News Archive – May 2016
EURASIAN UNION:
Putin envisions common Eurasian energy market
UPI, May 31, 2016 – Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in Astana during the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Astana. According to the Kremlin’s press office, Putin will roll oil and natural gas into a broad agenda for a multilateral trade plan that includes deep integration in the form of a common energy market. Yuri Uhsakov, a presidential aide, said a common oil and gas mark could come into force by 2025…. With more than 182 million customers, the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Russia and Kazakhstan are members, is the largest trade group of its kind and functions strictly according to WTO norms, the Kremlin said.
EUROPEAN UNION:
EU superstate laws strip Britain of its Magna Carta rights
The European Union Arrest Warrant (EAW) does not enhance the United Kingdom’s security but does risk miscarriages of justice and undermines centuries of legal protection.
Sunday Express (London, UK), May 29, 2016 – In Germany it is illegal to be rude about foreign heads of state and the German Chancellor, Angel Merkel, has decided to allow a comedian to be prosecuted for making jokes about the Turkish President. In the UK no such law exists yet if Mr Boehmermann had fled here to escape this preposterous attack on free speech we would have had no choice but to surrender him had an EAW been issued. All that is required is that the matter is criminal in the country where the warrant is issued and it is in one of 32 broad categories of crime.
The secret EU army is a dangerous delusion
The Telegraph (London, UK), May 28, 2016 – The idea of an EU army is both laughable and alarming. Laughable because the organisation is so divided and incompetent. Frightening because its proponents within the European elite are clearly distracted from their economic problems by delusions of grandeur. It proves that, despite everything, the EU is still hellbent on unification, on eventually becoming the super state of every Eurosceptic’s nightmares. The latest proposals for the militarisation are, predictably, shrouded in secrecy. Federica Mogherini, the head of EU foreign policy, has delayed publicly releasing the plans for new defence structures until after the UK has completed its referendum – so as not to spook the British electorate.
China Wants More European Union Integration Ahead Of Brexit Vote
Breitbart London, May 26, 2016 – Britain must decide for itself whether it stays in the European Union, but China hopes to see a strong Europe that contributes to the global economy, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday ahead of Britain’s June 23 EU membership referendum….
“We hope the EU can further strengthen coordination and create an EU that is stronger, stable and makes contributions to world peace and development,” he said.
Scottish Parliament to back UK remaining in European Union – The Scotsman, May 26, 2016 – The Scottish Parliament is expected to make “a clear, unequivocal statement” in support of the UK’s membership of the European Union. External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop will call for cross-party support for the Scottish Government’s motion of support for the UK’s EU membership.
AFRICAN UNION:
African Union lacks public support for continental integration
Most prefer their national sovereignty
Disparity among nations concerning ‘free cross-border movement of people’
Joy Online (Ghana), May 25, 2016 – The survey released to coincide with African Union day which is being marked with holidays across the continent show that most Africans will father prefer hold on to their national sovereignties instead of yielding to the AU. Although it shows limited public support for integration, it also sees wide variations by country and region. On average across 36 countries, a majority of Africans favour free cross-border movement of people and goods, but this is not the majority view in 15 of those countries.
African Union to get a standby Peacekeeping Force – Africanews (Congo-Brazzaville), May 25, 2016 – The African Union will soon be equipped with it’s own standby peacekeeping force. The announcement was made during an open debate of the UN Security Council on the theme: “United Nations-African Union peace and security cooperation.”
EUROPEAN UNION:
Britain ‘will be FORCED’ to join new EU army UNLESS we back a Brexit
The Daily Express (London, UK), May 25, 2016 – The treaty was signed by Gordon Brown in December 2007 when he betrayed the British people by going back on a promise to allow voters to give their view on it in a referendum. One clause specifically states that member states which have defence cooperation agreements to use them as the basis of a future EU military which the treaty also states will be created.
It says: “Those member states whose military capabilities fulfil higher criteria and which have made more binding commitments to one another in this area with a view to the most demanding missions shall establish permanent structured cooperation within the [European] Union framework.” The UK has a formal bilateral military agreement with France which means both would be obliged to follow the agreement and work towards creating an EU military.
