newsitems
newsitems
Von der Leyen Vote "Quake": at the Mercy of -10 MEPs Change, as +127 ProEuropean MEPs go Dissidents?
*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- In the EU Parliament of Nowadays, Can the EU (and Should it) Work under the Threat for a Dr. Von der Leyen's Commission to be Topled (and/or its main Legislation pieces Blocked) by any eventual Change of Views from Only Less than 10 MEPs (out of a Total of 751), at Any Moment ?
+ And How could Evolve a New EU Parliament where a makeshift "Centrist" Establishment, in Theory designed out of the Traditionaly 3 Biggest Political Groups : EPP+Socialists+Liberals, who Still Control even Nowadays 443 MEPs, i.e. an Absolute Majority, Starts the New Term of 2019-2024, by Losing more than +127 "Dissident" Votes (See Infra), which apparently went Now Together With the Rightists and/or the Leftists, while Staying Pro-Europeans, (i.e. almost a New Group, Bigger than Macron's/Verhofstad's "ReNew Europe" Liberal Group, which has just 105 MEPs...) ?
These are, in Fact, the 2 main New Political Questions, inevitably Raised by the UnPrecedented Results of Today's Vote, in a Crucial EU Parliament's Plenary session in Strasbourg, where an embattled Ursula Von Der Leyen strived, Fighting Hard up to the very end of her Lobby's forces, to reach the Seat of EU Commission's Presidency, in Less than "13 Days", as she said, (since her Surprise Endorsement by EU Council in Brussels, after 2 Other Scenarios Failed : See ..., etc), with an Exceptionaly "Tight" Division among MEPs, between 383 who Backed her, and 364 who did Not.
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* (A) : => Dr. Von der Leyen = Political INSTABILITY ?
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Indeed, it's with an Historic Low of Only ...9 MEPs' Difference from the Minimum Required Threshhold (374), that Von Der Leyen made it, at the Last minute (after various "Bumps": See Infra), since, according to the well Established Rules on EU Parliament, any Candidate to EU Commission's Presidency Needs, at least, an Absolute Majority of the MEPs who Compose that Assembly, so that All those who either Vote explicitly "Against" (327), "Blank" (22), "Non Void" (1), or prefer to be "Absent" (14), are practically Counted as Opposed.
=> In Consequence, a Change of Views of Only Less than 10 MEPs (out of 751) could Cost to Von der Leyen her Hard-obtained Seat at EU Commission's Top, since she was Voted Today by just 383 MEPs, against 364, who did Not Voted for her, (i.e. a Smaller than usual, Meagre Difference of Only 19 Votes)...
In Comparison, on the Contrary, the Experienced out-going EU Commission's President, former Long-Time Prime Minister of Luxembourg and €uroGroup's Chairman, Jean-Claude Juncker, (anOther ChristianDemocrat/EPP Top Politician), had got, back on 2014, Nearly the ...Double of Votes for him, than against : 425 - 250, obtaining a very Strong Majority.
Despite that, Juncker faced, even himself, a Motion of Cesure tabled in EU Parliament just a few Weeks after his brillant Election, on November 2014, because of Personal Accusation related alleged undew Tax Facilities to Big International Companies, when he was Minister/Prime Minister of Luxembourg, that he strongly rejected, backed by a Big Majority of MEPs.
+ But, earlier, another former Prime Minister of Luxemburg, Jacques Santer, (another ChristianDemorat/EPP) who had also been Endorsed by EU Parliament on 1994 Only with a "Narrow Majority", as Von Der Leyen now, (despite the fact that, in the Meantime, he had initialy managed on 1995, however, to get a Large Majority of MEPs' Votes for his Commission).was notoriously Obliged, Later-on, to Resign,
Even the main Accusations which had Motivated that Fall were Not really so much related to himself personaly, but to some "Socialist" Members of his team, nevertheless, "Eurofora"'s co-Founder, who was Often Speaking with Santer then, Witnessed how much he had been Personaly Affected by that Withdrawal of EU Parliament's backing.
But, that Risk is Bigger with Von der Leyen, since she Notoriously is, already, under Suspicion for at least 2 potential Financial Scandals related to her Ministerial career in Germany, one concerning the Hiring of Consultants withOut Tenders, for more than 60 Millions €, and another linked to a Strange "Explosion" of the Cost for an Army Training Ship, from 1 to 3-Digit Numbers : initially only 6, but finally about 135 Millions € !, (almost at the Same Time that Brutal Hazing rituals, Sexual Humiliation, and Bullying in Military Training were reportedly Denounced, and the Army's Training Commaner was Fired), as Many pointed out, (including former Long-Time EU Parliament's President, Martin Schulz, etc).
In addition, Von der Leyen, a Medical Doctor specialized in Gynecology and having Worked at a Womens' Clinic (after a Controversial Thesis on Infections at Birth), former Minister of Health, Married to another Doctor, Hired at USA California's Stanford University for Medical Research, and afterwards CEO of a Medical Business Company on "Medical Engineering", at Hanover's "Clinical Trials Center" in Germany, she was Criticized by Augsburg's Catholic Bishop Walter Mixa and Cardinal Joachim Meisner for pushing to make Women "Birthing Machines" abandoning Children to Care Centers, while having also strongly Backed since 2010 a Failed Attempt (then Refused by her own Party of ChrstianDemocrats/EPP) to Impose Controversial systematic Pre-Natal Genetic Tests on Human Embryos, (that Many Denounced, inter alia, for Risks of "Eugenism", Dear to former NAZI, etc), before having even been among only a Few Exceptions among ChristianDemocrats/EPP who Voted for the Controversial "Marriage" of Homosexuals on 2017, and reportedly Pushed even for allocating (by "Adoption" of Other People's kids, Artificialy prepared IVF Births, Surrogate Mothers, etc) and submitting Children under the power of Homosexual Couples, (etc), Obviously has a Conflict of Interests' Problem in core, and currently Crucial BioEthical Issues, which would, f.ex., popp up in Brussels during Imminent Draft EU Legislation, inter alia also on the Forthcoming Pluri-Annual EU Program for Research and Technology, etc.
Such Topical BioEthical Issues may also emerge, not only on Human Health or Food EU Policy, but even in New Sectors, of Rapidly Growing Importance, as, f.ex., related to "Artificial Intelligence" and/or "Big Data" use (f.ex. in Medicine itself, but even Elsewhere), that Von der Leyen already Warned, Today, that she Intends, indeed, to Try to Boost the Soonest, under the Heading of "Digital" EU Policy.
Nobody else among all former EU Commission's Presidents ever had so much personal Links to a Bio-Medical Lobby, (especially close to very "Hot" BioEthical Controversies, of sharply Growing Importance Nowadays, potentially related f.ex. to Genetic Manipulations and/or Tests on Humans), No More in Germany, where, on the Contrary, the Historic, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, was a Keen Defensor of BioEthical Values, having also played an important Role on a PanEuropean level, f.ex. of the CoE, during Berlin's Presidence, already since 1997 (when, on the Contrary, Von der Leyen was in USA's California, which has notoriously become, nowadays, a most Extreme Headquarters of BioMedical Lobbies of Interest in the World), in Banning legally Human "Cloning" and/or Genetic Manipulations of Human GermLine, (i.e. Heritable through Future Generations), a Danger which has Recently become Possible on 2018, mainly through the Gene-Editing New Technology of Crisp-cas9 : See f.ex. http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/heritablegenemaniptrumpxihumanity.html, etc), while also putting at least some Elementary Conditions, protective of Human Rights, in case of Tests on Humans (alias "Clinical Trials"), f.ex., in principle Prohibited withOut a Well Informed and Free Consent, and/or on fragile Persons Unable to give Consent, (f.ex. Children, Prisoners, Mentally Handicaped, etc). This was done in extension of a Synchronous (1998) CoE's Convention on Human Rights and Bio-Medicine, known as "Oviedo" Treaty, that Helmut Kohl's German Delegation had immediately and Strongly Denounced (in front of "Eurofora" and a few other European Journalists then present at the CoE) as blatantly InSufficient, Asking for much More Strict BioEthical Rules in order to Protect basic Human Dignity. Thus, one can easily imagine How Dangerous a Situation for Human Rights, and Humanity at large could soon arrive with an eventualy unchecked and UnControled EU Commission totaly abandoned to such Dr. Von der Leyen's related Bio-Medical Lobbies of Interest (Comp. Supra)...
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+ An Additional Factor of InStability is also the Fact than Von Der Leyen very Narrowly managed to Reach the required Threshhold on Minimum of Votes at the Last Minute, Today, notoriously, Only by being Based on so Counter-Nature and, Particulary, UnCertain and/or Precarious Backings as in at least 3 well-Known such cases : Those of Polish pro-Government PiS MEPs, Victor Orban's Hungarian Fidesz MEPs, and/or Brittish MEPs !
- An Alert was already given by a FT's Lady Journalist, later Today, during a (not previously announced) Press Conference, together with EU Parliament's new President David Sassoli : - It seems that you were Elected Only thanks to the initially UnExpeted Backing also of British Conservative (added also to Labor/Socialists, and Liberals) MEPs. But, since the UK is notoriously due to Leave the EU with the BREXIT soon, then, What shall you do when they woN't be here, no more ? Do you intend, f.ex., to Try to get a Fresh Confirmation Vote, Afterwards, by EU Parliament, or something else ? , she asked, in substance, Von der Leyen.
Indeed, that Threat is Real : Added Together, those Brittish MEPs who reportedly Backed Today Von der Leyen, brought no less than 29 Votes, (4 Conservatives, 10 Socialists, and 15 Liberals), i.e. much More than would be Needed in order to inevitably Deprive her from the Minimum Support Required by EU Rules : A Change of Mind by Less than 10 MEPs, or a simple "Disappearance" of 19 MEPs among those who Backed her Now !
- Probably, that's why, Von der Leyen, during that Press Conference, First pretended not to have Understood the Question, Afterwards "Forgot" it, and Finaly Downplayed it, by Claiming that, because of the Secret Vote, she "did Not Know Who Voted for" her...
But, in case of a Motion of Censure in EU Parliament After a possible BREXIT, naturally, these 29 Brittish MEPs will NOT be here, No more, and, therefore, as things stand now, Von der Leyen would have No More, Not even the Minimum Required Majority at that Time.
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+ Even more Precarious seems also the case of 26 Polish MEPs from the Governing "PiS" ("Law and Order") Party :
- Indeed, they were, Initially, among those who Criticized the Establishment's changing Choice by the EU Council, behind Closed Doors earlier in Brussels, Only 13 Days Before, and their Group of "Conservates" strongly Criticized the Establishment's Lobby of Von der Leyen, even Today Morning, just After her "Opening Statement" in EU Parliament's Debate and, Later-on, Crucial Vote, for having, Meanwhile, even Excluded former Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, from her Right, as New MEP backed by ECR's Conservatives, to be Elected President of an EU Parliament's Committee, as another proof of Lack of Democracy in this 2019 process of Distribution of EU's Top Jobs...
But, "at the Last Minute" before the Crucial Vote, they Suddenly made a Spectacular "U-Turn" by reportedly Announcing that they Finally decided to Back Von der Leyen.
