Tourism Industry in Southern Europe Benefits From Unrest

By RAPHAEL MINDER

ANDORRA — As political turmoil continues to spread across North Africa and other parts of the Arab world, countries in Southern Europe are drawing more visitors and witnessing a rebound in tourism.

That recovery is particularly welcome for Spain, Portugal and Greece, three of the European countries whose economies are most dependent on tourism but have also suffered most since the onset of the world financial crisis. In Greece, the travel sector was also hit last year by strikes that crippled transportation and other labor protests against austerity measures that the government introduced in return for a €110 billion, or $153 billion, international bailout.

Swiss military simulates French attack

The Swiss army carried out a military exercise in August based on the premise of an attack by a fractured, financially stricken France, according to a Lausanne-based daily.

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September 29, 2013

Resignations in Italy Put Government in Crisis

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

ROME — Prime Minister Enrico Letta said that he would call for a confidence vote in Parliament, most likely on Wednesday, to clear up the political uncertainty surrounding his fragile government after the sudden resignation of five ministers belonging to Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right party.

In the vote, “everyone will assume their own responsibility, all above board,” Mr. Letta said on Italian television Sunday night, shortly after meeting with President Giorgio Napolitano to discuss the government crisis prompted by the walkout.

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Berlusconi party members resign from Italy government

By News Wires the 28/09/2013 - 18:56

All ministers belonging to Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party have tendered their resignation from Italy's coalition government, Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfano said Saturday, plunging the country deeper into political crisis.

Centre-right ministers in Italy's fragile coalition government resigned Saturday, throwing the country into a fresh political crisis after Prime Minister Enrico Letta issued what they called an "unacceptable" ultimatum.
All five ministers of the People of Freedom (PDL) party took the decision at the urging of leader Silvio Berlusconi, said Angelino Alfano, Italy's deputy premier and PDL party secretary.
The flamboyant former prime minister had dismissed as "unacceptable" a demand by Letta on Friday for parliament to express support for the government next week, in a bid to end a crisis that has driven the bickering ruling coalition to the brink of collapse.
Letta told a cabinet meeting, tasked with approving key measures to rein in the recession-hit country's budget deficit, that no further legislation would be enacted until the political crisis was resolved.
The cabinet had convened to determine how to delay a controversial planned rise in its value added tax, but the meeting ended in disarray amid escalating tension over Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction.
"I have no intention of limping along or being the subject of continuous threats," Letta said in a statement.
Stressing "the inescapable need to clarify the political situation in parliament", he said a temporary "stop to every government decision, even on tax or economic themes, cannot be avoided."
Berlusconi allies had threatened to resign from the uneasy five-month-old coalition with the centre-left Democratic Party over the media mogul's legal problems.
Letta said Italy could not commit "to measures worth billions of euros without a guarantee on the government's continuity."
The premier was expected to ask parliament to assure its support from as early as Monday.
Berlusconi's loyalists threatened to resign if a special Senate committee votes to oust the 76-year-old from his seat in the upper house following his conviction, which was upheld by Italy's top court in August.
The committee is set to meet on Friday, when Berlusconi supporters have announced they will take to the streets of Rome in protest.
The billionaire's legal team has reportedly suggested that any decision about removing him from parliament should wait until the European Court of Human Rights rules on his argument that he should be exempt from the relevant law because it should not apply for convictions on crimes committed before its adoption, as in his case.
Letta has repeatedly called for political stability as Italy struggles to emerge from its longest recession since World War II.
The International Monetary Fund warned Friday that tensions within the coalition were a "key risk" for the economy.
Letta's government was cobbled together following a two-month stand-off after an inconclusive general election in February, and while the government has launched major reforms, it has been hobbled by the tensions.
The clash over the VAT hike is just the latest in a long string of bitter differences.
The PDL has been pushing hard for the government to delay the tax rise, but to do so Italy would need to find over 3.0 billion euros ($4.05 billion) to plug the gap and bring the deficit below the EU ceiling.
A plan to fund the delay by increasing fuel taxes sparked anger among members of the centre-right, who said it would punish already hard-hit consumers.
(AFP)

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Source URL: http://www.france24.com/en/20130928-berlusconi-party-members-resign-italy-government

EUROPE

28 September 2013 Last updated at 15:25 ETGreece crackdown: Golden Dawn leader Michaloliakos chargedThe leader of the far-right Golden Dawn party, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, has been formally charged with belonging to a criminal organisation.Four more Golden Dawn MPs, a party leader in an Athens suburb and 15 other people face the same charges.They were arrested on Saturday amid anger over the murder on 18 September of anti-racist musician, Pavlos Fyssas.A man held for the stabbing told police he was a Golden Dawn supporter, though the party strongly denies any link.

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9/19/2013 @ 1:17PM |971 views

Europe: What To Expect After Germany's Elections

 

Map of Europe with flags of Europe and Germany imbedded (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Much of Europe is eagerly anticipating the results of Germany’s Sept. 22 parliamentary elections, but this anticipation may be somewhat misplaced. Of course, Germany’s importance to Europe is well founded. It is Europe’s largest economy and its main bailout creditor to struggling eurozone countries, so Germany’s economic health is vital to the economic health of Europe as a whole.

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Merkel fails to woo voters in Berlin’s ‘Little Istanbul’

By Sébastian SEIBTin BERLIN, Germany the 19/09/2013 - 15:42

German Chancellor Angela Merkel may be favoured to win Sunday's national elections, but in the immigrant-dominated Kreuzberg district of Berlin – better known as "Little Istanbul" – Merkel is not popular.