Tory donor fails to force EU referendum

Tory donor fails to force EU referendum

By Megan Murphy, Law Courts Correspondent

Published: June 25 2008 11:34 | Last updated: June 25 2008 11:34

Stuart Wheeler, the spread-betting multimillionaire and Tory party donor, on Wednesday lost a High Court battle to force the government to hold a referendum on the European Union’s Lisbon reform treaty.

Two senior judges ruled that there was “nothing’’ in the claimant’s case to cast any doubt on the lawfulness of ratifying the treaty without a public vote.

Mr Wheeler said he would now take his case to the Court of Appeal, where he had “high hopes’’ of winning.

He claims that the Lisbon treaty is essentially the same as the now-defunct European Constitution, which former prime minister Tony Blair pledged to bring to a referendum.

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Qatar nudges up stake in Sainsbury
Reuters
Reuters - Wednesday, June 25 06:10 pm

LONDON (Reuters) - The Qatar Investment Authority has nudged up its stake in J Sainsbury , the first time it has bought shares in the supermarket group since it took direct ownership of the stake in January.
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Qatar had held an almost 25 percent stake in Sainsbury through investment fund Delta Two, which spearheaded an abortive takeover bid approach at 600 pence a share last year.

Sainsbury, the country's third-biggest supermarket group, said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) had bought a further 2 million shares on Monday and 5 million shares on Tuesday, representing about 0.4 percent of Sainsbury's issued share capital in total.

This lifts the QIA's stake to 25.3 percent.

Sainsbury and the QIA declined to comment on the share purchase.

Sainsbury shares closed up 4.2 percent at 328 pence, valuing the business at about 5.7 billion pounds.

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Oilfield thefts soar in Texas as prices boom
AFP
By Mira Oberman AFP - 51 minutes ago

MIDLAND, Texas (AFP) - The wide open oilfields of West Texas are ripe pickings for thieves these days.
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Some drive up to one of the thousands of pump jacks that dot the countryside and siphon crude out of the storage tanks.

Some pull up to a drill site after the crews have gone for the night and haul away tools, pipes and equipment.

Others take kickbacks, file false invoices or just plain steal knowing their bosses are too busy riding the oil boom to keep a close eye on accounting.

It's gotten so bad that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is launching a joint task force to tackle oilfield theft next month.

And the lawmen who have been through the last boom and bust cycle say it is only going to get worse.

"There's oilfield theft running rampant," said Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter. "A lot of it we don't even know about because with the boom going on and people making so much money there's not time to go over every invoice."

Tracking down the stolen property is tough. Few companies take the time to brand their pipes or put microscopic tags into their oil to identify it. It also sometimes takes months before managers realize something has been stolen.

So far nobody has been foolhardy enough to try to steal from an actual pipeline. It is a lot easier, and safer, to dip into the crude in isolated, above-ground tanks.

But there have been cases of operators who bypassed the quality controls and pumped used motor oil or even water into the pipeline to mask the losses, which causes big problems for the refineries at the end of the line, Painter said.

"Thieves don't care. All they're after is the almighty dollar."

The FBI joint task force will focus on shutting down the fencing operations which deal in critical parts and clamping down on the white collar crime, said Special Agent Matt Espenshade.

"We think a lot of this theft is organizationally driven -- it's groups of 10, 12 people," Espenshade said.

-- Managers do not want to admit they have lost control --

"The case doesn't end with the guy who steals one load of pipe," he said.

"We're going to watch where that person goes when he's selling the pipe and ... when we take it down (the network) it'll be all the people who are involved."

There were more than 500 reported cases of oilfield theft in Texas from 2005 to 2007 and the losses came close to 78 million dollars, Espenshade said.

But the loss to the oil companies often goes far beyond the value of the stolen goods.

Parts are in short supply and if a key piece of equipment is stolen drilling or production can grind to a halt for days or even weeks until a replacement can be found.

"Any little hiccup in the supply and demand process has an impact on people when they get to the pump," Espenshade said.

