El Mundo, Madrid – For a month and a half Catholic Republicans and Protestants loyal to the crown have clashed over the issue of the flying of the British union flag over Belfast City Hall. But this hostility is latent throughout daily life, as a Spanish journalist discovered in… Madrid Street. See more.
Extracts from UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s postponed speech on Britain’s place in the EU, released in advance to the press, warn that reform of the EU is essential to avoid Britons starting a “drift towards the exit”. The speech, described by The Independent as “the most important speech of his premiership”, was due to be delivered in Amsterdam on Friday but was delayed (the date has not been fixed yet) due to the Algerian hostage crisis. Cameron talks of three challenges facing the EU: the eurozone crisis, being competitive in the global economy and public support for the EU. He says –
There is a gap between the EU and its citizens which has grown dramatically in recent years and which represents a lack of democratic accountability and consent that is – yes – felt particularly acutely in Britain. […] I want the European Union to be a success and I want a relationship between Britain and the EU that keeps us in it. […] There are always voices saying ‘don’t ask the difficult questions’. But it’s essential for Europe – and for Britain – that we do.[…] There is a growing frustration that the EU is seen as something that is done to people rather than acting on their behalf.
The Independent added that Cameron will also promise a referendum on the UK relationship with the EU after the 2015 general election, although this extract was not released to the media.
A year ago today, Romanians took to the streets to express their discontent with the corruption of the country’s political elites and their desire to have a government like the ones in power “elsewhere” — “elsewhere” being Western Europe. A year later, the country has a new administration, but those who protested in 2012 feel they have been cheated, because Victor Ponta’s government is advocating the same austerity measures proposed by its predecessor, and corruption continues unabated. That is why the people will have to talk to the government again.
On Thursday, European foreign ministers decided to send 250 military instructors to Mali, where they will provide training for African forces fighting Islamist groups. European states also want to provide logistical and financial support for 3,500 African troops deployed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), whose date of arrival in Mali has yet to be determined.
Several hundred people demonstrated outside the presidential palace in Bratislava to demand that the Interior Minister give details about a fatal hunting accident involving the head of state, which took place in 2009.
Also in Slovakia, just after Marseille, Košice will be European capital of culture in 2013, announces the front page of the daily, which reports that the event will be celebrated with two days of festivities focused on the theme of space exploration.
Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić has met with his Kosovar counterpart Hashim Thaci in Brussels, under the auspices of the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton. On Thursday night and in the early hours of Friday morning, the two men concluded an agreement on customs taxes to be charged at the border between their two states. The revenue generated will be used to create a special fund managed by the EU that will finance development in northern Kosovo, which is home to the country’s Serbian minority.
Several people — French authorities have yet to announce an official figure — were killed on Thursday, when Algerian special forces attacked the jihadis who had taken hostage dozens of employees at the In Amenas gas plant. Fighting at the site continued through Thursday night and into Friday morning.
Up to 34 people — including several Britons — are reported dead in the assault launched by the Algerian army against Al Qaeda kidnappers who took scores of engineers hostage at a gas compound in In Amenas. As a consequence, UK Prime Minister David Cameron postponed his long-awaited Friday speech on Britain’s future in Europe, to deal with the Algerian crisis.
The Guardian, London – Cartoon. See more.
The Times, London – Cartoon. See more.