Λάρνακα

As I said, I was in Cyprus. It wasn’t my first time there, but then, some six years ago, I only visited the capital, Nicosia. My strongest impressions from that first visit were twofold: in one hand, the warm people, the nice food and the sunny weather; in the other hand, the fact that Nicosia is the last divided European city, which could be seen in the streets, but also in the personal stories of individuals and families. This time I was in the area of Larnaca, on the southeast coast. The oldest living city of Cyprus – it was founded 6.000 years ago -, Larnaca has a population of around 70.000 and is an important tourist resort. Originally a Phoenician colony, it later became a part of the Hellenistic world. Being in the crossroad of civilisations from the early dawn of history, Larnaca has attracted many visitors: the Greeks, the Persians, the Egyptians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Franks, the Venetians, the Turks and the British; some came as colonisers, others as traders, but they were all here. The Byzantine period of Larnaca is of great importance and left many interesting monuments, among them the 9th century Basilica of Saint Lazarus. The church is said to have been built over the tomb of St. Lazarus, the only human being condemned to die twice… According to the legend, Lazarus fled for his (second) life to Cyprus and was appointed directly by Paul and Barnabas to become the first Bishop of Kittim (the city now called Larnaca), where he lived another 30 years. I don’t know how much of this is true, but the fact is that I was once told in Provence (France), that Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary Magdalene went there after the Crucifixion and that he later became the first bishop of Marseille, while Martha went to Tarascon and tamed a terrible beast there. So, I don’t know in what to believe… but it seems that he definitely became a Bishop, which is quite an achievement even in two lifetimes… Anyway, apart from these religious legends, the truth is that I confirmed that Cyprus is a country full of warm people, nice food and sunny weather. And I hope that it won’t take me another six years to come back!

Frankfurter delirium

I’m at the Frankfurt airport. Just came from Cyprus and I’m now waiting for my connection flight to Brussels. It’s amazing how much time I spend in this airport, and even more amazing is to know that I have never been in Frankfurt… I already know the ways, the shortcuts, the nice bars, the smoking points, everything. But never been in town… I guess that there are millions of people like me, but it doesn’t make it less weird. I actually wonder if someone ever took the way that leads to the luggage belts, took the exit and went downtown. Now that I think about it, I’m not even sure that the airport has an exit…

Playing with toys

As Pedro already shown you, I got my new toy this week, after almost one month trying to find the way out of the Belgian bureaucracy labyrinth. I finally got my insurance and my license plates and I can now ride my new car. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing! Yesterday the “19 Paul Hymans Gang” went for its first excursion: we drove to Calais and then rode along the Opale Coast until Boulogne-sur-Mer, stopping by the two windy capes of Blanc-Nez and Gris-Nez which offer wide views over the Channel. Boulogne-sur-Mer has a very well preserved citadel with nice ramparts protecting some quite impressive buildings, as the one of the Notre Dame Cathedral, reconstructed in the 19th century and holding a huge dome visible from many miles away. Close by, there’s also a powerful castle from the 13th century. It is a good reward for the more than 200 km drove. Then, before returning to Brussels, we still visited Saint Omer. Refined and antique, the small town has wide streets and spacious squares and an old cathedral from the 13th and 14th centuries. For sure Saint Omer isn’t the most beautiful or interesting town in the world, but it was the perfect final stage of our day-trip around the French Flanders. We all agree that we have to do this more often!

China

For the past three days, the European Youth Forum hosted in Brussels a delegation of the All-China Youth Federation, led by its Secretary General, Mr Jiang Guangping. We invited our Chinese friends to come to visit us as a tribute to our own visit to Beijing and Tianjin last year. Many people and some youth organisations have criticised us for establishing, keeping and further developing relations with this organisation, due to the way in which China has been dealing with democracy, human rights and respect for diversity within its own borders. Even though I do acknowledge that China isn’t a democratic state, that human rights are largely disrespected there and that diversity isn’t a value promoted by its leaders, I have to confess that I do think that this co-operation is not only possible, but also needed. I’ll try to explain why.

