Europe
Russia carves out buffer zones for continued occupation of Georgia
Agence Europe reports that according to a joint release published by Paris and Moscow on Tuesday evening, Russia's President Dmitri Medvedev has told President Sarkozy that Russian troop withdrawal will be complete by 21 or 22 August - except for some 500 personnel responsible for implementing additional 'security measures' in accordance with Article 5 of the 12 August agreement. However, as the Irish Times notes, Moscow made clear yesterday that it had no intention of withdrawing to the positions its forces held before the invasion of Georgia - Russian troops will continue to occupy large buffer zones around the breakaway enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkazia. The article notes that Russia's "line of responsibility" around the enclaves is consistent with the peace plan brokered by President Sarkozy - although "it is not clear whether western governments had bargained on such a large zone being occupied by Russian troops for the foreseeable future."
Moscow has reacted with anger to Poland's deal with the US on missile defence. Last night the Russian foreign ministry said its response to the shield "would go beyond diplomacy" and said the deal was creating a new arms race in the European "continent and beyond its borders." Moscow has announced it plans to freeze all military ties with NATO. Describing the Russian threats as "bizarre", US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised that the US would "guarantee" Poland's territory. Some 58 percent of Poles are now in favour of the missile shield, almost twice the number who supported the deal six months ago.
The British Government was yesterday forced to disown comments by Labour Deputy Chief Whip Nick Brown - a strong ally of Gordon Brown - who opposed Georgian membership of NATO in an article directly contradicting UK Government policy.
The Independent reports that UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband had breakfast with the main Georgian opposition leaders, lasting more than an hour yesterday, in a move likely to increase pressure on President Mikheil Saakashvili. The article notes that there is unease in Europe and the US at the Georgian leader's increasingly erratic behaviour at press conferences alongside, among others, Condoleezza Rice and Angela Merkel. A Western diplomat said: "The opposition are keeping quiet now because they are terrified of doing Moscow's work, but as soon as the Russians are out of the country, Saakashvili is finished."
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Belgian Foreign Minister: a common EU energy policy is "urgent"
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht says it is "5 minutes to midnight for a common EU energy policy, as the conflict in Georgia has made clear that the biggest challenge for Europe now is to set up an energy policy that has to reduce dependence to Russia, as for example Hungary is dependent on Russian energy for 100%."
Libya to sign free trade agreement with EU
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's influential son Saif al Islam told a youth rally yesterday that they are close to forming a free trade agreement with the EU, which would allow Libya to export goods to European markets without facing tariff barriers. Relationships between the two parties have greatly improved since 2003, when Libya admitted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing. Saif said of the deal, "Who would have believed that we would reach such achievements? They are reality now."
FOCUS Information Agency Reuters
Clegg: talk of an energy supply crunch is Government scaremongering
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has claimed that Britain can be energy independent by 2050 without new coal or nuclear plants. On the BBC Today programme he argued that the "Government have spooked everyone" by saying that there will be an energy gap and the lights will go out in the next decade, claiming that there's actually "no evidence" that that will happen. Clegg believes that 'green energy' and increased energy efficiency would allow the UK to return to its position as a net energy exporter.
He mentioned that energy companies have been given a "windfall subsidy" through the EU Emissions Trading Scheme of over £9bn, and said that spending a fraction of this on energy efficiency would greatly reduce emissions. He said that a Renewables Delivery Authority could help Britain meet EU targets for 20% of renewable energy use by 2020.
Hannan: EU "dying of old age"
Writing on his Telegraph blog, Dan Hannan comments on El Mundo's poll of attitudes towards the EU in Spain. He notes that the demographic breakdown of attitudes in Spain - where younger people are far more sceptical about Europe than their elders - is mirrored across Europe. Hannan says that "To people brought up with broadband and cheap flights, the idea that political structures should be dictated by geographical proximity seems bizarre. They see the EU for what it is: a hangover from the statist, big-bloc thinking if the 1950s. The integrationist cause... is dying of old age."
The Ministry of Defence is said to be in talks with foreign countries to offload its Eurofighter orders after running up a £2 billion deficit.
EU to pay Palestinian Authority 40 million euros more to construct new security forces headquarters
The European Union has announced it will pay an extra 40 million euros to the Palestinian Authority, in a bid to secure salaries for its 160,000 public servants, thereby consolidating its position as biggest sponsor of the Palestinian Authority.
While part of the EU cash should be spent on salaries, pensions, social aid to the poorest families and fuel for Gaza's electricity power plant, part of it has already been earmarked for priority projects such as the construction of new security forces headquarters in Nablus.
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Keenan: ECB facing "a cruel dilemma"
Writing in the Irish Independent, Brian Keenan comments on the current problems of the ECB. He says that the Bank is facing a dilemma in choosing which fiscal crisis to confront first from the many that are occurring simultaneously. He says "the strains from these competing choices on the euro area - a monetary union with a collective central bank and no government, could be immense".
According to the Irish Independent, the Immigrant Council of Ireland has said that a suggestion by a Fine Gael Senator for a mandatory English test for all foreigners entering Ireland is unworkable and could probably not be applied to EU citizens, who are free to travel within the EU.
Irish Independent
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