….Recently, German defence minister Ursula von der Leye declared: “The European Army is our long-term goal, but first we have to strengthen the European Defence Union.”
SAARC:
SAARC Development Fund, ADB ink pact for co-financing projects
The Hindu Business Line, May 23, 2016 – “Asian Development Bank (ADB) and SAARC Development Fund (SDF) have signed an MoU and agreed to collaborate for the development of the SAARC region through co-financing of projects and programmes focusing on regional connectivity /integration and economic cooperation among the SAARC member states”, SDF said in a statement.
‘Modi to attend SAARC conference in Islamabad’ – International News (Pakistan), May 20, 2016 – Emphasizing the importance of reinitiating the stalled dialogue process between India and Pakistan, Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference in Islamabad…. Commenting further on bilateral ties between the two South Asian neighbours, the Indian high commissioner said talks must be held on all issues, including Kashmir. “India is ready and will go ahead with the talks,” he added.
EUROPEAN UNION:
Nazis created ‘basic plan’ for European Union, Ukip MEP Gerard Batten says
Nazi report proposed ‘harmonisation’ of European currencies, currency system
Sections on Agriculture, Industry, Employment, Transport, Trade, Currency
The Independent (London, UK), May 15, 2016 – The Nazis drew up the “basic plan” for the European Union decades before it was actually established, a Ukip MEP has claimed. Gerard Batten on Monday stepped up to defend Boris Johnson, who on Sunday attracted criticism for likening the EU’s aims to those of Adolf Hitler. Mr Batten however suggested Mr Johnson had actually underplayed the connections between the EU and the Nazis, and that the bloc had “closer links” with the fascists than many realized.
“In 1942 when the Germans still thought they were going to win the war they produced a report…. “The report contained sections on Agriculture, Industry, Employment, Transport, Trade, Economic Agreements, and Currency. It proposed the ‘harmonisation’ of European currencies and a harmonised currency system.
SAARC:
SAARC urges banking framework cooperation
Daily Times (Pakistan), May 16, 2016 – State Bank of Pakistan Governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra has emphasised the importance of enhanced cooperation among the central banks to develop regional correspondent banking channels for facilitating the trade and flow of remittances in the region. He was addressing to the inaugural session on a seminar on “Payment Systems and Correspondent Banking in the SAARC Region”…. The seminar was attended by participants from the central banks of SAARC countries.
AFRICAN UNION, ARAB LEAGUE:
U.S. and allies ready to help arm Libyan forces against Islamic State
Washington Post, May 16, 2016 – In a joint communique after a lengthy meeting on ways to rein in chaos in Libya, the diplomats said they would support Libya’s request to be exempted from a U.N. embargo that was put in place five years ago to keep arms out of the hands of Islamist militants and rival militias locked in a power struggle…. The statement was signed by the United States and 20 other nations, including four other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and by four organizations: the European Union, the United Nations, the Arab League and the African Union.
GCC:
GCC army chiefs of staff discuss activation of defense integration
Kuwait News Agency, May 16, 2016 – GCC Assistant Secetary General for Military Affairs Major General Khalifa bin Humaid Al Kaabi lauded Saudi Arabia’s effective role in achieving the bloc’s joint goals and boosting joint military action.
UAE, Saudi Arabia set up coordination body
Under the umbrella of the Gulf Cooperation Council
Gulf News (Dubai, UAE), May 16, 2016 – The agreement comes on the backdrop of the strong religious, historical, social and cultural relations between the two countries under the umbrella of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)…. The talks touched on Emirati-Saudi strategic relations, and ways to take them to greater heights in all spheres in order to serve common interests and strengthen the GCC’s drive.
UNASUR:
U.S. behind dwindling leftist influence in LatAm: expert
New China | Xinhua, May 13, 2016 – The U.S. government aims to stamp out progressive governments in Latin America with the help of its conservative allies, Argentine political observer Atilio Boron told Xinhua…. Part of the strategy is to undermine regional integration blocs, such as the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), said Boron.
The strategy of the current, globalist-controlled US foreign policy is not to destroy regional blocs like UNASUR completely, but to steer such maverick blocs into the globalist network of regions. Western globalist financiers have not appeared overly concerned that blocs like UNASUR and the African Union have had, as their initial grassroots organizing motive, an anti-colonialist, ant-imperialist sentiment. Whatever it took to prompt the initial unification was fine with the globalists, as their intent has been to undermine that sentiment once these blocs become more established. Such is the current situation in South America, Africa, and the Middle East.
