
No Comments
Romania’s National Defense Strategy states that Romania faces some weak points which affect the image of state institutions and hinder the enforcement of laws. According to the document, Romania’s main weak points are the state institutions’ reduced capacity to apply laws, press campaigns aimed to discredit state institutions, the pressure made by media groups, which is meant to influence political decisions.
Connecticut AG Blumenthal Probes Google over WiFi Privacy Gaffe
June 22nd, 2010 |
No Comments
Connecticut State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said June 21 that his office will lead a multistate investigation into Google’s accidental collection of data from unsecure wireless networks. Blumenthal, who has naturally taken a strong interest into what kind of data was collected in his home state of Connecticut and in what towns, said that while he hopes Google continues to cooperate, its answers to his questions raised "as many questions as it answers." – Connecticut State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said June 21 that his
office will lead a multistate investigation into Google’s accidental collection
of data from unsecure wireless networks.
In the latest in a series of actions against the company for accidentally
sucking up users’ e-mails…
State of denial
June 16th, 2010 |
No Comments
Reactions to a modest plan to increase the retirement age show how hard reform is in France
THE French government’s long-awaited pension reform, which was announced on June 16th, turns out to be at once symbolically bold and yet ultimately disappointing. Under a plan unveiled by Eric Woerth, the labour minister, France intends to raise the legal retirement age progressively from 60 to 62 by 2018. Since this alone will not meet the state pension-fund shortfall, the government will increase the top rate of income tax from 40% to 41% from next year, and tax capital gains, stock options and other financial income more heavily. It will also align civil servants’ pension contributions with those in the private sector by 2020. In all, the government thinks it can balance the pension fund, which currently has a €32 billion deficit, by 2018.
The symbolism of this change is clear. It was President Francois Mitterrand in the early 1980s who introduced retirement at 60 as a mark of progress, and it remains a totem for the left and the right. Martine Aubry, the Socialist Party leader, instantly called the government’s plan “irresponsible”, and says that the Socialists will reverse it if they are elected to power in 2012. Union leaders too have queued up to denounce the reforms. Francois Chereque, one union boss, called it “a provocation”. A day of strikes and protests is planned for June 24th. …
State aid for Opel gets politically messy
June 14th, 2010 |
No Comments
The political backdrop to Opel’s request for German government loan guarantees to help it finance its restructuring of European operations is messy – to say the least – on multiple levels.
This time last year GM was in Chapter 11 in the US and the firm’s European operations were heading for divestment to either a Magna-led consortium or an American-based private equity firm called RHJ. The German government was strongly backing the Magna proposal which appeared likely to protect more jobs in Germany. State aid was, it was made clear, being lined up to underwrite restructuring under the Magna consortium (which also included Russian bank Sberbank).
But then the EU competition people started asking awkward questions about the fairness of the bidding process vis a vis state aid at the same time as GM’s leaders concluded that it would actually be better to hang on to Opel/Vauxhall after all. The Magna deal was suddenly off and the German government was not at all happy with the outcome, though still mindful of the large number of Opel jobs in Germany. In fact, the German government – with a general election coming up – was little short of furious with GM’s volte face.
Fast forward to this year and ‘New GM’ has chalked up a quarterly profit and trumpeted the early repayment of loans to the US and Canadian governments. Advisers have even been appointed to start looking at a GM IPO. New GM appears to be a US-led but international company that has been brought back from the brink and, in the eyes of many, should be able to manage its own affairs.
As far as German domestic politics goes, there appear to be significant tensions within the coalition government there that have not helped. And in Europe generally there is the still looming eurozone fiscal crisis and Germany’s role at the heart of bailout plans as a donor to countries seen as fiscally irresponsible – unlike Germany.
Now is perhaps not the best time to be asking for state aid from Berlin and the company doing the asking is the one that provoked such ire last year.
Having said all of that, cooler heads will be counselling the politicians in Germany over the high stakes concerning Opel. Opel is important to the German economy. A way will likely be found to eventually get Opel the loan guarantees that it needs.
But it’s a messy political saga that isn’t being enjoyed by anyone – least of all Opel/Vauxhall’s workers. And you can understand why Opel/Vauxhall’s CEO Nick Reilly is frustrated with the situation. He wants to get on with the restructuring plan, but it’s the underlying politics that seem to be the problem. And he can’t do much about that.