And with parts in such short supply, there's a great deal of temptation to buy from less than reputable dealers, said Al Mitchell, manager of investigations for David H. Arrington Oil and Gas.

"This thing is running so wide open, they're making so much money, the (hired) hand situation is so critical," Mitchell said. "They've got all they can say grace over just keeping the operations together."

A former Texas Ranger who got into private oilfield security in 1978, Mitchell thinks the bulk of the thefts have not yet been reported because -- just like last time around -- managers do not want to admit they have lost control.

And a lot of companies, though not Mitchell's, would rather just fire a thief than go through the trouble of prosecuting them.

"Maybe we're getting 20 percent of the crime reported. It might be closer to 10," he said in an interview in his Midland, Texas office.

"There's coming a time when the young management people are not going to be able to not report these crimes. The floodgates are about to open again."

Back in the boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s equipment theft got so bad that night watchmen had to be posted at drilling sites and that may have to happen again, Mitchell said.

But with more than 150,000 oil wells scattered across Texas, it's just not possible to protect every pump jack. And theft is a problem that won't go away when the boom goes bust.

"Way back when I first became a Ranger, crude oil was three dollars a barrel and we had crude theft," Mitchell said.

"It's almost impossible to catch every thief that steals a piece of pig iron ... what we can do is try to lessen the impact."

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Indonesian investment chief backs massive BHP nickel project
AFP
AFP - Wednesday, June 25 07:24 pm

JAKARTA (AFP) - A nickel mining partnership between BHP Billiton and an Indonesian firm in a protected island paradise has "strategic" importance and should proceed, Indonesia's investment chief said Wednesday.
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Investment coordinating board head Muhammad Lufti said the 50-50 joint venture involved investments of around four billion dollars including a mine on environmentally sensitive Gag Island off the western tip of Papua.

"We will do it responsibly and my board will do whatever it can to make sure that (the joint venture) materialises," Lufti told reporters.

"I understand that Gag Island is environmentally sensitive and that's why we have to think about developing the smelting and refining not on Gag Island but on the Halmahera side," he said, referring to a large island in nearby North Maluka province.

Anglo-Australian giant BHP and joint venture partner Antam announced the plans earlier this month but have remained tight-lipped on details, saying the deal had yet to receive board approvals.

But a BHP spokeswoman in Melbourne confirmed the plan related to Gag Island, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world according to the UN science and education agency UNESCO.

The island is also home to a rich nickel deposit that BHP has been interested in exploiting for a number of years.

Strong Chinese demand for nickel, the base metal in stainless steel, has led analysts to predict prices to average 8.54 dollars per pound in the next 10 years, from an average of 3.04 dollars from 2002 to 2003.

But environmentalists have condemned the plan for large-scale mining on Gag Island, saying it threatens marine life in a proposed UNESCO heritage area around the Raja Ampat island group.

The Raja Ampat islands' formal listing as a world heritage site has been stalled by Jakarta's refusal to designate them as a national park.

Lufti said he was ready for a backlash but argued the economic interests to the impoverished region far outweighed the potential damage to the ecosystem.

"We will do it responsibly ... but this is strategic for Indonesia and strategic for the people in Maluku and certainly for the people in West Papua as well, in order to get some kind of downstream industry creating jobs," he said.

Gag Island's forests are technically protected but the government relaxed the rules in 2004 to allow certain firms to mine there. The BHP-Antam joint venture would be the first to take advantage of the new policy.

The removal of the restrictions came amid reports that BHP, backed by the Australian government, was pressuring Jakarta to approve the island's exploitation. BHP denies the allegations.

Lufti said the conservative government of former Australian prime minister John Howard, who was ousted in November elections, had been "quite active" in arranging meetings between the parties in Indonesia.

Jakarta has been desperate to boost foreign direct investment, particularly in the mining sector where companies have complained of confusing regulations and red tape.