EUROPEAN UNION:
Boris Johnson: The EU wants a superstate, just as Hitler did
The Telegraph (London, UK), May 14, 2016 – In a dramatic interview with the Telegraph, he warns that while bureaucrats in Brussels are using “different methods” from the Nazi dictator, they share the aim of unifying Europe under one “authority”…. The former mayor of London, who is a keen classical scholar, argues that the past 2,000 years of European history have been characterised by repeated attempts to unify Europe under a single government in order to recover the continent’s lost “golden age” under the Romans.
NEW WORLD ORDER?
Sen. Sessions: Election offers a simple choice
Remain a nation-state or slide toward ‘soulless globalism’
‘Divide between Trump and Clinton on the role of government could not be more stark’
By Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala), USA Today, May 12, 2016 – For the first time in a long time, this November will give Americans a clear choice on perhaps the most important issue facing our country and our civilization: whether we remain a nation-state that serves its own people, or whether we slide irrevocably toward a soulless globalism that treats humans as interchangeable widgets in the world market.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., was the first senator to endorse Donald Trump
GCC:
GCC fast on track to realize integration – Min. Al-Ali
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), May 12, 2016 – The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states are proceeding at accelerating pace to achieve trade and industrial integration, said Kuait’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Yousef Al-Ali…. The GCC states have cut a long path toward integration, and efforts are being lavished to complete the implementation of the GCC Customs Union and unify customs, economic and legal policies, as well as accomplishing the Gulf road and railway networks, Al-Ali added.
EURASIAN UNION:
Lawmaker says Eurasian Economic Union membership helps cope with crisis
TASS (Russia), May 11, 2016 – The participation in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) helps its members cope with the aftermath of the global economic crisis, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Valentina Matviyenko said on Wednesday addressing Kazakh lawmakers….
“Under these circumstances, we believe there is no alternative to purposeful joint work to further develop and strengthen the Eurasian Economic Union,” the speaker said.
AFRICAN UNION – EAC:
World Bank to assist EAC achieve full integration
EAC Common Market: ‘Free movement of goods, services and labour’
Shanghai Daily | Xinhua (China), May 9, 2016 – The World Bank said on Sunday it will work with the East African Community (EAC) partner states to help the economic bloc achieve full regional integration. “The project aims at helping the EAC overcome the constraints that have prevented full implementation of the EAC Common Market protocol,” Lubega-Kyazze said. EAC member states include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi…. She noted that the EAC Common Market Protocol was signed in 2010 but the trading block is yet to fully liberalize the free movement of goods, services and labour.
AU rolls out continental passport
To speed up establishment of Africa Economic Community, ‘free movement of Africans across the continent’
The Herald (Zimbabwe), May 9, 2016 – The African Union (AU) said on Saturday it has started the process of issuing the continent’s passport. Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Amina Mohamed …. said that regional economic blocs such as the East African Community have already introduced a regional passport to ease travel within the blocs. “The African passport will build on the success achieved by the trading blocs and help to achieve the dream of free movement of Africans across the continent,” she said. The cabinet ecretary noted that the continental passport will help to speed up the process of establishment of the Africa Economic Community. “It will also boost intra-Africa trade that is below the level of other continents,” she added. – Xinhua.
NORTH AMERICA:
Paul Ryan, Architect of Open Borders, Says He Won’t Back Trump Over Hillary
Breitbart, May 5, 2016 – House Speaker Paul Ryan says he cannot currently support Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee chosen by the Republican electorate. “I’m just not ready to do that at this point. I’m not there right now,” Ryan told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday….
CNN reports that Ryan’s opposition likely stems from Trump’s positions on trade and immigration:
Asked whether Trump’s proposed Muslim ban, his opposition to free trade and his call to deport 12 million undocumented immigrants would preclude him from ever supporting Trump, Ryan said: ‘We got work to do.’