State phone calls
June 11th, 2010 |
No Comments
Further to yesterday’s missive about the German Federal office’s offer of talking to Chancellor Merkel, I spent the rest of the day looking anxiously at the phone wondering if the next ring would herald the head of state being patched through.
I’d also given my mobile number to the Federal Government department, so was rather hoping the Chancellor wouldn’t ring as I was settling down to watch the World Cup preview or was chopping up the vegetables for the evening’s victuals.
Well, I needn’t have worried. My evening was secure as a despatch came through from Berlin from the Chef vom Dienst, which, even with my schoolboy German I think means head of service.
“Thank you for your request,” it intoned. “Unfortunately, Chancellor Merkel cannot give the requested interview due to her tight timetable. We hope for your understanding.”
Well, yes of course I understand. Mrs Merkel must be er, a little busy right now to rush and phone me, but flushed with this initial contact at the highest level, I might now turn to the heads of State of Spain and the UK, the other principal countries involved with the current Opel situation.
I’ve never spoken to David Cameron or Jose Luis Zapatero – I wonder what cars they like – maybe that’d be an icebreaker – but if I can come so close to La Merkel who knows?
Addendum: Instead of being politely sidestepped in today’s call to the German economics ministry the phone simply rang and rang – a new departure. I turned – perhaps hopefully – to the ministry’s website – minister Bruderle still beaming eerily into the ether – wondering if there would be an Opel update.
But no, in place of single scrap of information about Opel, there was an earnest piece on electric mobility.
The rest of Europe is talking about the German economics ministry and Opel. Except it seems, the German economics ministry.
Dell Health Care Services Target State Governments
June 10th, 2010 |
No Comments
Now that the health care reform bill is signed into law, Dell is looking to offer local state governments a set of IT services designed to help meet new federal regulations regarding issues such as Medicaid. Since its acquisition of Perot, Dell is moving deeper into the IT services field, especially in the health care and government markets. – Dell is looking to offer state governments a health care
check-up.
On June 9, Dell officially launched its latest IT services
initiative, called Dell State Health Services. Spending on IT health care is
expected to increase about 4 percent in 2010, according to Gartner, and Dell
and other servi…
Opposition leader: Bosnia never became state
June 7th, 2010 |
No Comments
Serbian opposition SNS party leader Tomislav Nikolić said that after 15 years, the international community has not been able to make a country out of Bosnia. “Today, just like in 1995, there are two separate entities, I even think that the division is a lot deeper now, when there is no threat of war,†Nikolić said.
Opposition leader: Bosnia never became state
June 7th, 2010 |
No Comments
Serbian opposition SNS party leader Tomislav Nikolić said that after 15 years, the international community has not been able to make a country out of Bosnia. “Today, just like in 1995, there are two separate entities, I even think that the division is a lot deeper now, when there is no threat of war,†Nikolić said.
SBP Governor resigns
June 2nd, 2010 |
No Comments
ISLAMABAD (APP) – Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Syed Salim Raza has submitted his resignation effective from May 6, citing personal reasons.
The President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, on the advice of the Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, has accepted the resignation of Syed Salim Raza, allowing Yaseen Anwar, Deputy SBP Governor, to temporarily work as Governor, said a Press release issued here late Wednesday night.
The Government would like to place on record its acknowledgement of the meritorious service rendered to the country by Salim Raza as the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan and wishes him the very best in his future life and career.
Monitoring Desk adds: Salim Raza, who took charge of the SBP top slot in January 2009, was to retire from his office in February 2012, but he quit early, reported a private TV channel.
Prior to this post, Salim Raza was the Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Business Council (PBC) since February 2006. He was the 15th Governor of the State Bank. He had been with the Citibank in various positions that included Country and Regional Management across the Middle East, Africa and the UK, Central and Eastern Europe, based in London from 1989 to 2006.
Defense minister weighs in on Satellite Affair
June 1st, 2010 |
No Comments
Everyone has a right to defend themselves the way they wish to before the court, says Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac. He was commenting on the news late on Monday that the state prosecution decided to indict former Serbia and Montenegro State Union Defense Minister Prvoslav Davinić for abuse of office in the so-called Satellite Affair.