It's No yet Clear for which precise Reasons they did so, (even if several Indications suggest that this might, eventually, be due to a kind of -de facto or even explicit- "Blackmail related to well known Controversial Threats against Poland, particularly the Procedure recently triggered by EU Commission against Warsaw). But, whenever such Exceptional Reasons may be Lifted, and given Also the Von der Leyen's finally Expressed Stance on EU's External Borders vis-a-vis Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants, as she Described it earlier Today Morning, in EU Parliament's Debate, this also looks as a very Precarious Backing, which might, eventually, "Vanish" again, practically at Any Moment....
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++ Added to that, is the, only partially Similar case of 13 Hungarian MEPs (+1 More After the 2019 re-Election with 53%) from Viktor Orban's "Fidesz" Party. Here the way the situation evolved vis a vis Von der Leyen is, indeed, Reverse :
- At First, Orban notoriously felt, in Brussels' relevant Latest mini-Summits, that he (Together with several Other EU Heads of State/Government) had obtained at least a relative, but real "Success", mainly by managing to Prevent the Worse : Socialist Cadidate Timmermans' Sudden and UnExpected OPA on the Presidency of EU Commission, Despite the Fact that he had Lost the 2019 EU Election, Won by ChristianDemocrat/EPP's Weber, (on whom he had fluctuated).
Given also that Timmerman was well known for being very Eager to "Pressure" those recalcitrant, Central-Eastern EU Countries which wished to Avoid that Huge, UnPrecedented "Tsunami" of (too Often Fake) Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants Tresspassing inside EU's External Borders through Turkey's Smugglers, several times even with Islamist Terrrorists Hidden among them, as well as to Protect certain Key Traditional Values of their Societies, (Natural Family, Christian roots, etc), recently Bullied by some Opposed Lobbies from a Part of the West, (particulary those Imposed by former "Socialist/Liberal" US President Barack Hussein Obama until 2016, as "Marriage" between Homosexuals, Genetic Manipulations of Human Embryo, etc).
=> Therefore, Victor Orban notoriously Welcomed Ursula Von der Leyen's sudden Emergence as a Solution in Brussels, as the arrival, Instead, of "a German Mother of 7", as he reportedly pointed out, right from the Start. Afterwards, during the 2 Last Weeks' internal Elections at EU Parliament, was re-Elected the Hungarian ChristianDemocrat/EPP Fidesz MEP Lívia Jaroka as vice-President, followed by several Other such MEPs as Committees' Bureau Members, (despite an earlier, cotroversial "Suspension" of Fidesz' Membership to the EPP, jointly decided, long Before the May 2019 EU Election).
>>> But, at least since Today Morning, (16/7/2019), when it has Started to become Obvious that Von der Leyen does Not even Mention Europe's "Christian Roots", whenever she speaks about its Historic Identity, (Limited just to Ancient Greek Philosophy and Roman Law), at her "Opening Speech" to EU Parliament, and that she Backs a Wider Softening throughout all EU's "External Borders", particularly "at Sea" (as Facing Turkey in Asia, or Africa), to even more Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants, (whose Massive Influx should Not be Reversed, Not even Stoped, but Only "Reduced", i.e. still Persist), in Addition to the Creation of "Humanitarian Corridors", etc., while, at the Same Time, making Publicity for alleged "Syrian Refugees" aged 19-23 years old, who become "High-School" Pupils, and reportedly manage to "Learn German" after Living, Free of Charge, during more than +4 Years, in Von der Leyen's own House (sic !), as she described now, in Addition to her Wish to Create Stronger "Mechanisms" due to Impose to All EU Member States, some Norms considered as a "Must" by anyone who holds Power a EU's Center, at one moment or another, even on various Nations' Everyday Life, (etc), most Probably Orban begun to Realise that, in Fact, things were quite Different from what the above-mentioned "Timmermans' Manouvre" had Pushed him to Initially Believe, (Comp. Supra) !
+ His inevitable (and, perhaps, Benefiting) Disillusion, vis a vis Dr. Von der Leyen, would Certainly become even Stronger, as soon as he clearly Learns that, in Fact, she is also Backing "Marriage between Homosexuals", with even "Children" placed under the Power of Homosexual Couples, (inevitably, after having been Obtained either by Taking them Away from their Natural Family, i.e. via "Adoption", or by Artificialy Induced Births, via Technological Interventions, including, f.ex. IVF, and/or "Surrogate" Mothers' Exploitation, etc), while also being Personaly Linked to a Bio-Medical Lobby, particularly Focused on various Medical Interventions at Births, by her own Education and Private Jobs, added even to her Husband's similar Education and current Business' Interests, as well as her, sometimes Criticized, choices as former Health Minister, in Addition to her Early Backing of Controversial, Systematic Pre-Natal Genetic Tests, an already Citicized, Massive Abandon of Children to "Care Centers", instead of being Raised mainly by their Families, etc. (Comp. Facts cited Supra).
=> Indeed, a Realy and Fully Conscious Victor Orban and his Friends, well Aware of all these Facts, Normaly, cannot but Become seriously Critical, if not even Revolted against all these Controversial Facts about Von der Leyen's real desiderata, Particularly when it comes to their Blatant Contradiction even with Hungary's own Constitution, which, on the Contrary, Supports Europe's Historic "Christian" Roots, and Natural/Traditional Family, beween a Man and a Woman, while also Protecting Human Embryos from undue Genetic Manipulations, etc., as Prescribed, inter alia, the Landmark Constitutional Reforms that the Popular Hungarian Prime Minister notoriously Forged, (even Before also several Other, mainly Central-Eastern European Countries try to Follow, Later-on), as a Pioneer, Already since December 2000 :
- I.e. when he First Replied thus to a relevant Question raised by "Eurofora", during his Press Conference, then, at Brussels' EU Summit, (just Before Hungary takes over EU's rotating Presidency from Next Month : since January 2011, See http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/victororbanoneuidentityandenergy.html), Later Confirmed or Reiterated, even Deeper or Sharper, in one Way or another, also in Following Victor Orban's Press Conferences : F.ex. in EU Parliament in Strasbourg on 7/2013, and/or in Bratislava's (Slovakia) EU Summit of 9/2016, etc., in relevant Replies to "Eurofora"s original Questions, (See, f.ex.: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/primeministerorbanonvaluesmovementandeuelection.html, + http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/victororbanoneuropeanandnationalreferenda.html, respectively, etc).
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(+ ETC...)
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>>> All this, Taken Together, Obviously points towards what could become a Too UnStable Commission, since a Non-Confidence Motion can be Tabled by just 10% of MEPs, Debated and Adopted in EU Parliament at Any Moment in the foreseable Future, while an EU Commission may also be Pushed to Resign at any moment, as it has already happened in the Past, (Comp. Supra)...
+ However, it's also true that the Revised Rules for EU Parliament's relevant Procedure, have included the Additonal Condition of 2/3 of Votes Casted, in order for MEPs to Oblige an EU Commission to Go Away, collectively. Something which, obviously, may Limit somehow the practical Chances for such a Procedure to be effectively Concluded.
>>> But the concrete Example of Santers' Commission's collective Resignation, already on 2009, (Comp. Supra), obtained even Before and withOut any specific Parliament's Motion of Censure, just with the creation of a special "Enquiry" Committee by MEPs on various alleged Scandals, who had Warned, in the case of Serious Findings, about their Intention to Introduce also a Motion of Censure only Later-on, shows that, in Fact, Various, Simple but Powerful, Political Possibilities exist...
>>> In Addition, at Any Case, in real Practice, even the Mere Lack of a Simple Majority of MEPs, in order to Vote the most Important Pieces of Legislation, introduced by a Commission whose President may have Fallen in Disgrace at EU Parliament, due to Serious Findings and/or Political Differences, Can Obviously Disrupt EU's proper Functioning, in such a Damaging way, that the Only Functional Solution for the General European Interest, would Inevitably be, Sooner or Later, to Find a Way to Replace a too Controversial President, if not All the EU Commission concerned by such Serious Problems.
- Mainstream "BBC" already Concluded that "all this Division" "means" that "for a Start, (sic !) the European Commission Mrs von der Leyen will lead from November may have Problems Passing Legislation through the parliament"...
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* (B) + An Emerging "DISSIDENT GROUP" of Pro-European MEPs, ready to Vote with "Rightists" and/or "Leftists" in Key cases ?
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+ Nevertheless, there is Also a 2nd Important Question Raised after Today's too Cumbersome, Episodic and Rasor-Thin EU Parliament's Vote on Von der Leyen, (Comp. Supra), which might, eventually, Add to the Above-Mentioned Instability, and/or rather Warn about Possible Big Changes in the overall Political Structure of the New EU Parlament, Sooner or Later, in the foreseable Future :
- Indeed, the Latest EU Elections' results, on May 2019, may have Not Only Made the Previous "Gro-Co" (Big Coalition) between the ChristianDemorats/EPP and the Socialists, obviously InSufficient in order to Control Efficient Majorities in EU Parliament, (as German Chancellor Angie Merkel had Already Warned at one of her Press Conferences during the Latest European Council's full Summit, on June 20-21 in Brussels, (Comp. "Eurofora"s NewsReports, then, from the spot, f.ex.: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/merkelfocusmepskeepsweber.html + http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/merkelonmyteryopposaltoweber.html, etc), but Even a so-called "Pro-European", Wider Coalition, between Now 3 or 4 Political Groups around the Center of the Traditional Establishment, (i.e.: EPP, Socialists and Liberals, eventualy Together also with the "Greens"), might have Many "DISSIDENT" MEPs, Mathematicaly Able to Form a New Group, and/or Ready to Vote Together with "Rightists" and/or "Leftists", at least on certain Key Decisions !
>>> Today's relevant Facts revealed (as we HighLighted Above) that, Not Only such a Wide "Pro-European" Coalition between the 4 Parties Usually Designated as such : i.e. of EPP, Socialists, Liberals (re-named "ReNew Europe") and Greens, Obviously did Not Work this Time, in the Most Important Decision that the New EU Parliament had to take, Since the "Greens" notoriously Voted Against Von der Leyen,
But, Even a comparatively "Tighter" Coalition of the 3 Establishment's Main and Biggest Parties : those of ChristianDemocrats/EPP, Socialists, and Liberals/"ReNew Europe", which, on Paper, have a Total of 443 MEPs, Nevertheless, in Real Practice they largely Failed to Convince Many of them, since an UnExpectedly Great Number among their MEPs prefered, on the Contrary, to Vote ...as the "Rightists" and "Leftists" did, While, still Remaining, however, always "Pro-Europeans"...
>>> This Inevitable Conclusion results from the Simple Fact that, at First, among the 443 MEPs of those 3 Biggest Parties of the Traditional Pro-European Establshment (EPP/Socialists/Liberals), finally, it's ...No More than 383 Votes that Von der Leyen got, i.e. obviously Losing at least - 70 Votes from Those MEPs, who Prefered Not to Vote for her, But to Do As the "Rightists" and "Leftists", by Voting "Against" her, "Blank", Non Void, or to be Absent, (since All That had to be Subtracted, according to EU's Rules, from what she Needed on order to Try to Reach an Absolute Majority of EU Parliament's Component Members : Comp. Supra).
But 70 MEPs is, already, an Important Number, since it Could be Enough (if also Spread among several EU Countries) even for the eventual Creation of a brand New Group !
+ Moreover, the Actual Number of such "Dissident" MEPs, Emerging from the 3 Traditional "Pro-European" Groups of the Establishment, (EPP/Socialists/Liberals-RE), is, in Fact, much Bigger than that...