Donald Trump: ‘I’m Not Ready to Support Speaker Ryan’s Agenda’ – Breitbart, May 5, 2016 – Likely Republican nominee Donald Trump responded to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s statement earlier Thursday that he’s “not ready” to support Trump. “I am not ready to support Speaker Ryan’s agenda,” Trump said in an emailed statement.
EUROPEAN UNION:
Donald Trump Backs UK Leaving European Union
Breitbart, May 5, 2016 – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he thinks Britain would be better off out of the European Union….
Speaking to Fox News this evening Mr. Trump reflected on the EU and the migration crisis. He said: “I think the migration has been a horrible thing for Europe. A lot of that was pushed by the EU. I would say that they’re better off without it personally, but I’m not making that as a recommendation – just my feeling … I would say that they’re better off without it, but I want them to make their own decision”.
EUROPEAN UNION:
EU was designed to be United States of Europe, Brussels founder claims in shock interview
Plan was to create a state resembling the US
The Express (London, UK), May 4, 2016 – Georges Berthoin, a surviving member of the European coal and steel commission cabinet, has revealed the initial idea of the EU was to create a closer union. The cabinet was the first step towards a federation of Europe and set up in 1952. But the EU was set up as the European Economic Community in 1957 and seen as a trade agreement between countries in the continent. But Mr Berthoin has revealed the long-term plan was to create a state resembling the US…. It comes as it was revealed plans for a United States of Europe were drawn up in a bid to give Brussels bureaucrats an iron grip over the continent, it has been revealed.
European Union countries could face hefty fines for rejected refugees
New super EU asylum agency would also be set up
CBC News (Canada), May 4, 2016 – European Union countries that refuse to accept refugees under proposals to overhaul the EU’s failed asylum laws could face large fines for each asylum seeker rejected. The penalties are part of a European Commission plan to be made public Wednesday to more evenly share the burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict and violence in places like Syria, with the current asylum system on the verge of collapse. One document seen by The Associated Press shows that the fines — dubbed a “solidarity contribution” — could total 250,000 euros (about $364,470 Cdn) for each asylum seeker a country turns down.
SAARC:
SAARC members to set common standards on labour migration
Minimum common standards on ‘social security’
Himalayan Times (Nepal), May 3, 2016 – Member states of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation have joined hands to set minimum common standards on labour migration, that would include information regarding working conditions, working hours, leave and vacation time and social security of workers…. The two-day workshop was attended by representatives of labour ministries of the eight SAARC countries.
NORTH AMERICA:
Instead of blanket trade agreements, Donald Trump wants to negotiate one-on-one with countries
No more NAFTA, TPP
Washington Post, May 2, 2016 – Donald Trump wants the United States to stop negotiating blanket trade deals that include a number of countries, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, and instead negotiate one-on-one with individual countries.
“I don’t mind making agreements, but we shouldn’t make agreements with 12 countries,” Trump said at a rally in this Indiana college town Monday night. “We should make agreements with one-on-one. One-on-one. One-on-one. And you know what? If they don’t treat us right, we pull the agreement.”
“One-on-one, one-on-one, one-on-one”: No wonder Bobby Knight and Lou Holtz endorsed him.
ASEAN:
ASEAN needs Schengen-like system: top Thai business school head
EU model for ‘free movement of people’ throughout Southeast Asian nations
Nikkei Asian Review (Japan), May 3, 2016 – If Southeast Asian countries want to make their common market more effectively function as a pan-regional economy, they should accelerate the free movement of people, according to the head of the region’s top business school.
In an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review in late April, Dipak Jain, director of Sasin Graduate School of Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said, “ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) should install its own version of Schengen rules” to let people move freely within the region. Jain was referring to the European Union’s arrangement that allows member states’ nationals to cross each other’s borders without passport checks.
EUROPEAN UNION:
Germany to push for progress towards European army
Calls for joint civil-military HQ, council of defense ministers
Financial Times (UK), May 2, 2016 (Google link) – Germany is to push for progress towards a European army by advocating a joint headquarters and shared military assets, according to defence plans that could ricochet into Britain’s EU referendum campaign. Although Berlin has long paid lip-service to forming a “European defence union”, the white paper is one of the most significant for Germany in recent years and may be seized by anti-integration Brexit campaigners as a sign where the bloc is heading.