Established in 1949, the ACYF is one of China’s basic people’s organisations led by the Communist Party of China. It is a federative body of Chinese youth organisations, with the Communist Youth League of China at its core. These are facts. On the other hand, through its 52 member organisations, the ACYF reaches over 300.000.000 young people across China. This is also a fact. Moreover, if it is true that its basic tasks include holding aloft the banners of patriotism and socialism, and encouraging young people to study Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong thoughts and Deng Xiaoping theories; it is also true that ACYF aims to promote world peace, to represent and protect the legitimate rights of young people, and to promote youth participation and development. In recognition of its significant contributions to the youth and society, the ACYF was granted the Human Resources Development Award by UNESCAP in 1999, the World Youth Award by the UN in 2000 and the Champion of the Earth Award by UNEP in 2004.

The European Youth Forum and the All-China Youth Federation are certainly very different organisations from each other, but I don’t mind contributing for them to hold hands and strive together to promote global cooperation on youth issues, “for a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity”. I believe that our differences don’t need to be an obstacle for our co-operation. I believe that our differences don’t need to be disguised or forgotten. I believe that we can build a fruitful co-operation, based on sincerity and openness. I believe we can learn from each other and therefore improve both our organisations. And I believe that together we can work for a better world, not only for Europeans and Chinese, but for the young people from all around the globe.

Nuke Kid on the Block

This is brilliant!

Being funny while hitting the bullseye:
- the duality of criteria of the US admnistration;
- the incapacity of the UN Security Council;
- the internal situation in North Korea;

plus a humorous note about the speculation on the media...

Diogo's new toy

Belgian local elections

Seven million Belgians and foreigners living in Belgium participated yesterday in the local elections. As usual and everywhere in the world, all the parties claimed to have won. The Socialists, especially the French-speaking ones, because they didn’t lose as many votes as the polls predicted; the far-right Flemish nationalists, because they have won a lot of votes; the Christian-democrats, because they are still the first party in Belgium; everyone, because the far-right stagnated in their fortress in Antwerp… I didn’t vote, as I chose not to register for these elections. Being an outsider, but still concerned, I have my own analysis and I will share it with you.

In the Flemish provinces, Christian-Democrats were the most voted party, with a score of about 31%. Vlaams Belang, the far-right Flemish nationalists, was second with 22%; Socialists and Liberals came right after with 19.7% and 19.4% respectively; and, finally, Greens took almost 8% of the votes. On the other hand, in the French-speaking provinces, Socialists came first with 34%; Liberals were second with 28.6%; Humanist-Democrats took the third place with 19%; Greens came right after with 13%; and the far-right Front Nationale took only 5%. Finally, in the Brussels Region, Liberals came first with 25%; Socialists were second with 21%; Humanist-Democrats had 12% and Greens 11%. The two far-rights parties combined only took 4% in the capital.

In total, and aggregating the parties in traditional political families, we may say that Conservatives won with 22%, Socialists came second with 20.5%, Liberals were third with 19%, far-right extremists got 13%, and Greens scored 8%. No surprise that Belgian politics is such a mess! But these results also confirm that Belgium is a much divided country: in Flanders there is a clear majority of right-wing voters, while in the Walloon Region voters seem to be a bit more into the left. Brussels, on the other hand, seems to follow the almost perfect split also seen at the national level.

In a country which motto is “Unity Makes Strength”, it is a bit worrying to see the results of the far-right nationalist separatist Flemish party, and even though everyone seems to be happy about the fact that it didn’t increase dramatically its votes, I have to say that I find quite disturbing to see that it got almost one million!