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Siemens to cut up to 15,000 jobs: report
AFP
AFP - Wednesday, June 25 06:23 pm

BERLIN (AFP) - German industrial group Siemens is to cut up to 15,000 jobs worldwide as it restructures administrative services, according to a press report to be published on Thursday.
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A Siemens spokesman contacted by AFP declined to comment on the report, which was released in advance by the business daily Handelsblatt, and which said that both administrative and management posts would be affected by the cuts.

Siemens wants to reduce costs by 1.2 billion euros (1.9 billion euros) by 2010 and bring them below 11 billion euros per year, chief executive Peter Loescher said in late April.

The German conglomerate is carrying out a broad revamp of its operations and already announced 3,800 jobs cuts at its SEN telecommunications systems unit and 1,000 posts at Osram, its lighting systems division.

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Barclays looks East to boost coffers
AFP
AFP - Wednesday, June 25 05:19 pm

LONDON (AFP) - Asian and Middle Eastern investors will play a leading role in recapitalising Barclays which Wednesday announced a share issue to raise some 4.5 billion pounds in fresh cash.
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Barclays said the state-run Qatar Investment Authority had agreed to take about a third of the new shares with an investment worth 1.76 billion pounds, with Singapore's public investment group Temasek also taking part.

The state-run China Development Bank, a fund representing the interests of Qatar's prime minister, and Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) will also buy stakes, according to a statement from Barclays.

The news boosted the bank's shares, making them the top performer on London's FTSE 100 index with a gain of more than six percent.

"We are pleased to structure our share issue in such a way as to welcome Qatar Investment Authority ... and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as significant new shareholders in Barclays and also to give existing shareholders the ability to participate," chief executive John Varley said in the statement made to the London Stock Exchange.

Barclays is the latest in a long line of international banking groups to raise new capital by issuing shares in a bid to strengthen finances that have been battered by losses caused by the US subprime home loan crisis.

Cash-rich Middle Eastern and Asian investors have played an important role in some of these recapitalisations, especially in the United States and in Switzerland.

"Through our capital raising today we strengthen our capital base and give ourselves additional resources to pursue our strategy of growth through earnings diversification," Varley added.

Barclays said it planned to raise "approximately 4.5 billion pounds" through the issue of 1.576 billion new shares.

Challenger Universal -- representing the interests of Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani -- has agreed to purchase shares worth 533 million pounds.

SMBC will invest some 500 million pounds, Temasek up to 200 million pounds and the China Development Bank as much as 136 million pounds.

"We confirm our participation in Barclays PLC's capital raising and we are comfortable with our level of investment," said Gan Chee Yen, co-CIO and senior managing director of investments at Temasek Holdings.

Barclays said that following the purchases, China Development Bank and Temasek would be among the British bank's largest shareholders.

"A number of leading institutional shareholders and other investors have also agreed to invest up to" 1.34 billion pounds, it added.

In all, some 4.0 billion pounds was being raised by placing 1.41 billion shares at 282 pence each, a discount of 9.3 percent to Barclays' closing price on Tuesday.

A further 500 million pounds -- the entire investment of SMBC -- was being raised by placing 169 million shares at 296 pence each.

Close to the finish of trade, Barclays shares were up 6.19 percent to 330 pence on London's FTSE 100 index of top equities, which was up by a quarter-percent.

Many major banks have suffered massive losses owing to their exposure to securities that were linked to high-risk American home loans, known as subprime mortgages.

Barclays is the fourth British bank seeking fresh cash from investors in the past two months after suffering losses related to the credit crunch.

HBOS is to ask shareholders to approve plans for a share issue totalling 7.9 billion dollars (5.0 billion euros) later this month. Royal Bank of Scotland has raised 12 billion pounds with its own issue.

Bradford & Bingley is seeking some 400 million pounds.