=> Indeed, among those that Rasor-Thin (Comp. Supra) Majority of 383 MEPs who finaly Voted for Von der Leyen, at least ...57 Votes came from Various Other Parties, of "Rightists" or "Leftists", which necessarily Means that an Equivalent Number of MEPs from the 3 Biggest "pro-European" Parties of the Traditional Establishment, had become Dissidents !
Those 57 MEPs from Other, Rightist or Leftist Parties, seem to include 4 Brittish Conservatives, (apparently attracted by Von der Leyen's promise to Accept any eventual Extension of BREXIT's Time Deadlie, for "Good Reasons"), as well as 13 Hungarians from Orban's "Fidesz" Party (currently "Suspended" from the EPP) for the reasons examined Above (Comp. Supra), and 14 Italians from the Atypical "5 Stars" co-Governing Party, initialy of Bepe Grillo, (which was Part of Farage's "EFDD" Group, but is now obliged to stay among the various "Independent" MEPs after the Recent Dissolution of that Group), as well as 26 Polish MEPs from the Governing "PiS" ("Law and Order") Rightist Party (Conservatives : See Facts cited Supra).
On the Contrary, since such kind of Votes are absolutely "Secret", according to the Rules, it's practicaly very Difficult, if not Impossible yet, to Say Who exactly were the Equivalent Number of MEPs from the 3 Biggest and Traditional "Pro-European" Groups (EPP/Socialists/Liberals-RE) who made the Inverse Move, by Refusing to Vote for Von der Leyen...
=> But the most Important Point is that the Total of such "Dissident" MEPs : 127, All Originating from the 3 Biggest Groups of the Traditional "Pro-European" Establishment, who Decided Today to Secretly Do the Same as the Rightists, Leftists and Greens, by Refusing to Vote for Dr. Von der Leyen, (while Not necessarily abandoning their otherwise always "Pro-European" Views), obiously form, Collectively, a New Reality in EU Parliament, which should Not be Underestimated, but whose Political Intentions still remain to be seen.
Indeed, + 127 MEPs is a very Important Number, much Bigger than the 105 Only MEPs of the Liberal/"Renew Europe" Group : until Now the 3rd in EU Parliament, and Close to the 153 Socialists, (Soon probably to Fall Down to Only 143, after an Expected BREXIT), who still hold the 2nd place in EU Parliament, after the EPP.
>>> In Consequence, they Could, in Theory, decide to do as the Rest of their Collegues in the 3 Biggest Groups of the Traditional "Pro-European" Establishent (EPP/Socialists/Liberals-RE), who notoriously "Cooperate" Together, and, Perhaps, even ... Form a brand New Political Group, made of about 127 MEPs "Dissident" Pro-European MEPs (a New Reality), who would soon Compete against the Socialists for the Rank of the 2nd Biggest Group in the New EU Parliament of the Period 2019-2024 !
The Problem is, at least for the moment, that, Because of the Entirely "Secret" character of this Exceptional Vote, inevitably, Most of those 127 MEPs ...do Not even Know Who really are their Collegues who Think and Act, Nowadays, like themselves, so that such a "Technical" Obstacle still Hinders them from eventually Meeting all Together, to Exchange and Interact Between All of them, until they Freely and Consciously Decide what to do in the Foreseable Future...
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At least one thing looks sure, for the moment : Contrary to a Big Fuss made by some Socialists about an alleged "Row" among their ranks, (Even if, with the "Von der Leyen Package Deal", they have been Already "Paid" Twice : With EU Parliament's New President Sassoli [See : ..., etc], and with Borrell coming at EU's External Action, Both Socialists), in Fact, a probably much Bigger (even if Secret) Row of Revolt seems to Boil among the ChristianDemocrat/EPP MEPs :
- President Weber had initialy Launched a Call for "a Bold and Clear ReAction from the European Parliament", when Brussels' Council had Attempted to Impose the Socialist Timmermans, who had Lost the May 2019 Election. But he seems to have Accepted (and/or Pushed to Accept) a ChristianDemocrat/EPP from Germany, as Von der Leyen, even if she had not even presented herself to EU Citizens' Public Debate and Vote, and Nobody knew her Plans for Europe (Not even herself !) when the EU Elections took place on May...
- However, even Medias of Hungary, whose Governing "Fidesz" Party Voted von der Leyen (Comp. Supra), nevertheless, see "Problems Ahead", and Warn that this "Relation .... is Not going to be the Best", inter alia, also Because "Her Talk" (this Morning) on Mass Migration "does Not bode well for ...the Future".
- Already, inside the ChristianDemocrat/EPP Group, "there is Tension", revealed a Bulgarian MEP, speaking to the Press : Some "MEPs ... are Worried". This is "also Caused by ...<<Visible Bows>>" toward one or another Group of MEPs. And "We do Not know Enough" about her : F.ex. "Our (EPP MEPs') meeting with Ms. Ursula von der Leyen was the Shortest of All her meetings with the Parliamentary Groups : It lasted Only Half an Hour. All the Other groups had 2-3 Hours-long meeting with her and had Unlimited opportunity to ask their Questions". So that, "Part of the EPP ...would Not Vote for Ursula von der Leyen", he had Warned.
- And Even among the Closest, French Counterparts of CDU/CSU: the "Republicans", their Head, Francois-Xavier Bellamy, clearly revealed certain Key Disagreements on "Hot" Topical Issues, both Before and After her "Opening Speech" of Today Morning :
- "Without any doubt, We shall Not Agree on Everything", he had Warned. And "it's Our Responsibility to Make her Listen to what the Voters told us, and Their Expectations vis a vis Europe", he had Warned
=> This Noon, Bellamy reacted, indeed, Sharply to Von der Leyen's latest Controversial Statements on Mass Irregular Migration, (that many felt as a Concession to Socialists and Greens for some Votes...) :
-"Let's Face the Facts : Europe is in profound Crisis, and seems Condemned to Powerlesness in front of Economic Challenges, Migratory Challenges, and Facing Big Powers which seem, Today, to be writting the World's History". So, "it's the Destiny of our Civilisation which is at Stake, Nowadays." => "There is Only 1 Way to End with Anxiety and Scepticism : It's by ReShaping Europe, (putting Europe in New Foundations) so that it serves the European People", he stressed, (evoking f.ex. EU's Agriculture, Industry, Know-how, etc)
(Von der Leyen had Earlier spoken about "a Conference on the Future of Europe" in 2020-2022, where "EU Citizens [should] play a leading [sic !] and active part", as she said, concerning Forthcoming Institutional Reforms).
+ In particular, "We don't want to Suffer, no more, from that Same Powerlesness in front of the Migration Crisis", he underlined, pointing at that UnPrecedented Huge "Tsunami" of More than 1,5 Millions of Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants, Suddenly Tresspassing EU's External Borders in Greece, through Turkey's Smugglers, from 2015-2016+, (Shortly Followed also by a Never seen Before, Long Series of Islamist Terrorism Deadly Attacks, Cowardly Targetting Civilian People, and Extended throughout All Europe during 2016-2019, up to the Eve of the Latest EU Elections : Cf., f.ex, the Lyon City Bloody Bombings, etc)
- "Yes, each Death in the Mediterranean is a Tragedy", Bellamy acknowledged, Reacting to Von der Leyen's "Hot" plaidoyerie, Earlier this Morning, who, Speaking of "more than 1700 Peope Drowned in the Mediterranean", "in the last 5 Years", that made it "one of the Deadliest Borders in the World", (Curiously, while it was More Abandoned to irregular mass migration, in the Past !), she added that "at Sea, there is the Duty to Save Lives", in order to Conclude that "the EU needs Humane Borders", to "Improve the situation of Refugees", and "Humanitarian Corridors", (while Simply "Reducing Irregular Migration", by "Fighting Smugglers and Traffickers", as "Organized Crime", plus by Accelerating the Venue of More EU's "Coast-Guards", instead of 2027, from 2024)...
- But, the Reality is that, Recently, "Too Many People take all Risks in order to come to Europe, Because they know that the Only Condition in order to Settle here, is to Arrive Irregularly !", Denounced Bellamy in Reply.
- So that, in Fact, "Eachone of these Tragedies is the Result of mainly One Cause, which is our (EU's) Powerlessness", he Criticized. That's one reason more, for which "We (EU) Must, at last, take Control of Europe's External Borders : It's (also) a Humanitarian Duty !", he underlined.
+ At the Same Time, "Receive someone is Not Passively Suffer, neither Undergo. It concerns also the Conditions for a Well Balanced (Equilibrated) Society, and for Transmitting our wonderful Civilisation to Future Generations", Bellamy added, Defending also the European People, the Poorest and most Fragile Part of whom, notoriously, Face the manifold Consequences of UnControlled Massive Irregular Migrations, affecting their Everyday Life, including Housing, Schools, Access to Health Care, Security, Fast-Track Islamisation, etc, especially as, Recently, Socio-Cultural "Ghettos" and "AppartHeid", are Multiplying and Aggravating at Many EU Areas, Degrading and EnDangering mainly Poor People's Everyday Lives, (including even several Migrants, who have already Protested against such Anti-Social and sometimes InHuman Practices).
-----------------
- However, Bellamy's expressed Ambition that, as he Claimed, "it's Our Group (EPP) which will be Able to Determine, Together with her, the Future Orientations" of EU Policies, looks as an Obvious Illusion, (at least in case of a politicaly Powerfull EU Commission)...
- But, on the Contrary, in case of a Politically "Weak" Commission, Naturally, this may Become Meaningfull !
- Replying, during the subsequent, brief Press Conference, to a Critical Question around such matters (Comp. Supra), Von der Leyen simply Rejected any such Speculations, by merely stressing that, as a matter of Principle, ..."a Majority, is a Majority !", as she said...
- Yes, But, that Concrete "Majority", obviously so Painfuly obtained Today, (Comp. Supra), is it really Sufficient for a Stable and Efficient Functioning of EU Commission during 5 Crucial Years ? And, is it really Sustainable ?
>>> Apparently, the Only Good Result of such Problems, could be if the EU Commission Felt Obliged to really Cooperate and Work more Closer, Together with EU Parliament, than ever before !
=> Such an Eventual Development, (i.e. for EU Parliament to Become also an Efficient Democracy's Watchdog for Transparency, Accountability and Fidelity of EU Commission's main Policies to the European People's most Important Aspirations in Topical Issues, as Expressed, also, in the latest EU Elections,
=> implies, however, at least to Know Who are those MEPs who have already Dared Today -and may also Dare aNew, if really needed, in the foreseable Future - Refuse to Vote for something which, for this or that reason to which they Sincerely Believed, did Not seem Right to them, at least, as things stand now, and for the Time being, (Comp. Supra).
>>> Despite the Problems raised by the Exceptionaly "Secret" character of Today's Vote, (Comp. Supra), it canNot be Excluded a priori that, possibly, Advancing through also Various Other such Key Votes, in the foreseable Future, and, perhaps, as Some Potential Leaders (or, at least, Political Thinkers), might Start to Openly Emerge among such recalcitrant MEPs, sooner or later, those, still Condemned to behave like "Phantoms" (Comp. Supra), but really Existing, around 127 Dissident "Pro-European" MEPs, could, at last, become Conscious of their Collective Existence, and its Potential Political Importance.
Naturally, it's Also Possible, for Most of them, to eventually Strike Deals with one or another among EU Parliament's already pre-Existing, various Political Groups.
