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Europe in Review 2015 Terrorism Shakes Europe 4 euobserver.com Magazine Europe in review 2015 Terrorism shakes Europe 4 The year when borders came 9 back to Europe After the brink, Greece seeks stability 14 December 2015 Russia-EU relations: 20 From Ukraine to Syria euobserver EUobserver wishes you a Happier News Year EDITORIAL ADDRESS EUobserver Magazine Rue Belliard 203, Bte 5 1040 Brussels Belgium [email protected] JN in Australia cancelled his subscription to EUobserver Editor towards the end of 2015. Lisbeth Kirk Editorial contributors ´,DPFDQFHOOLQJP\VXEVFULSWLRQWRGD\EHFDXVH,ÀQGLW Peter Teffer, Nikolaj Nielsen, Andrew Rettman, Eszter Zalan, Eric Maurice depressing to read every day how the EU is gradually disintegrating,” he wrote. ARTICLE LAYOUT ´2QFH,IRXQGWKH(8·VHYROXWLRQDQGWUDMHFWRU\LQVSLUDWLRQDO$ODVWKDW ethos has vanished, because its policy makers keep on trying to “please ADVERTISING HYHU\ERG\µLQVWHDGRIIXOÀOOLQJWKHGUHDPVRILWVIRXQGHUV-1µ EUobserver Magazine Rue Montoyer 18B 1000 Brussels How true. How sad. Belgium We discussed his message at our next editorial meeting. Daniele Castaldelli [email protected] How does it affect our readership and ourselves to be in the business of disseminating bad news from Brussels? PRINT Drukkerij Van der Poorten How can the situation be changed, and by whom? DISTRIBUTION 3URSDJDQGDLVFOHDUO\QRWWKHDQVZHU$V2SHQ6RFLHW\·V-RUGL9DTXHUSXW EUobserver Magazine Rue Montoyer 18B it at a recent conference on how to rebuild trust in Europe: “Propaganda 1000 Brussels DOZD\VEDFNÀUHVVRRQHURUODWHUµ Belgium Meg Chang There is only one thing to do: The EU must improve. [email protected] PRICE PER COPY Institutions must deliver better results in return for the sovereign powers €4,75 + postage, excl vat / discounts they have been entrusted with, work harder and provide a better service on larger purchases for European citizens. PUBLISHER EUobserver.com ASBL www.euobserver.com People look to Brussels for answers to big problems, but the lack of solutions in 2015 has been almost inversely proportional with the number MAKING SENSE OF THE EU of summits held. EUobserver is an independent online newspaper which values free thinking and plain speech. We aim to support European democracy by giving people the EUobserver will continue to report on the EU exactly as it is - good or bad. information they need to hold the EU establishment to %XWOHW·VKRSHWKHUHZLOOEHEHWWHUQHZVWRUHSRUWLQ account. HIGH QUALITY JOURNALISM And perhaps JN in Australia will then return as a subscriber. EUobserver is a non-profit organisation established in Brussels in 2000. It is financially and editorially inde- That would be a good sign. pendent of the EU institutions. Our team of experienced journalists file daily news reports from the EU capital and Lisbeth Kirk do in-depth investigations on topics of special interest. If you want EUobserver to look into a specific issue, please Editor-in-Chief contact our editors. We protect our sources. Cover photo © Freedom House 02 ––––– EUROPE IN REVIEW 2015 PHOTOSSERIES EU Commissioner Christos Stylianides play- ing with a child during his visit to the camp of Syrian refugees Haouch El-Harime, in the Bekaa Valley. © European Union, 2015 / Photo: Amro Anwar ECB president Mario Draghi cutting The reception of Greek finance the blue tape at the inauguration of minister Yanis Varoufakis at the the European Central Bank’s New European Business Summit in May Premises in Frankfurt, Germany on was worthy of a rock star. 18 March 2015. Photo: European Business Summit Photo: European Central Bank / Andreas Varnhorn A pyramid constructed with 1 000 935 Lithuanian cents was demolished to mark Lithuania’s entry into the euro area on 1 January as the 19th EU Member State. Photo:EC - Audiovisual Service / Photo: Malukas Petras Iceland definitively dropped its EU membership bid in March, nearly six years after its initial application. Photo: Juanjo Marin EUROPE IN REVIEW 2015 ––––– 03 TERRORISM SHAKES EUROPE Attacks in Paris, Copenhagen and the Thalys train have revealed a lack of cooperation between member states and put the Schengen area under pressure. By Eric Maurice rom the Charlie Hebdo killing in Jan- Most of the victims were cartoonists for Charlie uary to the Friday the 13th attacks Hebdo, a satirical weekly whose offices had al- in November, France and its capital UHDG\EHHQWKHVXEMHFWRIDQDUVRQDWWDFNLQ Paris have become the epicentre of Islamist radicals targeted the magazine because F a growing terrorist threat in Europe. of cartoons depicting Muhammad. The tremors could be felt in Copenhagen, Brus- The attack hit a nerve in France, where some of sels and even the meeting rooms of EU institu- those murdered were popular figures and where tions where the fundamental European principle people felt it was an attack on freedom of expres- of free movement has come under pressure. VLRQ DQG WKH FRXQWU\·V GHHSURRWHG VHFXODU YDO- ues. The first attack hit Paris on 7 January when two gunmen burst into the Charlie Hebdo magazine The killers, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, QHZVURRPNLOOLQJWHQSHRSOHDQGLQMXULQJEH- were tracked down by police and killed two days fore killing a policeman on their way out. later in a printing company office near Paris. A terror alert led to the lockdown of Brussels’s inner city and shopping malls on 21-23 November, with the army deployed to secure streets, schools and public transportation. Photo: Full-tactical 04 ––––– EUROPE IN REVIEW 2015 Meanwhile, a third man attacked a Jewish su- One of the participants in this event, organised as On 11 January, SHUPDUNHW LQ 9LQFHQQHV$PHG\ &RXOLEDO\ NLOOHG a reflection on the Charlie Hebdo massacre, was after the first Paris attacks, around 3 4 people and took 17 hostages for several hours 6ZHGLVKDUWLVW/DUV9LONV9LONVZDVWKHDXWKRURI million people and before being killed during a police raid. It later drawings of prophet Muhammad in 2007. 