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バター5000トンを緊急輸入　農水省が方針

　農林水産省は国内でのバター不足を受け、業務用のバター約5000トンを追加輸入する方針を決めた。所管の独立行政法人「農畜産業振興機構」を通じて、早ければ８月にも低関税で欧州などから輸入する。業務用を緊急輸入することで、家庭向けバターの供給増加につなげる狙いだ。

　バターは、原料の生乳不足を背景にスーパーの店頭などで品薄となっている。農水省の要請などを受け、大手乳業メーカーが増産や在庫の取り崩しを進めている。大手４社で６月から８月の３カ月で家庭用・業務用合わせて約950トン増産する計画。ただ、国内の供給不足は解消されておらず、年末にかけてクリスマスケーキ向けなどのバター需要が高まることから、秋までに輸入する方向で調整を進めている。

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食料備蓄放出を確認へ　サミット特別文書で政府調整

　政府は7月の主要国首脳会議（北海道洞爺湖サミット）で主要議題となる食料問題で、各国備蓄を支援用に放出することを確認する調整に入った。サミットの首脳宣言とは別に検討している食料問題に関する特別文書に盛り込みたい考え。長期的な農産物の生産増強や、輸出規制の自粛、食料と競合しないバイオ燃料の普及についても取り組みを示す方針だ。主要国が結束して食料問題への取り組みをアピールし、価格の沈静化につなげる狙いだ。

　福田康夫首相は6月にローマで開かれた国連の「食料サミット」で演説し、保有する輸入米30万トン以上を支援に向ける用意があると表明。各国にも備蓄食料を国際市場に放出するよう呼びかけると発言した。洞爺湖サミットでこうした取り組みについて、参加国の合意を得たい考えだ。

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東電、燃料急騰分を転嫁しやすく　10月以降に値上げへ

　東京電力は原油価格などの上昇分を料金に転嫁する際の上限を引き上げる方針を固めた。９月１日に２年ぶりとなる料金の本格改定を実施し、原燃料価格の変動を３カ月ごとに反映させる「原燃料費調整制度（燃調制度）」の基準燃料価格を見直す。原油先物価格が１バレル140ドル近くで推移しており、この水準が続けば10―12月期の電力料金は５四半期連続で上昇し、1997年秋以来の高値となる見通し。

　26日午後に発表する。関西電力なども追随するとみられ、家計の負担はさらに増えそうだ。

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外食、朝食需要を開拓　開店時間前倒し、メニューも充実

　すかいらーくは26日から、主力業態の中華ファミリーレストラン「バーミヤン」全店の開店時間を1時間繰り上げ、午前9時からとする。朝食メニューを充実し、中高年を中心に顧客を広げる狙い。日本ケンタッキー・フライド・チキン（日本ＫＦＣ）も開店時間を早める。営業時間の見直しで、手薄だった朝食を対象に新規需要を開拓する動きが広がりそうだ。

　すかいらーくは約650店のバーミヤンのほぼ全店を対象に、通常午前10時の開店時間を1時間早める。午前11時までトーストや卵料理などの朝食メニューを提供する。終業時間は従来通り原則深夜2時で変わらない。

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元高額納税者の邦人男性自殺…大相撲海外巡業の勧進元

　米ハワイのメディアによると、ハワイ・オアフ島のワイキキビーチ近くの公園で、元ＣＳ放送社長で大相撲の海外巡業の実行委員長も務めていた位ノ花繁充さん（５７）＝ハワイ在住＝が遺体で見つかり、ハワイの検視当局は２５日までに自殺と明らかにした。

　メディアなどによると、位ノ花さんの遺体は２０日に発見され、警察が所持品から身元を特定した。遺体の近くに刃物があったという。遺書があったかどうかは明らかにされていない。

　位ノ花さんはハワイでツアー会社を経営。ＣＳ放送局「日本アミューズメント放送」の元社長で、過去に日本の高額納税者に名を連ねたことがある。昨年の大相撲ハワイ巡業、今月行われたロサンゼルス巡業でそれぞれ実行委員長（勧進元）を務めた。（共同）

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原油高追加対策、政府が決定　漁業・運送業支援など

　政府・与党は26日午後、原油高騰に関する緊急対策関係閣僚会議を首相官邸で開き、新たな原油高対策を決定した。燃料価格の上昇で経営難に陥っている漁業や運送業者向けに支援策を拡充するのが柱。