Taking it slowly over Georgia

Tbilisi’s decision last week to arrest four Russian military officers on espionage charges appears to be an attempt to escalate a dispute with Moscow to a level where Western powers will have no choice but to intervene. There are, however, no quick solutions. In his first public comments about the crisis, President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accused unidentified foreign sponsors of encouraging the Georgian leadership. It is hard to believe the Georgian leadership, which is angling for NATO membership, would have triggered the crisis without consulting with Western powers they view as allies against Russia. Intervention could help to sideline Russia from the resolution of the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the two separatist regions of Georgia supported by Russia. Whoever the Western powers might be, they should avoid supporting confrontation here if they want to maintain stability throughout the former Soviet republics. They should instead help to mediate and diffuse tensions. The problems run deep. Russia and Georgia have been engaged in a war of words since the later years of Eduard Shevardnadze presidency in Tbilisi. But sparks really began to fly after Mikheil Saakashvili, the Western-leaning president, took office after the 2003 Rose Revolution. Among the sore points are Russia’s ban on Georgian wine and other goods; Russian troops on Georgian soil; and Moscow’s support of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In the longer term, Georgia would benefit if its leadership focused on making the country so prosperous that the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia stopped daydreaming about being part of Russia. Georgia also should start thinking about significant concessions that could be made to induce the separatist regimes to make peace with Tbilisi. If these concessions aren’t enough, it is doubtful that anything will work. Any kind of military action to take Abkhazia and South Ossetia would mean unacceptable losses for the Georgian military. For its part, Russia should resist the temptation to seek regime change in Georgia. The result of such a policy would be an unfriendly Georgia, because some 80% of Georgians support Saakashvili in the standoff with Russia. The worst-case scenario would be a failed state divided by civil war that could again become a springboard for insurgent groups targeting Russia, as has been the case previously in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge.

Convenient Anti-Americanism

During my stay in Russia, the media was focusing on the situation around the conflict between Russia and Georgia, triggered by the arrest of four Russian officials accused of being spies. Just over a week ago, a remarkable document entitled “On a likely scenario of action of the United States toward Russia in 2006-2008” was circulated in the State Duma. It is undoubtedly the largest-scale and most comprehensive anti-US program that post-Soviet Russia has seen. Yes, of course, a lot has been written over the past 15 years. But the fundamental difference between this and other similar exercises is that it appears to have been approved from on high – probably in the section of the Kremlin administration responsible for drafting ideological doctrines. Also curious is the way in which the 35-page typewritten “scenario” appeared. First, a small leak appeared in last Thursday’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta. The newspaper named the report’s authors as Valentin Falin – a former member of the Communist Party Central Committee and sometime adviser to Mikhail Gorbachev – who served as ambassador to Germany before turning on an pillorying his former boss at every available opportunity, and former foreign intelligence chief Gennady Yevstafyev. The following day, Friday, Moskovskiye Novosti editor Vitaly Tretyakov devoted more than two pages of the newspaper to a copy of the report “accidentally” distributed in the Duma. He promised to publish the full text in the Politichesky Klass weekly, which he also edits. Tretyakov is a former democrat who is now a fervent, almost paranoid, anti-Western patriot who does nothing without consulting the Kremlin first, so it is unlikely that he would publish such a document without receiving direct orders. It is impossible to recount the whole scenario here. Suffice it to say that it brings together almost all of the anti-US myths. For example, it says that the United States cannot “come to terms with Russia’s growing strength”, and that Washington is preparing to “bring down” the Putin regime from within, specifically around the time of the 2008 presidential elections. The United States will, the report says, work to isolate the Russian political elite, and look for a stalking horse among liberal groups – currently former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov – and, inevitably, the CIA is drafting an “Orange project” for Russia. “For the United States, it is unacceptable in principle to have sovereign democracy in Russia… that is not built into the construction of global American leadership”. The United States will also work to undermine “Russia’s energy sovereignty”, and simultaneously push for Georgia to be accepted into NATO… The whole document is filled with a spirit of confrontation, a paranoid search for enemies and all sorts of US conspiracies. Yet in a strange way the doctrine is rather convenient, because anyone who criticizes Russian political practice can now safely be written off as an agent of US influence. Consider the war on corruption, for example. This will also become a US conspiracy because the Americans are committed to the “international legal isolation of Russia’s top leadership” and will attempt to create a “tense atmosphere around the key business representatives” and “accumulate court decisions in the West” against top Russian officials. Any anticorruption campaign in the media can simply be explained as “incitement” by the United States. And if, during elections in 2007 and 2008, you hear anyone talking about the authorities breaking the rules, you can rest safe in the knowledge that this is also the result of a US conspiracy. The United States is provoking various Russian Kasyanovs so that they, in turn, will provoke the Russian authorities, so that the authorities will persecute them during elections. Brilliant! Mass protests – by drivers, cheated investors or disgruntled tenants such as those in the Moscow suburb of Butovo who were stripped of their houses and apartments with insufficient compensation – are also, rest assured, out on the streets only at US instigation. The United States will also be behind almost all of Russia’s opposition, including any media reports about “deceitful propaganda on Russian television”, corruption among senior officials, the interests of Gazprom-esque monopolists running counter to the interests of the people, and so on. Compared to Russia, the US really looks like the champion of democracy…

