Week in review
British Prime Minister David Cameron offered an apology to the Bloody Sunday families
Photo: Flickr.com/The Prime Minister's Office
This week: Continuing Europe’s right-wing trend, the Belgians elect a Flemish nationalist party, making some Europeans nervous; the victims of Bloody Sunday are exonerated in a long-awaited British report; and Italian authorities tackle counterfeit street sales - just in time for summer.
Divorce, Belgian-style
Is this the beginning of the end for Belgium?
That's what Belgians are trying to figure out after last weekend’s stunning election victory for the Flemish nationalists. Bart de Wever's NVA Party is now the biggest in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region he wants to split off from the rest of Belgium.
Mr de Wever, who has been appointed by the King to explore coalition options, is expected to negotiate with the chairman of the French-speaking Socialists (PS), Elio Di Rupo, about a possible coalition. Maybe Belgians should hold off on heading for divorce court just yet.
The EU family reacts
The EU has been following the Belgian political crisis very closely. Most of the bloc's institutions are based there, and the country will hold the EU presidency from 1 July.
But Belgium is not the union’s only concern. As governments approve austerity measures and deep spending cuts, European citizens are turning to more conservative and marginalised parties, leaving some fearing a return to a 1930s-style of depression-fuelled nationalism.
"This is extremely dangerous. This is 1931, we're heading back to the 1930s, with the Great Depression, and we ended up with militarist dictatorships," said John Monks, the general secretary of the European Trades Union Congress (ETUC). “I'm not saying we're there yet, but it's potentially very serious, not just economically, but politically as well," he added.
Bloody Sunday apology
It's been 38 years, but only this week did the UK publish a report on the killings of what became known as Bloody Sunday. In 1972, 13 protesters were killed in Northern Ireland by British troops. Relatives of the victims have always maintained that they were unarmed.
The British government spent over €200 million to produce a 500-page report that finally exonerated the victims of the massacre. In his unequivocal apology, British Prime Minister David Cameron called the shootings “unjustified and unjustifiable.”
Hold that bag!
Or at least make sure it’s the real thing before you buy it. (Hint: if it’s a Prada for under €50, drop it. Now!)
At least that’s the advice for tourists planning on visiting Italy's popular beach resort of Jesolo, north of Venice. In a bid to clamp down on the counterfeit goods trade, the local council has decided to enforce a zero-tolerance policy for anyone buying fake designer goods.
One Austrian tourist was recently fined a whopping €1,000 for buying a counterfeit handbag. For that price, save yourself the angst and go buy the real thing instead.
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