　漁業対策では減船や休漁した漁業就業者向けの補助金を拡大する。中小運送業者にはトラック車両の燃費向上を支援する制度のほか、高速道路料金引き下げを検討する。

　政府は昨年末にも原油高対策をまとめたが、その後も原油価格の上昇に歯止めがかからないため、自民・公明両党が追加対策の策定を求めていた。

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プルトニウム：容器封印が不十分　原燃を厳重注意

　経済産業省原子力安全・保安院は２５日、分析機器の調整に用いる微量の核物質プルトニウム（０．４グラム）を入れた容器をフランスから青森県六ケ所村の再処理施設に運ぶ際、容器の封印が不十分だったとして日本原燃を厳重注意し、原因と再発防止策を報告するよう指示した。プルトニウムの紛失はなかった。

　保安院や原燃によると、プルトニウムを入れた容器は円筒形（直径４０センチ、高さ４０センチ）の鉄製。ふたを開ける取っ手部分の２カ所にワイヤを通すことで封印する仕組みだが、１カ所しかワイヤが通っていなかった。

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期限切れ肉を大量保管、最大５年超　飛騨牛偽装

2008年6月26日

　飛騨牛の表示偽装問題で、岐阜県養老町の食肉卸小売業「丸明（まるあき）」（吉田明一社長）の本社に隣接する冷凍庫で、消費・賞味期限が切れた牛肉が大量に保管されていることが２５日、農林水産省と岐阜県の立ち入り調査でわかった。従業員らは「中には賞味期限を約５年も超えた在庫もある」と話しており、農水省などは量や種類などの確認と特定を急ぐ。

　これらの牛肉の使い道や保管目的などについて、農水省などは同社関係者に聞き取り調査し、食品の安全性の確保などを定めた食品衛生法に違反する可能性がないか、詳しく調べている。

　期限切れの牛肉は、同社工場の冷凍庫に保管されていた。農水省と県は立ち入り２日目の２４日、冷凍庫に入って深夜まで調べ、さらに調査の予定を２５日まで延長していた。従業員らによると、社内では冷凍した牛肉の賞味期限を２年と決めていたが、最大で５年程度過ぎた牛肉も冷凍庫に積み上げて保管していたという。

　複数の従業員は「冷凍庫に保管していた古い肉をミンチに混ぜた」と証言しており、農水省と県は事実関係を詳しく調べている。

　県などによると、食品衛生法は業者に対し、食品の保存施設の能力などを科学的に分析した上で、消費・賞味期限を設定するように義務づけている。保管して消費・賞味期限が過ぎていただけでは、同法違反には問えないため、この牛肉が販売や陳列に使われていなかったか確認し、何のために保管していたのかを慎重に調べる方針。

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世界一長寿国・日本、メタボ少ないが喫煙率最高　ＯＥＣＤ調査
2008.6.26 20:17

　日米欧などの３０カ国が参加する経済協力開発機構（ＯＥＣＤ）は２６日、「ヘルスデータ２００８」を発表した。これによると日本の平均寿命は加盟国中、最長の８２・４歳（２００６年度）で、肥満度も最低と健康度が高い一方、喫煙率は最高だった。

　肥満者の割合は日本が２４・９％（０５年）と最低で、米国の６７・３％やドイツ４９・６％、イタリア４５・１％に比べると極めて低い水準だった。喫煙率は日本は２６・０％（０７年）で最も高く、スウェーデンは１５・９％（０５年）、米国は１６・７％だった。

　高度・高額な医療機器の設置数（対人口１００万）は日本が９２・６（０２年）と突出し、米国は３３・９、ドイツ１６・７。医師数（対人口１０００人）では日本は２・１人で、平均３・１人より少ない。１人当たりの年間医師診察回数も日本１３・７（０５年）と圧倒的に多く、ドイツは７回（０４年）、米国は４回（０５年）だ。

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Birth rate up 12 percent in Russia in Jan-April 2008

25.06.2008, 19.43

MOSCOW, June 25 (Itar-Tass) --The birth rate in Russia in the first four months of 2008 increased by 12 percent from the same period of 2007.