CAHKT-ПETEPБУPГA

I was recently in St. Petersburg. Went there for a World Bank conference on quality and relevance of education and stayed for two days. This wasn’t my first time in Russia, but until now I had only visited Moscow and, to be honest, I hadn’t like it at all. Well, St. Petersburg is a completely different story: it’s an impressively beautiful town and I liked it a lot! St. Petersburg is the Northern capital of Russia, the most European-like city in the country and one of the world-largest cultural centres, well-known for its unique historical and cultural monuments, matchless neoclassic architectural ensembles, long and straight boulevards, vast spaces and decorative sculptures. Founded about 300 years ago by Tsar Peter the Great, the city is located in the delta of the Neva River on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, on the Baltic Sea. It is the world’s largest megalopolis situated this far to the North and it has a population of more than 4.5 million people. There, one can get acquainted with the priceless collections of the Hermitage and Russian Museums, visit the famous Mariinsky Theatre, listen to the concerts of classic and modern music, and enjoy the high-quality cafes and restaurants offering the dishes of any national cuisine. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to explore the city as much as I would have liked to, but still had the opportunity to enjoy some nice concerts, visit and attend a banquet at the Yusupov Palace (where Rasputin was killed in 1916) and walk along the Venice-kind canals.

Substitution

The team at 19, Paul Hymans made a substitution. Pablo moved out and Mark came in. Even though we are going to miss Pablo – more physically than in the Blog -, we are also happy about Mark joining the team. Mark is also a colleague at the European Youth Forum. He is British, but his Singhalese roots left him with a Portuguese surname: Perera. I can’t prove this, but I guess that this fact contributes to make him a very nice guy and therefore a very good friend. He is definitely a good signing! I will invite him to join the Blog and if he accepts the invitation, I promise that at least the quality of the English texts will increase! Welcome Mark! Wish you all the best!

Sooner or later, they will find you

Yesterday I watched « The Others » and it really reminded me of how much fun watching a movie can be! This is one of the best movies I have seen in the last months, and one of the top horror stories ever told! The story is simple: Grace (Nicole Kidman) is an emphatically religious woman who leaves in a mansion with her two children, both photosensitive. This little detail is great! It makes the film completely opposite to other ghost stories, with Grace not afraid of the dark and actually making sure to keep the light out. This provides the film with a very creepy and dark, yet logical atmosphere. Plus, the mansion is also a creepy place, where every door must be closed and locked before the next can be opened, again to prevent any light from leaking into a room where the children may be. Grace’s husband is off fighting the war (WWII). Out of nowhere enter three domestic servants, apparently arriving to replace the previous ones who have abruptly and mysteriously disappeared one week earlier. Things seem to be going along rather smoothly, except for the fact that the bratty daughter, Anne (Alakina Mann), claims to see and hear others… Then, doors open by themselves, curtains are oddly pulled back, the piano is played with no one in the room to do so… What follows is a series of shocks and scares, directed to make you jump into the arms of the person sitting in front of you or, at least, to clutch the arm of your seat so tight that you might rip it off! “The Others” has a great twist ending, that should shock everyone. I did not see it coming, and I normally do… It works so well, that it left me speechless! Bad timing to stop biting the nails…

Alejandro Amenábar is a very young, yet talented director. He made a revolution in Spanish cinema when he first launched “Tesis”, at only 24 years of age. His second movie, “Abre los Ojos”, immediately put him aside some of the best Spanish directors, like Pedro Almodóvar, Carlos Saura and Fernando Trueba. “The Others” is only his third movie and it clearly shows that he is one of the best in the World. Amenábar not only directed the movie, but he also wrote the screenplay and took care of the amazing score! Nicole Kidman is perfectly cast and gives one of her best performances ever, the two kids are also fantastic and Fionnula Flanagan is also great as Mrs. Mills. All in all, a great movie! If you did the same mistake as me and haven’t seen it yet, run for the DVD, wait for the evening, close the curtains and lock the doors; then, click play and have fun!