h

Nieuws uit 2007

24 October 2007

Blue Card: the EU's neo-colonial grab for the raw materials of the information economy

The European Union is seeking to entice an increased number of highly-qualified immigrants to Europe by means of a so-called 'blue card', a work permit along the lines of the US 'green card', designed to accelerate the import of information workers. “This is extremely ill-advised," says SP Member of Parliament and employment specialist Paul Ulenbelt. “Of course from the point of view of an individual from say Ghana or Ecuador the chance to build a better life here in Europe is fantastic. But the downside is that developing countries will be robbed of their intellectual capital. This is nothing less than a neocolonial grab for the raw materials of the information economy.”

Read more
19 October 2007

Dutch troops in Afghanistan: SP demands government response to accusations on radio programme

SP international affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel is demanding an explanation regarding revelations concerning the role of Dutch forces in the war in Afghanistan, matters in connection with which the government would, it appears, rather remain silent. These include the large number of civilian deaths in the battle at Chora in Uruzgan which took place last June, as well as the engagement of Dutch commandos in the hunt for terrorists during the winter of 2001-2002 in the east of the country, an area where the Netherlands is supposedly not involved.

Read more
19 October 2007

EU Treaty Agreement means it's time to choose: will the European project proceed with the people, or without them?

“Now that there is a definitive text for the new EU Treaty, the question becomes one of whether we try to further the European project with the people, or whether we proceed without them," says SP European affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel. “A clear majority of Europeans want referendums to be held," he added. "If this doesn't happen, the EU will distance itself still further from the people it claims to serve. It will remain a project of politicians and bureaucrats and Euroscepticism will become ever more widespread."

Read more
9 October 2007

Afghanistan: NATO fights, Karzai talks

It will not be NATO but the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, who will decide whether, when and where talks will be held with the Taliban over how to bring an end to six years of war in the country, said NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer at today's meeting of the alliance's parliamentary assembly in Reykjavik. The assembly, in which SP Senate leader Tiny Kox and foreign affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel participate as part of the Netherlands' delegation, was debating the situation in Afghanistan, and the future of NATO.

Read more
4 October 2007

Questioned by SP Senator, President Gül acknowledges past ill-treatment of Kurds

In answer to questions from SP Senator Tiny Kox, Turkish President Abdullah Gül, following his speech to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), acknowledged that his country had in the past denied political and cultural rights to its Kurdish population. He promised improvements and said that he was proud of the present government's reform policies. Kurds now enjoy the right, via Kurdish-language newspapers and broadcasters, freely to express their views, the President said in his first address to an international body since his election.

Read more
2 October 2007

Council of Europe turns down debate on planned rocket shield

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is for the time being refusing to make a pronouncement regarding the political consequences of the projected installation of an American rocket shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. A request for an emergency debate from SP Senator Tiny Kox was denied, despite promises of support from the chair of every political group represented in the Assembly. Senator Kox, himself chair of the United European Left group (GUE), described the refusal as 'ridiculous', adding that 'If this subject isn't urgent, or if it doesn't belong to the core of the Council of Europe's business, then what on earth does?'

Read more

Pages

Nieuws per jaar

You are here

Home » Nieuws van de afdeling
Contact Word lid
Copyrights: Creative Commons bnd (tenzij anders vermeld)