Most Probably towards the Right side of the Political Spectrum, (which would, then, clearly Consolidate an UnQuestionable and Strong Majority : Comp., f.ex., already ...., etc). But also, at least partialy, towards the Left, (f.ex. some "Greens", if not even "Leftists", perhaps certain Atypical "Socialists", etc).
WithOut Excluding a priori even a kind of "Criss-Cross" Alliance with Parts of the Right AND of the Left Sides of the Political Spectrum : Contrary, indeed, to what Claim some Commentators, (incl., f.ex. "Liberation"'s Quatremer, etc), such an eventual Tactic from the Dissident 127 MEPs would Not Necessarily be "Impossible", merely Because of a "Disparate" character between those Various current Groups of MEPs.
Already, the Contrary is Proved by the mere Existence of the present, Atypical Government Coalition in Italy, between the "Lega"s Rightists, and the "5 Stars" so-called Leftists or "Progressives", which had been Formed after Many Months of a Long Political Standstill, but Soon after a relevant "Eurofora"s Publication Urging to Dare Test such an Unusual but Interesting, there, Cooperation, among the Country's most Popular then Parties, (See: ..., etc), which Succeeded to do so, after a Genuine Effort to Forge a Joint Program. Moreover, the President of the New Rightist Group "Identity and Democracy", Marco Zanni, currently a "Lega"'s MEP, belonged, in the Past, precisely to that Leftist/Progressist Party of "5 Stars" ! While there are also 2 Italian MEPs with Family Name "Adenolfi", ...Equitably Shared between those 2 Groups...
Moreover, it's also in the Atypical Protest Movement of France's "Yellow Vests", that many have notoriously Felt the Co-Existence of Both "Rightist" and "Leftist" Trends. And even USA's "Conservative" Party's Candidate to the Presidential Election, Don Trump, an Atypical Old Family Capitalist, Millionaire from Private Estate Business etc., Surprisingly Focused, at his Nomination Speech, on July 2016, in Ohio's Cleveland, to Attract mainly ...the Leftists, by addressing himself, First of all, to those Poor People who were practicaly Abandoned by the Establishment: Jobless, Black People Excluded by the Education System, Impoverished former Middle-Classes, inDebted Students, Families obliged to live in Delabrated Neighborhoods, etc. This Strategic Move, towards what he called "the Forgotten People", (Facilitated also by the Socialist Establishment's notoriously DisHonest Elimination of Leftist Candidate Bern Sanders), made Trump unexpectedly Win the Race against "Socialist"/Democrat Hillar Clinton, bypassed also from her Left Side, on the decisive Vote of November 2016, even Despite initially Opposed Polls, Creating a big Surprise at the Last Minute...
_______________________________________
=> Therefore, the Possibilities currently Open for those about 127 "Dissident" Pro-European MEPs, (Comp. Supra), seem, in Fact, Manifold and Numerous, as well as quite Important, at least in Theory, withOut Excluding a priori even the UnExpected : I.e. that, Later-on, they might, eventually, Succeed to be, Suprisingly called, themselves, in the Future, as the "REAL EUROPEANS" ?!...
At least Now, they can obviously Claim that they Tried to Defend the Honour of European Democracy and, particularly, of EU Citizens (See, f.ex.: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/eutopjobsrowturnsnastyforcitizens.html, etc)...
And, indeed, they Marked a Point !
(../..)
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EUDefense Coop with 3 FrancoGerman AirFighters+EUROCORPS in Strasbourg Later Enlarged to UK in Paris
*Strasbourg/Rhine Palace-Republic Square/Angelo Marcopolo/- It's in front of the superbe Rhine Palace, at Republic's Square, Top of the landmark "NeueStad" Historic part of Strasbourg City, recently Classified by UNESCO, that EU's Franco-German core, Symbolicaly kickStarted Today, by a "First", UnPrecedented Joint Flight of 3 AIrFighter Planes : 1 "EuroFighter" from Germany, and 2 "Rafales" from France, (See Photo), followed by "EUROCORPS"" Army HeadQuarters' Top Staff pioneer 9 EU Countries: 5 Framework Nations (France, Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium), and 4 Associated (Greece, Italy, Romania, Poland), a Movement towards a Wider European Defense Cooperation, UK included, due to be Highlighted Tomorrow in Paris.
The Main Symbol of this 2019 celebration of the French National Day in Strasbourg, i.e. the Joint Flight of 3 Fighter Airplanes from France and Germany, (which crossed Twice the Sky above the Officials and the People gathered for the Traditional Event, most vainly Trying to See those too Fast-Moving Flying Objects),
is Obviously a Timely Reminder of the Recent Franco-German Political Will to Create soon, Together, 1 New Joint Fighter Airplane of Top Efficiency, for the foreseable Future.
----------------------------
EUROCORPS, already Created since 1993 in Strasbourg, has aquired an Important Experience for a really Multi-National and Multi-Modal (i.e. operating in Land, Sea, Air/Space) Force's Headquarters' Staff, by Leading Top Missions inter alia, also, f.ex. at Kosovo, Afganistan, Mali, Central Africa, etc. It can serve also as "Rapid Action Force" for NATO.
Currently it's Germany which holds the Rotating Presidency of 2 Years, with EUROCORPS' Commander the Lieutenant-General Jürgen Weigt, (See, f.ex., Eurocorps Commander's replies to "Eurofora" Questions at: ..., etc). But from September 2019, it's France which will take over the Presidency for 2019-2021.
----------------------------
On the Contrary, the Subsequent relevant Event, which is due to Follow in Paris on Sunday (14/7/2019), significantly will include also the UK, among 10 European Nations, (France, Germany, UK, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and Finland), on the framework of the "European Initiative for Intervention", created just 1 Year Earlier on an idea advanced mainly by New French President Emmanuel Macron, in order to "Share a Strategic Culture" in Europe, (including also Non-NATO Countries, as Finland).
Meanwhile, recently, France and Germany have Agreed also on the Creation of a "European Defense Council", Together with the UK, due to function even After an eventual "BREXIT", (i.e. probably After the current Deadline of October 31st, 2019).
In other words, Today Strasbourg emerges anew as a Symbol of Core EU Cooperation on Defense, (Often strongly Supported by EU Parliament), spearheaded by the Franco-German "engin", and including several Pioneer EU Countries, while, Tomorrow, in Paris, it will be mainly about a Wider Spectrum, designed to include also a "Post-BREXIT" UK, a NO-NATO Finland, etc, in the foreseable Future.
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Thus, it's Also a German Army Brigade, (Nowadays the "291st JägerBataillon"), Recently Hosted inside France, (as a French Brigade is also Hosted at Nearby Germany), which Participated to Strasbourg's event Today, and was kindly Applauded by the People, (as well as, naturally, the EUROCORPS).
But the Most Popular Favorite related trans-national unit, still remains, that which stands Closer to the People's everyday lives : the Franco-German ...Bike Squad, lively Applauded once again, as also in the recent Past !
French Gendarmes' and Police's Motorcyclists, as well as Fire-Fighters, were also Popular, (particularly the "New" Unit of "Young Fire-Fighters" trainees, including several Children, who concluded the 2019 Parade, applauded).
The overall Ceremony was placed under the Direction of Strasbourg's Military Governor, (who is due to Protect also EU Parliament's plenaries', CoE's and Schengen System's Secretariat's Headquarters, located here), General Ollier (Commander of the 2nd Armored Brigade),
who saluted also the 3 other Brigades of French Army forming the Main Bulk of the parade, (including even some Heavily Armed Guys ...led by a Woman ! But we are in the Country of Historic "Joan of Arc", whose Statute guards also Strasbourg's "European" Commuity's Church of Saint-Guillaume, nearby...).
General Ollier Surprised by taking the unusual Initiative to Salute also the various Invitees' present on the spot Today, arriving almost aside "Eurofora"s Press Photograph-taking post !...
Last, but not least, among the List of Officers awarded a "Legion d'Honneur" distinction by General Ollier, in our Times of not only Terrorist Risks, but also ..."Global Warming", (with most France, and particularly Strasbourg, having been the Target of a Record-High "HeatWave" from Africa, just a few Days ago), it's not only "Intelligence" Officers, but also a Medical Doctor, and even a ..."Meteorologist" who were chosen to be honoured this year.
----------------------------
But, at the Same Time, Defense Issues become more and more Important for Europe in our Troubled Neighbourhood Nowadays, as Highlights, inter alia, also the Fact that the New Italian Minister for EU Affairs, Lorenzo Fontana, (close to popular vice-Prime Minister Mateo Salvini), who was appointed just a Few Days ago, notoriously considers that it's even the Historic "Roots of (Modern) Europe", which are linked with the Famous "Lepante Naval Battle" of 1.571, where a United European Army succeeded to Win against an Ottoman-Turc Military Ship Attack, taking the Lead throughout the Mediterranean Sea, which remained basically in Peace afterwards, after the European Countries (with a Strong Popular Support then) had decided to Concentrate their Forces in order to Punish the Massacre of Venician Soldiers who used to Guard Famagusta City in Cyprus, but had been Obliged by the Turks to render their arms in front of many Attacks, in exchange of a Promise to let them Go Free, which was, Later, Betrayed by the Ottoman-Turk Army, by Slaughtering those who had committed the Tragic Error to Trust them...
Lepante is, indeed, a landmark Historic Top Point in Europe's History, particularly because of that Popular European Cooperation on Defense, which Succeeded to bring Peace in the previously troubled Mediterannean Sea, since 1571, as, Later-on, it Started to be done also on the mainLand, f.ex. with the Succesful Defense of Wien, Austria's Capital City (1683), followed by the Liberation of Budapest (1691), the Capital of Hungary, (Semi-Occupied, until then, by the Ottoman-Turk Military Invasion and Occupation), and Afterwards All Hungary (1699), with a Growing Popular Support and Enthousiasm, as well as the English and the Russians Fighting, side by side, with the Italians, French and German-Speaking People, even the Russians, etc., at the Beginnning of the Historic Century of "Enlightenment".
- "Eurofora" (without going as far as Minister Fontana) had already used the Historic Reference to Lepante's Naval Battle of 1571, on December 2017, during the EU Summit in Brussels which Organized a special "PESCO" Event for the Beginning of EU Defense High-Tech Projects' Funding, (See : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/euhistoricdefenceevent.html), in order to Mark, with Friendly Irony, the Fact that such a Welcome, but Delayed Move, in fact, came ... "4,5 Centuries After the 1st European Army Victory" !
What to fill with Humility, but also Consciousness of the Duty to Take Good Care of the Few but potentially Important, European Defense Building Blocks, Nowadays existing in Strasbourg and elsewhere, at least the present French Local Officials, MEPs, National Assembly's vice-President and other MPs, "Great-East" Region vicce-President, Strasbourg's "Euro-Metropole" President, Prefect, Commander, etc., who closed this exceptionaly Simple, but Symbolic 2019 Annual Parade in fine...
(../..)
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US President Trump for Free Web Journalism v. Censoring ao Attacks by Big Tech+Corrupt Establishment
*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/(UPDATED)- Giving a Strong Boost to an Internet and Press Freedom Agenda which should, normally, interest CoE's PanEuropean Organisation for Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law, where USA has an Observer Status, (as well as Canada, Japan, Mexico, etc), the new USA President Don Trump Launched a Campaign to Support Free Web Journalism against Censorship and other various Attaks by "Big Tech" Corporations and/or Corrupted Establishment's Medias, starting by a "Social Media Summit" at the White House.