In the first four months of this year, 547,100 children were born, an increase of 58,400 from the same period of 2007, the Ministry of Health and Social Development said.

“The number of applications for maternity capital certificates is also growing,” the ministry said.

According to the Pension Fund, 218,032 maternity capital certificates had been issued by June 7, and 17,569 applications are under consideration.

As the birth rate grows, the natural decrease situation is also improving. In the first four months of the year, the natural decrease in the population slowed down by 18.1 percent from the same period of 2007.

The natural decrease ratio in the first four months of 2008 was 3.8 per 1,000 people compared to 4.6 in 2007.

The permanent population of the country decreased 96,000 (or 0.07 percent) in the first four months of this year, according to report of the Russian Federal State Statistics Service quoted by the Prime-Tass business news agency earlier this week.

As of May 1, 2008, the country’s population was 141.9 million.

In the first four months of the year, 547,100 births and 725,200 deaths were reported.

In the same period, the birth rate increased by 58,400, while the death rate grew by 19,000.

The natural decrease calculated as a difference between the number of deaths and births was 178,100 in January-April 2008 as compared to 217,500 in the same months of 2007.

In the first four months of 2008, the number of marriages decreased by 20,000 to 282,700, while the number of divorces grew by 13,400 to reach 236,000.

The growth of births was registered in 81 Russian regions, and the growth of deaths was registered in 71 Russian regions.

The natural decrease in the population was 23.1 percent in the country as a whole, and 50-60 percent in ten Russian regions. It was reported in 18 Russian regions.

In the first four months of the year, the number of migrants inside Russia increased by 20,200 people (or 3.4 percent) as compared to the same period of last year, and the migration growth rate was 18.1 percent (12,600 people).

The total number of registered immigrants increased by 11,300 people (13.7 percent), including immigrants from former Soviet republics, representing an increase of 14.2 percent (or 11,300 people).

At the same time, the number of those who left Russia decreased by 1,300 (9.9 percent), including the number of emigrants to non-CIS countries went down by 700 (15.3 percent).

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Guest-workers coming to Moscow feed on dogs, cats and pigeons
25.06.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/105577-cats_dogs-0

A family residing in the city of Poltava, Ukraine, has been sentenced to up to six months in prison for killing 15 cats and using their meat for food. Some witnesses on the case said that the family was also selling the meat for cakes.

Investigators determined that the family couple had been catching and killing cats in their neighborhood for years. The slaughterers had killed and eaten 15 felines in total, or at least that was what 51-year-old Nikolai Penkovsky and his wife said.

Witnesses said that the couple was selling the cat meat to various outlets dealing with sales of meat dumplings, cakes and pancakes.

Also read: Russian top model brutally stabs mongrel dog in Moscow

The cat eaters were arrested in December 2007, but were later released in their own custody.

Bones and feline skins were found in the perpetrators’ apartment.

In Russia, incidents of cruelty towards animals occur on a regular basis. A 25-year-old citizen of Vietnam was arrested last week in Moscow for killing 50 pigeons. The man had a handcart with him, in which he was carrying the bodies of 50 pigeons, a bird net and some grain. The young man testified that he had killed all the birds for food.

A 41-year-old man from the Kaliningrad region of Russia killed and ate a bullterrier last week. The man caught and strangled the dog with the help of a rope. When he brought the dog home, he boiled the dead animal and ate it.

A chain of Chinese restaurants has been recently closed in Moscow. The restaurants were selling the meat of slaughtered mongrel dogs as beef. Eye-witnesses said that they saw employees of one of the restaurants in the back entrance carrying sacks with something moving and squeaking inside.

Psychologists acknowledge that it is hard to describe such people as adequate individuals. “When a person has a choice of either buying food at a grocery store or killing an animal for food and when he or she chooses the second option, it testifies to aggressive conduct. They used to eat dogs and cats during war times, when people had to do that to survive. Nowadays, such people need psychological help. A human being willing to slaughter a pet can vent their aggression on other people,” a psychologist said.