50 world leaders marched in Paris transpired that he had killed a policewoman the and many towns day before near a Jewish school he may have in- Later that day the gunman, a 22-year-old Danish across the country. tended to attack. resident of Jordanian-Palestinian origin, killed a Photo: Ben Ledbetter VHFXULW\ JXDUG DQG LQMXUHG WZR SROLFHPHQ DW WKH COPENHAGEN Copenhagen Great Synagogue. He was found About a month later, cartoonists and freedom of and killed by police the following day. expression were once again under fire. This time in Copenhagen, where on 14 February, a gunman The next alert came in late August and heralded a VKRWRQHSHUVRQGHDGDQGLQMXUHGSROLFHPHQDW new era for Europe. a debate on “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Ex- pression”. EUROPE IN REVIEW 2015 ––––– 05 BRUSSELS PARIS On 21 August, a man boarded a Thalys high- On 13 November, eight men carried out a series speed train in Brussels and started to open fire on of three coordinated attacks in Paris. passengers with automatic weapons on the way to Paris. He was tackled and disarmed by several They shot at people in restaurants and bars, they passengers including two off-duty US soldiers. attacked the Bataclan concert hall and detonated three bombs next to the Stade de France. The attack prompted calls for security gates in train stations, as well as an initial debate over 7KHDWWDFNVOHIWSHRSOHGHDGDQGLQMXUHG more checks on passengers travelling from one and prompted French president Francois Hol- country to another inside the Schengen area. lande to declare a state of emergency that was later extended for three months. The failed Thalys attack was also a first indication of a new tactic by islamic terrorists, aimed at kill- On 11 January, after the first Paris attacks, around ing as many people as possible going about their 3 million people and 50 world leaders marched in daily occupations. Paris and many towns across the country. Un- der the motto “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie), the Contrary to the Madrid and London attacks in 2004 march was a symbolic move to support French and 2005, when bombs were planted in public and European values of freedom of expression transportation, the latest attacks involve automat- and tolerance. ic weapons and terrorists ready to die in action. The ultimate expression of this was the November In November, the response was more muted, Paris attacks when terrorists shot people before because demonstrations were banned under the blowing themselves up. state of emergency, and also because the trauma was deeper. Under the motto “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie), Politically the response was more operational. people marched in a symbolic move to support French and European values of freedom of expression and tolerance. Photo: villedereims On 13 November, eight men carried out a series of three coordinated attacks in Paris. They shot at people in restaurants and bars, they attacked the Bataclan concert hall and detonated three bombs next to the Stade de France. Photo: Eric Maurice MUTUAL DEFENCE SCHENGEN EU member states granted France the first activa- At an emergency meeting after the Paris attacks, WLRQRIWKH(8·VPXWXDOGHIHQFHFODXVHWRKHOSLQ (8MXVWLFHDQGLQWHULRUPLQLVWHUVDJUHHGWRPDNH operations against militant islamic groups in Africa more use of the Schengen and Interpol databases and the Middle East. They also decided to step up to track identified radicals and criminals. their security cooperation. EU officials complained that member states do not The attacks showed that countries do not share feed and use the existing databases, to the detri- enough information about potential terrorists trav- ment of the fight against terrorism. elling from one country to another in the Schen- gen free-movement area. “Fifty percent of information put in our database comes from only five member states. Member 7KH 3DULV DWWDFNHUV WKRXJK WKH PDMRULW\ ZHUH VWDWHV GR QRW XVH LW HTXDOO\µ (XURSRO FKLHI 5RE French, came from Belgium and had travelled to Wainwright told MEPs in November, adding “we and from Syria without being checked or put under need more connections between all services. surveillance. Ministers also decided to introduce systematic Belgium and Europe discovered that Molenbeek, checks on EU citizens at Schengen external bor- a part of the Brussels region, was apparently a ders, in order to spot the so-called foreign fighters safe haven for terrorists.
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