- Trump called "Historic" that Gathering of "so Many On-Line Journalists" in order "to Discuss the Future" of Web Medias, (according to White House's Press Service Data, including a Video of that Event, send to "Eurofora").
- "Each of You is fulfilling a Vital Role ... : You are Challenging the Medias-GateKeepers and the Corporate Censors to Bring the Facts Straight to the ...People", he stressed from the outset, with obvious Fighting Spirit.
- "With amazing creativity and determination, you are Bypassing the Corrupt Establishment, ...and the very, very Corrupt Media", in order to "Communicate Directly with our Citizens, withOut going through the Fake News Filter", USA's new President praised.
Significantly, he was Speaking only 1 Year before Crucial US Presidential Elections on 2020, and after having Won the Previous, 2016 Race, notoriously with the Help of Alternative Internet Medias, and Web Activists recently Harassed by Big Tech. Corporations, Internet Providers, and Establishment's Medias, often at the demand of National Governments and/or some International Organisations, particularly recently in Europe, (f.ex. EU Commission, since June 2016, sometimes even CoE, etc, when some Calls to Fight "Fake News" and/or "Hate Speech", risk to provoke Abuses against Dissidents and/or People's Human Rights at the Internet era).
+ Moreover, "Together, You Reach More People than any Broadcast Medias or Television Network", he observed, speaking of Web Journalism and Critical "Influence" at the Internet.
- "Free Speech is a Bedrock" of Democratic Life, paticularly "in America", where the "1st Amendment's" and other People's "Constitutional Rights, Must be Protected", as he stressed.
Many "Conservative" Voices in the USA have notoriously Complained to be Censored, Shadow-Blocked, and/or Otherwise Oppressed, Discriminated or Harassed by Big Internet Corporations, while, in Europe, even a French Government Majority's MP has reportedly been Excluded recently from her Parliamentary Group just for Observing the active presence of "LGBTI Lobbies" in the National Assembly !
=> -That's why, "Today, I'm Directing our Administration to Explore All Regulary and Legislative Solutions to Protect Free Speech, and the Rights of Free Speech of All" Citizens, President Don Trump announced.
+ He also spoke about a planned Meeting with "Big. Tech" Corporations and Executives from Major Social Media Patforms at the Web, soon at the White House, in order to Try to Convince them to become more Neutral and Respecting Web Journalists' legitimate Rights.
>>> "We Hope to see More Transparency, more Accountability, and More Freedom !", he concluded, Lively Applauded.
Many Conservative a.o. Web Actors have often Complained to face Censorship and Biais by Big Tech. Platforms, as those Headquartered in California's currently "Liberal" Hub, but the latter denied, claiming that they Equally Respect all People's socio-Political Views. However, inter alia, there are, recently, even "Google"s Staff Members who have notoriously launched a Succesful Legal Fight at the Courts, Denouncing various Discriminations, Pressure, Bias, Threats, etc., because of their Opinions, inside that Tech. Giant. Critical News WebSites (as, f.ex., "InfoWars", etc) have been Excluded by Twitter, Facebook and other GAFA in several cases. Even President Trump's famous personal Twitter Account (often used by Many Medias, Diplomats, Politicians, a.o.) was recently Blocked by an unknown and un-controlled, Part-Time precarious Staffer : a Foreigner, Muslim from Turkey, just before he Leaves the US at the Expiration of his Visa, who Afterwards Claimed that he wasn't motivated by any Political Disagreement at all vis a vis Trump, and that the incident was a pure coincidence ! "Eurofora" has been repeatedly Targetted by a Series of various Cyber-Aggressions mainly between 2014-2018+. Additionally, in the run-up to Nowadays' White House's "Social Medias Summit", more than 55.000 Twitter Accounts went notoriously "Down", for several Hours, with the Bulk of such incidents being Concentrated in Parts of the US and Europe (mainly between London, Paris and Strasbourg), where one of "Eurofora"s active Members denounced that she faced such an abnormal Outtage even until the Next Morning, included, (See relevant Map).
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Some People have called to Regulate Big Internet Platforms (such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, etc), as a kind of "Essential Public Utilities".
But Many Others Disagree, considering that such a move risks to play right in the hands of Big Corporations' Interests, and Urge, on the Contrary, to launch a Critical Investigation on them, from the point of view of the Oligo-Monopolistic structure of such "Big. Tech" at the Web, in order to Start Breaking such Monopolies, and Bring in some much needed Oxygen by Healthy "Competition", (according to the Best-Rated and more Popular Comments, published by Web NewsMedias close to Don Trump's political movement, such as "Breitbart" a.o.).
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=> In Consequence, Given also the Fact that almost All "GAFA"'s and other Relevant Big Internet Platforms are all ...from the USA, naturally, the Question arises Why Europe does not yet Launch an Original and Independent such New Web Platform, SmartPhones' Operating System, etc....
The Concept of "European Digital Sovereignity", in such circumstances, may Help Both Economy, Innovation and Democracy !
(../..)
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Greek Vote: Mitsotakis mainstream Right Wins Government Autonomy. Left keeps force. Rightist eclipse
*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- It's amidst an exceptionaly intense row on EU's Top Jobs, that the biggest European Political Party, the ChristianDemocrats/EPP, added a New Head of State/Government, with the Brillant Win of Young Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Greece Today, who Succeeded to get Enough Votes in order to be Able to form an Autonomous Government for 2019-2023, something which had tragically lacked to his immediate predecessors, and had resulted in an UnPrecedented there Division of the Right, that he looks keen to overcome now.
+ Moreover, it's Surrounded by the Moto "United we Can", that Mitsotakis declared his Ambition to "Govern for All Greeks", urging to "Advance Forward United", for "Growth, Jobs and Security", by pointing at his "Commitment for Less Taxes, More Investments, for Growth able to bring Better Work and better Salaries, as well as for an Efficient State, able to Offer to the Citizens, Safety (Security) and Fair Health and Education", acting with "Transparency, Accountability and Meritocracy", as he said.
But, Already, he has Surprisingly managed to get a "de facto" quasi-Unity of nearly All the Right side of the Political Spectrum in Greece, since, not only the 3rd Party of the Country : the controversial Rightists of "Golden Dawn", UnExpectedly Disappeared, suddenly, from the Parliament, (See Infra), while a "Softer" Conservative Small Party (3%), the New-Commer "Greek Solution", hastily set-up by a former Journalist only 1 or 2 Years ago, has already been hit by a Legal Complaint accusing its Leadership for "Fraud", lodged by the Number 2 Candidate in its EU Election List, at the Same Time that, Exceptionally, All Other, recently Numerous, Parties of the Right, Old and New, had now, curiously ...Vanished from this Race, leaving a Huge Open Space to Mitsotakis' mainstream Center-Right "New Democracy" for this time !
On the Contrary, the Left remainst still Divided, and now even more Dispersed in a Long List of Small and Medium various Parties, gravitating around Out-Going Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' "SYRIZA" Party, Now rejected to the Opposition, extended into more than ...Thirteen (13) Organisations, which include no less than Five (5 !) Different "Communist" Parties...
>>> Facing that, New Prime Minister Mitsotakis' Party Won Today almost 40% of the Votes, and got a Crystal-clear Absolute Majority in the Parliament with 158 MPs, which allow him to Govern Autonomously, (withOut needing any sort of controversial and/or weakening "Co-Habitation" with anyone else).
The Stability that this allows, becomes Obvious by the Fact that, if Tsipras' inexperienced SYRIZA Leftist Party managed to Govern during 4 Years (2015-2019), over Troubled Water and with several U-Turns, having just 145 MPs, then, Mitsotakis' experienced New Democracy Party of mainstream Center-Right christiandemocrats/EPP, with a more "Classic" Program, can certainly do even Better, with +13 More MPs : 158...
An OverView of the overall Structure of Political Parties resulting from this 2019 Election in Greece consists mainly of the 2 Big Parties of the Right and of the Left: "New Democracy" and "Syriza", with 158 MPs against Only 86 MPs now, (i.e. a Huge Difference !).
+ They are Followed by 2 other Small Parties : "Movement for Change" (former "Socialist" PASOK), and the "Communist Party", with about 8% and 5,5% of the Votes, getting 22 and 15 MPs, respectively.
++ Follow 3 More Tiny Parties, with around 3% of the Votes Each, among whom Only the Two First get MPs : 10 for the Conservatives of "Greek Solution" new Party (Comp. Supra), and 9 MPs for the "Day25" new Leftist Party of former Tsipras' Finance Minister Varufakis, a notorious Troublemaker, vowing to play a role of ..."Constructive Obstruction" (sic !), as he said recently to "Eurofora", at EU Parliament in Strasboug, (where he had been invited, by an irony of the sort, for an Event on the 20th Anniversary of €uro...).
---------------------------
But the 3rd of these Parties gets No MPs at all, because it was UnExpectedly found to reportedly not cross the Threshhold of 3% of the Votes, exceptionaly, this time ... And this is a very Important Issue, because it concerns the twice 3rd Biggest Party in Greece : the Controversial Rightists of "Golden Dawn", who used to have around 7% of the Votes and 18 MPs. At a Recent Past they had even, reportedly, reached as High as More than 15% of the Voters, according to Polls !
The Rest, (i.e. the Numerous Other, much Smaller Parties : A Leftist and a Centrist Parties with Less than 1,5% of the Votes each, and Many Tiny Parties, mainly Leftists, with the Exception of a Peasants' Grouping, etc), appears to be Less Important.
Obviously, what is more Important to know is Why these controversial Rightists of "Golden Dawn" Suddenly "Vanished", and What might happen Afterwards.
The Official Version is, simply, that, among all those Numerous Parties, it's Only them who, all out of a sudden, Stoped just a few steps Before Reaching the 3% Threshhold...
But Why should they do so Now, while, on the Contrary, everybody woud logically Expect that the People, After having Tested and Failed, at First, the "Socialists" of PASOK (2009-2011), Folowed by Both Mainstream Big Parties, led by mainstream Right's "ND" (2012-2014), and Afterwards, even the Leftists of "SYRIZA" (2015-2019), Greek People would, Now, be Naturally Curious about the ...Rightists' "Golden Dawn"'s recipes for a Solution (2019-2020+), (probably Together with certain Key parts of Mainstream Right, in the framework of a kind of "Unity of all the Right" as it Currently happens throughout Many European a.o. Countries, in one way or anOther : See Infra).
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=> And here lies probably a very Important Issue, which is Central and Key also for the Justice and Efficiency of any Real Plan to seriously Settle the Economic Problems provoked in Greece, (and, by consequence, also to the rest of Europe, mutatis-mutandis), including even Mitsotakis' own overall Strategy and its Chances to become Succesfull nowadays :
This Key Point is too often Neglected by most superficial observers, and, at any case, it has Nothing to do with several Other Aspects of "Golden Dawn", which might, eventually, be, or not, more or less Controversial and/or, perhaps, even deserving, sometimes, to be Condemned, or not, for absolutely Other, Different Reasons.
- Obviously, the Main Thrust in Mitsotakis' Plan (Comp. Supra) is to Boost the Dynamism of the Private Sector of Economy, with Investments, Tax deductions, etc.
