Europe today is not free from racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, anti-Gypsism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and other phobias directed against others.

Minorities are made targets of hate speech, violence and systematic discrimination, not least in the job market. Responsible politicians must take such negative tendencies more seriously. There is a need to analyse and address the very root causes of these human and political failures.

It appears that intolerance has spread during the economic crisis. During my travels, I have observed that extremist groups and parties have become more active and more threatening and have succeeded in recruiting supporters from amongst young, unemployed men.

Groups such as Roma, who are already marginalised, have been increasingly targeted and subjected to particularly violent attacks. The response from mainstream political parties and other majority representatives has often been meek and confused.

The impact of “globalisation” is seen as one explanation for these problems. Increased migration inside and between countries [read more..]

The Berlin Wall was symbolically brought down marking an end to the Cold War and setting the scene for  the eventual economic unification of European states in motion…

The Lisbon Treaty has finally been ratified and is expected to enter into law in December 2009 in what could be a defining moment for the greatest experiment in the history of  international co-operation and global governance. The Treaty’s proponents believe that it will rejuvenate the decision-making procedures of the EU institutions, making the functioning of the 27 member state more efficient and democratic. They state that the European Parliament, the only institution directly elected by the people, will receive more powers and that the Treaty will help harness Europe’s economic, humanitarian, political and diplomatic strengths to promote European interests and values worldwide, while respecting the particular interests of the Member States in Foreign Affairs. Whereas its opponents argue that the Treaty will centralise more power in Brussels, thus weakening democracy by moving more power away from national parliaments. Consequently, they also bemoan the loss of more than fifty national vetoes, the the lack of transparency and accountability, the inefficient outdated policies; which they claim will actually end up maintaining the status quo.

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