Indeed, over 85 percent of serial killers, including cannibals, used to torture animals before they started killing people.

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Euro-2008 poisoned with Nazi remarks against Russia and Turkey
26.06.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/world/europe/105594-euro_2008-0

The 2008 UEFA Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro-2008, a sports event, has found itself involved in dirty politics. Austria’s notorious politician, Joerg Haider, set out his indignation about the participation of Russia and Turkey at the European Championship. He was particularly concerned about Turkey’s success.

Haider’s open self-promotion at Euro-2008 uncovered a very serious political problem for the European Union – future relations with Turkey and a huge Turkish community in the EU countries.

Euro-2008 continues for three weeks already. Fortunately, football has not been dragged through the mud of politics. However, hardly had Russian and Turkish national teams made their way to the semi-finals, when one of Europe’s most scandalous politicians, Joerg Haider, released a political statement on the matter. He was particularly angered with the success of Turkish footballers at the Championship.

Mr. Haider said he did not understand why Euro-2008 semi-finalists Turkey and Russia had been allowed to play in the tournament. “I wonder what these two nations have to do with Europe,” Haider, the governor of the Austrian state of Carithia was quoted as saying in an interview with Die Presse newspaper.

Haider is known for his comments on Nazi concentration camps, which he described as “labor and punishment camps.” When his party became a part of the ruling coalition in 2000, 14 EU countries considerably diminished their cooperation with Austria and introduced sanctions against the country. Haider was strongly against the expansion of the European Union, as well as against Austria’s incorporation in it. The politician believes that it would be better to unite Austria with Germany – a remark, which made many draw a parallel between Joerg Haider and Adolf Hitler, since Hitler was the last person in the world to touch upon such an idea.

It is worthy of note that Haider is not alone in his concerns. One of the most prominent US experts on Islam, Daniel Pipes, said: “I originally supported Turkey’s membership in the European Union, but now I am opposed to it. This is not in the interests of either Brussels or Ankara. I think that the Turks and the Europeans begin to realize it despite quite contradictory statements. My concerns are connected with a possibility for Turkey to become an Islamic republic rather than with a threat of spreading Muslim terrorism in Europe.”

The two politicians are partially right. Many Turkish Islamists oppose to Turkey’s incorporation in the European Union. Tens of millions of Muslim Turks will inundate Europe if Turkey becomes a full-fledged EU member. Only 57 percent of the Turks back up their nation’s membership in the European Union, whereas 40 percent stand for military dictatorship against the European election system, opinion polls show.

Two-thirds of the Turkish population would not let their daughters marry “the unfaithful.” To crown it all, the same number of the Turks believe that even students must wear head scarves. Forty-two of the polled believe that tourism endangers the national morale in Turkey, whereas nine percent insist on the introduction of Shariah laws.

The match between Turkey and Germany originally looked quite explosive due to the existence of over 2 million Turkish guest-workers in Germany. The story of Turkish immigrants in Germany began in 1961, when the governments of Germany and Turkey signed a labor force agreement. The document subsequently changed the lives of many Turkish and then German citizens. Every guest-worker from Turkey dreamed to make money in Germany and return to their native land driving a German car. However, many of them eventually decided to stay in Germany for good.

It is worthy of note that over 3 million Germans choose Turkey as the country of their holidays every year. This number continues to grow steadily. Specialists say that German tourists in Turkey will become the driving force of Turkey’s incorporation in the EU.

The situation in Austria is quite dangerous too. The number of Turkish guest-workers in the 8 million strong country is about to reach 100,000 people. Many of them do not even wish to adjust or adopt the customs and habits of the local population. One of Austria’s far-right politicians once said that the Turks would soon start to tend their sheep and rape women on central squares of Austria’s biggest cities.

It goes without saying that Joerg Haider has made a political clown of himself as he mixed football with politics. However, Euro-2008 as a major sports event, which attracts the attention of millions of people, has unveiled very important issues in modern politics.

Sergei Balmasov, Vadim Trukhachev
Pravda.ru