- But, "Eurofora"'s co-Founder had already Warned, (after an Original Analysis of Developments in Greece, Europe and the rest of the World, during the recent Decades), that, particularly since the 1970ies/1980ies, (and mainly in Greece after 1981, in comparison with the Proportions of its Smaller Private Poductive Sector), socio-political forces which control the State have Systematically Overloaded the Public Sector of the Economy, by Nepotism, with 3 Heavy Layers made by : 1) their Political Lackeys, arbitrarily Appointed by them in the Public Sector, and Often Abusing Citizens by Corruption, Oppression, Aggressions and/or Other serious Crimes, and 2) a Larger Group made of comparatively Privileged Civil Servants, appointed by Favoritism at Jobs that they did Not Deserve and/or for which they were not better qualified than others, to whom are added even 3) Many Cushy-job Holders, hired at more or less unnecesssary, useless, and/or Counter-Productive jobs. The overall Result is a Dangerously Growing Public Debt, and a Counter-Productive Public Sector to the Detriment of a Shrinking, Productive Private Sector, which becomes Insufficient and/or Over-Taxed, unable to support the overall Economy of the Country.
=> To Face that, the only really Efficient Move is to Drastically Reduce such a DisProportionately OverLoaded Public Sector, and the Public Debt that it provokes, strongly Fighting against Nepotism and Clientelism :
- It's not a Surprise that this Key Point was, indeed, right from the Start, at the forefront of EU Council's main Conditions, when a "Socialist" Government from Greece asked, for the 1st Time, EU's Help to face an Exceptional Debt Crisis from December 2009 in Brussels' Summit :
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy, indeed, at an Exceptional Press Point, Urgently convoked then inside EU Council in Brussels, where "Eurofora" was also Invited to participate, Replied to a Question on what makes him believe that Greece would honor its commitments if EU provided Aid, by simply showing, at the List of Athens' promises, the Point about "Privatisation" worth more than 50 Billions € : - "That's Serious !", Sarkozy stressed.
+ In what Followed Afterwards, the infamous "Troika" of EU Commission, ECB and IMF's Experts, notoriously Reminded, several times, the various Greek Government's commitments to Privatise, Reform and Reduce the Public Sector's DisProportonately Numerous Staff, etc. But several Times, it seems that this was done mostly in Vain,...
++ Worse : On 2015, when SYRIZA entered, at first sight, in a row Opposing it to EU Commission during a Brussels' Summit, where "Eurofora" was present, as well as Later-on that same year, at least a Big Part of the Different concerned, in fact, the Massive Demands of what was perhaps the Biggest Influx of Staff ever Hired at the Public Sector in Greece by PASOK's Former Governments of the Past, in Controversial circumstances of Nepotism, Clientelism, etc., from about 1981+, who were, then (i.e. 35 Years Later) Arriving at the threshhold of their Claims for Retirement, during the Next few Decades, (i.e. a Huge Amount of Money, which Threatened to Aggravate Greece's Public Debt even more, in the foreseable Future, to the Detriment of Young People, who vainly searched Today to find a Job, and/or of Many very Poor People Nowadays, who had been Deprived even from the Elementary, during all these Years/Decades that PASOK's Cronies were still Wasting Public Funds for their Summer Holidays, 13th or 14th, even...15th Salaries, and various Other Abuses, often obtained in Scandalous Conditions of Corruption, Discrimination, Cronyism, etc. in a Public Sector notoriously DisProportionate in comparison with the Country's Productive capacities...
As it's quite well known, Finally, after several "U-Turns", and in the Middle of an UnPrecedented Huge "Tsunami" of more than 1,5 Millions of Mass Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants, suddenly brought inside Europe, from its External Borders in Greece, mainly through Turkey, and pushed (Even with Luxurious "Jet-propulsion" Cruise Ships !) to arrive Fast until Central Europe, Germany and even Scandinavia, Soon Followed by Growing Popular Reactions in Most European Countries, and various Aggressions, both individual and massive, against defenseless Young Girls, even Children, etc, (including Rapes and Killings, etc), soon Added to a Long Wave of Deadly Islamist Terrorist Attacks, Cowardly Targetting innocent Civilian People, from Austria to France, Germany, the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, etc., even in Brussels followed by Strasbourg, etc, as Never seen Before in History, SYRIZA's Negotiators apparently managed to Cover up the Payments of Most Retirement Claims by all those Cronies and/or Cushy-Job holders who had been Scandalously but Massively Hired by Former PASOK's Governments of the Past to the Public Sector, aggravating its Public Debt even More.
But Not for the Young People of Nowadays, Neither for the notoriously too many Poor or Impoverished Old People in the meantime...
--------------------------------
- From the Beginning of 2015, just 1 Week Before the Elections in Greece, "Eurofora" had clearly Asked the very Experienced "SYRIZA"s Top MEP and EU Parliament's vice-President, Mr. Papademoulis, during a Press Conference in EU's Buildings in Strasbourg, whether, if his Party was going to Win that Election, he could Manage to Avoid the Trap in which had notoriously Fallen a lot of Other Former Governments in the Past (mainly PASOK's) to abusively Hire too Many Cronies and/or Cushy-job holders in the Public Sector, by Nepotism and/or Clientelism, etc., with the Consequence to Aggravate even further Greece's Debt, etc.
- Papademoulis' Reply to Our Question was that "SYRIZA" never did, and would Never do practice Any such kind of Clientelism, which was a Mark of Previous Governments in the Past, Only, but simply Use the "New Technologies" in order to meet the main Needs in a more Productive and Efficient Public Sector...
>>> However, Only a Few Months Afterwards, the New "SYRIZA" Government was Starting to practice several Massive Hiring tours, at various Sectors, and such Massive Incidents were, Later-on, Repeated even More and More, until it became again a kind of "Routine", (particularly "Exploding" just Before the recent Elections !)...
Inter alia, Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself, had notoriously Revealed, in Press Statements, that he had sincerely "Cried", when he suddenly learnt, Returning to Greece from a Visit Abroad, that such a "SYRIZA" Government had again Started to Launch Massive Campaigns of Nepotist/Clientelist Recruitments in the Public Sector of a so heavily InDebted Country....
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+ Meanwhile, "Eurofora" had also the Opportunity, through the Italian President of EU Parliament's Committee for the Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime, (a Young Lady, who was the Daughter of an important Judge Murdered by the Mafia), to meet in Strasbourg several times also with the then Liberal (former ChristianDemocrat/EPP) MEP Theo Skylakakis, from Greece, (then EU Rapporteur on another Corruption-related issue), to whom she introduced us.
Theo Skylakakis appeared, right from the outset, very receptive and Interested in almost all that "Eurofora" had to denounce about the Massive Clientelism/Nepotism mainly of former PASOK's Governments in the Past, particularly since 1981+, the Huge and silently Growing Public Debt that this had provoked since the Eighties (1980ies), amist a notoriously unhealthy Context of various Corruption and other "Affairs" of Abuse, (some of which might have even pushed at alleged cover Killings, in certain cases, it seems), until it notoriously "Exploded" in Public around 2009, pushing Greece to its knees, and seriously Threatening €uroZone with a Crisis.
+ "Eurofora" had also added, to Skylakakis, a Brief Analysis on How and Why all that Debt, which had been Growing since 1981 (according also to OECD, etc), was, in fact, Hidden from the Public's Eyes, mainly through a Shady "Deal" between some "PASOK"'s former Governments and USA's "Goldman and Sachs" Big Multinational Corporation, (as even Representatives from that Compagny had Described f.ex. during an EU Parliament's Investigation in Brussels) :
- Indeed, such a Cover-up, particularly between 1998-2002+, had served mainly in order to Strike also anOther Big Deal, this time purely Political and Far-Reaching, between an Out-Going then former Government of PASOK, (notoriously headed by PM. Semites), and several "Socialist" then Governments in certain Big EU Countries, (such as Germany, UK, France, Italy, etc), in order to Allow to Athens to Enter inside €uroZone too much Earlier than Normaly, (i.e. even Before Greece makes then all the Necessary Reforms to Prepare the Country), so that a PASOK's Prime Minister may ensure to Win the April 2.000 Election by Boasting to the People that he would have succeeded to Bring the Country in the "€uroArea" Earlier than expected... This implied, naturally, that the Debt would be Hidden, meanwhile, and several Statistics flawed, (as it was revealed, later-on, with the "EuroStat" Scandal in Luxembourg)...
>>> In Exchange, the "Catch", for those former "Socialist" Big Governments, already since the 12/1999 Helsinki Summit, (i.e. also during USA's "Socialist"/Liberal controversial President Bill Clinton, etc), was, in fact, that the Greek Government practically keeps its Mouth Shut, and does Not Oppose (inside EU Council, Commission, Parliament, etc), Turkey's controversial and UnPopular EU bid, allowing Ankara to become officially a "Candidate to EU Accession", Despite the fact that too many and heavy Violations of Human Rights, persisting Military Invasion/Occupation in Part of Cyprus, Refusal to Recognize the Armenian Genocide, War Threats against Greece in the Aegean Sea if it seeks to Applu the International Law of the Sea on Natural Resources, Violent Oppression of the Kurdish Minority, and other Democratic Deficits, (etc).
=> The Result of such a controversial Political Deal, notoriously were, inter alia, also to provoke an UpRise among most EU People, leading in a Series of Events such as 3 "No" to EuroReferenda on EU's Constitution Draft, in France, the Netherlands and Ireland, between 2005-2007, as well as the Elections of Angie Merkel in Germany and Nicolas Sarkozy in France, (Both Opposed to Turkey's UnPopular EU bid) on 2005 and 2007, respectively, (preceded also by Tassos Papadopoulos in Cyprus on 2003, and Costas Caramanlis in Greece on 2004, Both more Critical than the previous Governments)...
+ But, in the MeanTime, by cancelling that EU's Draft Constitution, initially scheduled for 2005, Europe had Lost Too much precious Time for Necessary Economic Reforms, due to accompagny the recently introduced €uro, so that EU had to Face the Next Economic Crisis of 2008-2011+ almost UnPrepared, (since the EU "Lisbon Treaty", which, at least, Saved the Essential Institutional Tools of that Former "Constitution", didn't Enter into Force Before 2010, i.e. Too Late !)...
=> So that, to Sum up in a Nutshell, that "Turkish Affair" of 1999/2000+ finally Costed to the EU an awfull lot of Heavy Damages, Both in terms of Corruption, Nepotism/Clientelism and Public Debt, as well as in Prejudicial Delays in the EU Construction (Comp. Supra), Socio-Political Crisis, etc...
It's in the Middle of all that, as we saw above, that lays also the Scandalous Public Debt provoking Nepotism and Clientelism in the Public Sector, particularly during certain Former Governments, mainly PASOK's, in Greece (Comp. Supra), which, in Fact, is a MultiFacet and very Dangerous Problem, (Comp. Supra) needing to be adequately addressed.
>>> A Key Point is that a Necessary and Popular, Socio-Political Purge against Corruption, Crime, etc. and for Justice to be done, can meet, there, also the Vital Needs for a decisive and efficient Economic Reform, in such exceptional cases.
=> "Eurofora" spoke Several Times about it with MEP Theo Skylakakis in EU Parliament in Strasbourg, (and later-on even by Phone to Greece, etc), and his personal Keen Interest (Both as EU Rapporteur on Corruption, and as a Greek Politician of our Times), apparently incited him to make out of that Issue a Key Part of the New Political Party "Drasi" (Action) that he Headed Afterwards there, as well as of his relevant socio-political activities.
