International

Today the Council of Europe began an extended debate in Strasbourg over the consequences of this summer's war between Georgia and Russia. As Chair of the United European Left group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), SP Senate leader Tiny Kox was one of those who spoke first in the debate. Senator Kox drew attention to the contradiction between on the one side the suffering people of the affected region, the dead and wounded and those put to flight, and on the other the cynical attitude of the political leaders involved. "In Moscow, Tbilisi and Tsinvali they told me last week that absolutely nothing wrong had occurred and that they had only considered the interests of the people," said Senator Kox, in a reference to his participation in the PACE fact-finding mission which was sent to Russia, South Ossetia and Georgia to prepare the ground for the debate. "But when war breaks out, politics and politicians must have failed."

"The attempt by the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg authorities to rescue Fortis was unavoidable,” says SP finance spokesman Ewout Irrgang in an initial reaction to developments surrounding the faltering bank. He wonders, however, why the Dutch state did not take a controlling interest in the firm's banking arm, rather than a 49% minority share.