-------------------------------------------
But, in fact, he wasn't entirely Alone on that issue :
- Inter alia, f.ex., "Eurofora" had a Chance to Speak freely, (even if Briefly), also with "New Democracy" Party's previous Chief, former Minister and MEP, Antonis Samaras, on the Sidelines of a ChristianDemocrat/EPP Summit in Marseilles (France), where we were Surprised by his, apparently quite Fast and Positive Agreement on at least the Main Points of the above-mentioned Critical Analysis !
=> Later-on, when Samaras became Prime Minister in Greece, by a Striking "Coincidence", he chose ...Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the Important Responsibility of Minister for Administrative Reform, (which, naturally, included also that of the Public Sector !).
Mitsotakis with Samaras, then, apparently, had tried to Advance, Carefully, Step by Step, but Decisively, on that Public Sector Reform Issue, and had now arrived to the Thorny "ERT" Public RadioTV migmar : A notorious big Waste, mixed up with Nepotism, and a lot of vested petty selfish Interests, which made an "Explosive Mix" for anyone who dared touch it !
We were, then, on 2013, and, during that Summer's Month of August, inter alia, there was an incredible Massive Censorship of which the Medias of the Left were Abusing, even Against ...the Democratically Elected Government of Greece, by "New Democracy"s Center-Right ChristianDemocrats/EPP, during its Attempt to Reform the National Radio-TV "ERT" : Indeed, then, the Goverment's Spokesman, Minister Simos Kedikoglou, had Denounced to "Eurofora" that even the Official Governemental Press Releases of General Interest Issues for the People, were Not Published, by most Private or "Public" Medias, to the point that the Governing Party's ..."Youth" movement, was Trying to Publish the Official Announements in a Makeshift "Web-Radio" Internet Site !...
(Needless to say, CoE's competent Director on Freedom of Expression, then, was ...Stoned and made a great Effort to Understand what was really happening then, on August 2013 in Greece, when "Eurofora" called him ! But, finally, he managed to Find his words and Condemn, as a matter of General Principle, Any Violation of Freedom of Expression by systematic Censorship, including that committed by the PowerHolders in Private and Public Medias, even against the Democratically Elected Government of a CoE's Member Country)...
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- But, Now, on 2019, the New Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, claims from the outset that he wants to preserve the "Unity" of Greek People, (Comp. Supra), and it seems that he has even promised, (according to some Press Reports), that there will be Not even One Dismissal or lay off among the Public Sector Workers !
- Naturally, he does not speak there about the Replacement or Not-Replacement in case of Pensioners' Departure, (but that's, obviously, Too Slow). Neither of those who hold Only a Short-Term Contract, of a Determined Duration in Time. And he clearly added that he intends to make Transfers in order to place Workers in more Productive jobs. But, will that be enough ?
------------------------------------
At such a point it's a Good Surprise to Find that even a Political Party often Accused or Suspected to be "Populist", in fact, has a much More Strict Program, quite Critical vis a vis alleged abuses by Public Sector's Civil Servants !
- Indeed, the Rightists of "Golden Dawn" have clearly adopted a Political Program with Positions which include Strong Appeals to "Clean up the Public Sector", against some "State-fed" "Corporations" made up with some "Privileged ... Civil Servants withOut any concrete work for many Years", but who "continue to be remunerated by the Public Sector and Harass the People, Hidden behind their Corporative Privileges".
+ "In this Category, have been Added also Hundreds of Thousands of Civil Servants in the Public Sector, who have been Appointed withOut really Deserving that, and/or in positions withOut a concrete objective, but with the only aim to serve a Nepotist State", denounces their Political Program.
=> "Such a Rotten System must be Demolished", and, therefore, "the Public Sector must cease to exploit the People, but Start to Work Productively, and in the Interest of the Society".
>>> Therefore, "GD"'s "Political Positions" ask :
- "To Fire Immediately all those who have been Hired (in the Public Sector) illegaly and withOut Deserving that".
- And "to immediately Transfer into Productive positions of work, all those Civil Servants who haveN't any substantial object of occupation".
(This Last Point is apparently in Harmony with Mitsotakis' above-mentioned Position on Transfering Public Sector's Civil Servants into a more Productive Work : Comp. Supra)...
-------------------------------------
=> What might have Really Happened, then, at the last minute, which provoked that Strange, Sudden and UnExpected "Disappearance" of the Country's repeatedly elected 3rd Party, "Golden Dawn", Today ?
First of all, it's an Astonishing Fact, that, almost at the Same Time, it's also All Other Various, New and/or Old, more or less "Rightist" Political Parties and Groups, which practically ...Vanished from this Election, (Contrary to the Leftists', which remained still quite Numerous : Comp. Supra).
But, for those Other Rightist a.o. Parties, it seems that this was mainly the result of a Voluntary Abstention !
Indeed, Most of them, suddenly, this Time, simply did Not Present any List of Candidates in this Election...
This seems to be the case, f.ex., for "LAOS" of Katratzaferis', "AnEl" of Kamenos, for "Potami", for "Drasis" of Skylakakis, etc.
Theodoros Skylakakis, indeed, has become anew Associated with Mitsotakis' "New Democracy" since 2017, and more Recently, since the Beginning of 2019, he announced that he will Focus into Supporting him for New Prime Minister.
In Wider terms, it's also true that Kyriakos Mitsotakis made serious efforts to Convince most People at the Right Side of the Political Spectrum that, this time, they should Not Disperse their Votes, but, on the Contrary, Concentrate all of them in a maistream Electoral bid which has real Chances to Win. And, apparently, he Succeeded to Attract many among them around his "ND" Party.
---------------------
+ But, could that explain even that Sudden, Unexpected "Disappearance" also of the 3rd Party of Greece, i.e. "Golden Dawn"s faithful Supporters, who were have been Repeatedly Backing that Party since at least 2012 ?
According to some Speculations, they either Returned back to "New Democracy"s mainstream Right, or Abstained.
The 1st hypothesis was made by "Golden Dawn"'s Competitor, Velopoulos' "Greek Solution" new Party, which Denied that it might have disorientated 50% of them, (i.e. 3,5% out of 7,5% of Voters).
While the 2nd Hypothesis, (which is Not InCompatible with the 1st) fits well also with the Fact that Both the 2 Latest Elections of 2015 and 2019 had an Exceptionaly Big Abstention, of more than 45%, coming Both just After many Citizens had felt Deceived by their own Party's performance in Government, but without having found yet a really better choice.
In that case, Nobody Knows what all those Voters of the Right and/or Rightists who may have Exceptionally Abstained Now, could do in the foreseable Future...
It would seem that Both the Right (by Partly Abstaining) and the Left (by Partly Voting "SYRIZA" etc., which, Even if it Lost - 4% of its Voters, Nevertheless, managed to Keep the rest of its Forces, would be Preparing their respective Political Camps for some New Electoral Battles, which might, perhaps, arrive Later-on, somewhere in the Future.
But, Why should also the repeatedly 3rd Party of the Country, suddenly ...commit an UnPrecedented Electoral "Harakiri", eventually by "sacrificing" itself, this time, so that Mitsotakis' mainstream Center-Right's Party can Win against the Leftists of "Syriza" ?
It's true that, at least a Strange (but very Popular at the Internet) Short Video, immediately Published by "Golden Dawn"s Leader, Manolis Mihaloliakos, after Today's Vote, by Simply Focusing into Announcing that "It's Not Finished, with "GD", Because "we shall Return Back to the Streets and the Squares, from where our Strength had come", in the Past, Vowing to Struggle against what he called "Bolshevism", "Wild Capitalism" and eventual "Sell out of our National Issues" (sic !),
(while saying Nothing yet, in order, f.ex., to Denounce an eventual miscarriage of Votes, and/or illegal/immoral Aggressions against his Party, which might, perhaps, explain at least a part of what happened),
=> may make some Wonder if he really accepted to "Sacrifice", at least for some time, his own Party, in order to Help get Enough Votes to the Mainstream Right, so that it will become able to Govern Autonomously, this Time, withOut any more of that Controversial and partly Failed "CoHabitation" with the "Socialists" of the "PASOK", etc., as in the Past (Comp. Supra).
It sounds like ..."Political Fiction", and, indeed, it seems Highly Improbable, but it's also True that Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Friends had Recently Focused all Efforts, precisely into Attracting, as much of so-called "Usefull Votes" as possible, around them, with the Sole Aim to really Become an "Autonomous" Government.
=> And, in real Practice, this implied also that the Votes giving MPs to Any Other Party of the Right, should be Restricted to the Minimum !
Naturally, from a purely Mathematic point of view, the Chances for "New Democracy" mainstream Paty to reach a confortable "Autonomy" in the Number of its MPs, this was Regardless of which might be the Other, Smaller and/or Rightist Party which could, eventually, take some MPs : So that, a priori, even if it is, now, that makeshift new small Conservative Party "Greek Solution" (Comp. Supra), which just crossed the 3% Threshhold, taking a few MPs, instead of "Golden Dawn" itself, the problem seems to be the same.
But, in fact, there is, at least, a Double Difference : First of all, if the "Golden Dawn" crossed that theshhold, normaly, as an already much Bigger Party than "GS", it was expected to take, (as usual, during the last 3 or 4 Elections) a much Greater Number or MPs (18 instead of only 9 or 10). And, Moreover, given the Highly Controversal reputation of "Golden Dawn" (See also Infra), it had been already pointed out, that several among those who are Lending Money to Greece risked to be indisposed...
---------------------------
(+ UPDATED:) => So, at any case, that Party's Legal Service has, reportedly, just Started a Procedure aiming at a "Re-Count" of the casted Votes in All Electoral Centers throughout the whole Country, in order to Verify, for sure, that there was Not any MisCalculation, Error, and/or Fraud, which might have, eventually, affected that Tiny Difference between 2,93% and 3% which provoked, for the First Time, its UnExpected and Total Exclusion from the Parliament, for Lacking Less than -0,07% !...
"GD" reportedly slamed that as "Scandalous", and even claimed that a Witness denounced that someone from the political Establishment, Curiously, knew such a "Result" even ..."5 Hours Before the Voting Stops !"
And this arrived to a Party which was Continuously Winning More than +7% of the Votes during a Long Series of 4 National Elections, already Since 2012, Becoming the 3rd Party of the Country since it Scored 9,39% at the European Election of 2014, (after having Polled 15% in 9/2013), Confirmed up to the 2 Elections of 2015, while in the latest EU Election it reportedly got among Young People 14%.
- What might have caused that ?
The Controversial Rightist "Golden Dawn" Political Party, had all its Public Funding entirely "Freezed" since 2013, its Press Announcements systematically Boycotted by private and Public mainstream Medias, and its Elected MPs initially Arrested and still Persecuted at the Courts, following the Death of an "Antifa" Militant after an alleged bullying against - and a quarell with a Fan of that Party, arrested and jailed, (Earlier fan of ...Communist Party !).
While, on the Contrary, the unprovoked Murders of 2 Young Fans of "Golden Dawn", and Serious Wounds inflicted on a 3rd one, (who were Peacefully Guarding the Entrance of a Party's Office in Athens), in a Cold Blood Attack by a heavily Armed Gunman, (100% Filmed twice) soon afterwards, (Revendicated by a Self-Proclaimed, unknown yet, Far Leftist Extremist Grouplet), curiously still remain Totaly UnPunished, with Not even 1 Suspect having been prosecuted, even almost 6 Years After those Murders (11/2013-2019) !
- But all this had Not yet hindered "GD" to be re-Elected, Several Times in a row, as the 3rd Party of Greece, with about 18-20 MPs, (Comp. Supra).
=> Why Not Today ?...
Several Polls show a somewhat Lowering Curb since about April 2019, without any clearly known, nor convincing cause. And it's true that in the May 2016 EU Elections "GD" got - 1 MEP less. Meanwhile, at the cumbersome, 4 Years-Long Trial against the "GD"'s Party (Comp. Supra), the main Lawyers of its' Opponents, curiously, haven't any Breakthrough, nor New Finding or Proof to Report in Press Interviews, Focusing, instead, on repeated Calls to "Isolate" the "Golden Dawn" Party, in the run up to the EU and National Elections, to Multiply Harassments (by various "Antifa" and other Grouplets on the Streets) against All its Public Meetings, to Systematicaly "Cut off" its Regional Offices from the People, (etc), and, in general, to do Anything which might Hinder them to freely and equaly participate in a Democratic pre-Electoral Campaign ! Almost at the Same Time, "Golden Dawn" Denounces f.ex. that the Only (legaly obligatory) Public Radio-TV slot allocated to them was fixed at Obviously "Impossible" Hours : F.ex. at around "02h in the Early Morning !", and, shortly afterwards, that, Even that, would be Boycotted, because Left-leaning Trade Unions chose to make a "Strike" at that moment ( around 02h a.m. !), (etc)...
+ The, almost Synchronous Emergence of just anOther "New" makeshift "Rightist" Competitor Small Party, (After Many such various Attempts to Impose one or another Short-lived Competitors, Suddenly Surfacing out of the blue, all Short-lived and, sooner or later, Failed), nick-named this time "Greek (instead of European ?!) Solution", which, Exceptionaly, managed to get some MPs now, does Not Look so Credible, neither due to durate for long :
Set up by a Foreign-Born, former TV-Salesman known for having tried to Sell even alleged copies of ...mysterious "Letters of Jesus Christ" in the Past (sic !), and/or Journalist at Various Radios, Failed former Candidate of Other "Rightists" of the Past, accused to have joined the Establshment, ("LAOS" of Karatzaferis), that Recently emerged Grouplet of so-called "Greek Solution" was Immediately struck by at least 2 Legal Complaints to the Police against its Founder, Velopoulos, lodged by some among its Front-runner Candidates to the Elections, who Accused him, by Writting, for various alleged Manouvers of "Fraud", Manipulation, Threats, etc., attempting to Impose one Candidate at the place of another, irregularly, etc... At any case, even its own Founder Denies that he might have recuperated a lot of "Golden Dawn'"s former fans, Claiming that, Instead, they would have Voted, this time, for Mitsotakis' mainstream Right "New Democracy".
But, other sources suggest that Only a Small Part of 1/4 of rightist "Golden Dawn"'s usual Voters Now chose mainstream "New Democracy", another 1/4 might have Voted "Greek Solution" (Comp. Supra), while about the Half (50%) would have Joined, Exceptionally, the recently Growing, "Abstention" (Comp. Supra).
This is added to almost simultaneous rumours that a Part of "Golden Dawn" would Now Aspire to follow a Path SImilar to that of Italy's Salvini, and/or of "Visegrad" Countries, (etc), elsewhere in Europe.
This Fits also the alleged Behavior of Various Other former Small Parties of the Right or Far Right, who would have, reportedly, Joined Recently a Growing "Abstention" : + 12 % More than the usual Average in the Past, (partly, already Since 1/2015), some of them, now, perhaps also in order to realistically Give Mitsotakis, this time, a Chance to get an "Autonomous" Government, (i.e. witOut any Need to again Compromise with "PASOK"s "Socialists", nowadays re-named "KINAL", etc., as his Predecessor had been Obliged to do).
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+ Curiously, Less Comments are published about the -also Exceptional- Succes of Famous former Finance Minister of Tsipras, the Leftist Professor Varufakis, (who had been Invited also elsewhere in Europe, f.ex. by Melenchon in France, etc), to get his "Day25" New Party of the Left, at last Elected in the Greek Parliament, (as also, recently, in EU Parliament, Last May), with about 3,5% and 9 MPs, for the First Time.
>>> This is the Only Success of the (otherwise Numerous) "Left" Side from Tsipras original "SYRIZA" Party coalition which had Initially Won the 1/2015 National Election in the Past, Before his Notorious "U-Turn" towards a more Conventional Compromise Policy with the EU's Majority Powerholders, at the End of that Year), since, Curiously, All Other similar Attempts from that Leftist Part of the Political Spectrum (f.ex., initially, All Leftist Dissidents Together, afterwards Divided in 2 or 3 Different Grouplets, Added to various Other, Older Leftists, etc), had astonishingly Failed, until now :
Today, only the "Flow of Freedom" Grouplet of a former, Short-lived, President of Parliament, (during 8 Months !), Zoe Konstantopoulou, is noteworthy, with its 1,5% of Votes, but, again, Not any MP...
>>> This does not mean that the Left side of the Political Spectrum, taken All Together, would have already Fallen in a Deep Abyss of a Weak and Negligeable Minority... Not at all !
In fact, another Paradox of this Election is also the Fact that, at least in terms of Voters, taken All Together, the Various Parts of the "Left", apparently remain even with a slight Mathematic "Majority", still, in nowadays Greece...
But they are Radically Divided in too Many and Different Political Parties, Old and New, Bigger or Smaller, (including the Pittoresque ... 5 Communist Parties !), that Most of them did Not even manage to get, at least, 1 MP, remaining Out of the Parliament, or are so Small that the Electoral System (which gives a "Bonus" to the Biggest Parties, in order to Help Government Stability) did Not give them but only a Few MPs.
>>> On the Contrary, the People of the Right side in the Political Spectrum, have Now Either "Abstained", (f.ex., at least a Part of former "Golden Dawn" fans, Many Other, Various small "Rightist" Parties, etc : Comp. Supra), or Focused into a Concentrated Vote for Kyriakos Mitsotakis' Mainstream "New Democracy", Giving him a real Chance to Govern "Autonomously", (i.e. with a Strong enough Majority of MEPs : Comp. Supra).
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=> So that, Now, the Main New Question is What could Bring in Europe this New ChristianDemocrat/EPP Head of Government, with Mitsotakis' Strong and Autonomous Majority of MPs, able to Boost a Stable Government in Greece, (but having notoriously to struggle against Debt left by various PASOK/SYRIZA Leftists of the Past),
which was, Symbolicaly, the 1st out of 28 EU Member Countries, that the ChristianDemocrat/EPP Leading Cadidate ("SpitzenKandidat") Winner of May 2019 EU Elections, Manfred Weber from Germany, (and still President of EU Parliament's Biggest Group : that of EPP), had notoriously Chosen to Start Visiting during his Pre-Electoral Campaign, as he had Announced, speaking to Journalists, including "Eurofora", earlier in Strasbourg (See, f.ex.: ...) ?!...
(../..)
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EU Parliament: Sassoli's Election Vote shows that Von der Leyen would face Problems...
*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- EU Parliament's new President, David Sassoli's Fast-Track Election Today in Srasbourg, despite its Success on the 2nd Round, nevertheless, reveals that the controversial, subsequent Von der Leyen's bid for EU Commission's Presidency, designated as Part of one and Same cumbersome Package Deal (the 3rd in a Row !) just fixed by EU Council in Brussels, will Not be Easy at all !
Sassoli's Election was obtained in Less than 1 Day after a Surprise Announcement, Yesterday, of his UnExpected Candidature, according to a Last-Minute Adjustment of the Latest EU Council's Package Deal for EU's Top Jobs, (Commission, Council, Parliament and Central Bank), which had, initially, foreseen for anOther Socialist MEP, from a Central-Eastern EU Member Country : Bulgaria, to enter the race, before he desists in favour of his Italian collegue from the Same Group.
Vice-Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Salvini, had already Criticized the "Paradox" to reserve EU Parliament's Presidency to a representative of a Party which had "Lost" the latest EU Elections, meaning the "Socialist" Democratic Party which had managed to arrive 2nd, but Losing -12 MEPs less... (After Salvini's "Lega" Rightist Party which marked a Brillant Win with +23 MEPs more). This was, however, part of the "Price" to pay, for the ChristianDemocrat/EPP Party, in order to make Von der Leyen acceptable by most EU Council's Member Countries...
After Narrowly Missing to obtain a Relative Majority of the Votes Casted, during the 1st Round, (apparently for 7 Votes, as he indicated himself : See relevant Photo), finally, Sassoli managed to get Elected in the 2nd Round, with 345 Votes for, against 322 and 37 Blanks or InValid.
But a Careful Analysis of Today's Voting clearly shows that Von der Leyen's subsequent bid for the EU Commission President's presidency, after July 15, looks to be in real Trouble :
- Indeed, even Sassoli himshelf did Not Reach the Absolute Majority of the Voters, since the MEPs who Voted were 707, and this would have required 354 Votes for him, But he received - 9 Less than that, (345).
- In Fact, he faced a Threefold Competition: Both from the "Greens" (119) and the "Left" (43), as well as from the "Conservatives" of the Right (143), while several Other MEPs Abstained (See Infra) or Voted "Blank/Invalid" (37 : More than in the 1st Round).
+ Moreover, for the Forthcoming Election of a New EU Commission's President, at the Next Plenary of EU Parliament, according to its Rules, Von der Leyen will Need an Absolute Majority of the Registered MEPs (751), i.e. 376 Votes, (+ 31 More than Sassoli) !
Given the (already mentioned: See ..., and much more) Critical Reactions Against her Controversial, Last-Minute Candidacy, it's Not Sure at all that she might, eventually, reach that threshhold, at least as things stand nowadays...
Indeed, the Opposition of the "Greens" and of the "Left", already visible against Sassoli (Comp. Supra), should, logically, not only remain, but even become Stronger.
In Addition, Many among the Socialist MEPs (particularly German a.o.) are notoriously Opposed.
Most of the various Rightists, (particulary after the probably forthcoming Exclusions from EU Parliament's Committees' Officials, scheduled for next week in Brussels), should normaly Strengthen their Rejection of any such Establishment's "Inner Power circles"' Power-Sharing Deals. And it's naturally Not for Brittish Conservatives to be glad for anyone related to a Franco-German move, qui plus est, linked also to Defense...
Among ChristianDemocrat/EPP Members, several are still inevitably Shocked by the way that their Succesfull Leading Candidate ("SpitzenKandidat"), Manfred Weber was treated (Comp. Supra .., and: ..., etc), while also considering Von der Leyen's Controversial stance on Crucial Nowadays BioEthical Issues, particularly related to Genetic Manipulations on Human Genome, where New, Heritable Gene-Editing Technologies notoriously put Humanity at Risk.
And it's Not Nigel Farage's fans who might be charmed so easily...
As for the ex-"Liberals", will they All really Accept to just ...Swallow what happened vis a vis EU Parliament, EU Elections, and EU Citizens in this Controversial Deal, (See, f.ex. : ..., etc), or maybe Not ?
=> In the present circumstances, give Von der Leyen some More Time than Only ...a Few Days in order to really form her View on EU's next 5 Years, (to remind her own Statement, Today in Strasbourg, See : ...), as well as to MEPs in order to Better Examine all the Facts, f.ex. by Postponing her Public Hearing and/or the Vote in EU Parliament from July to September 2019, (as some already think), might, perhaps, be a Practical Solution, as things stand...
(../..)
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