Readers may recall the refrain of Dorothy’s three friends in the Wizard of Oz: “If I only had a brain”, “if I only had a heart”, “if I only had courage . . .” Three wishes which maybe sum up Herman Van Rompuy’s comments this week on Europe’s struggle to make its mark in the [...]
Last week’s ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence did not contravene international law was bitter news for Serbia, which had brought the original case. The Serbian president Boris Tadic said that his country could never accept the unilateral declaration of independence, while for Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians it [...]
“The way forward is beginning to emerge”. So said Dick Roche, Ireland’s minister for European affairs, on the eve of the Brussels December summit. It looks like a second Irish referendum for the autumn of 2009.
The Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen is expected to tell EU colleagues that he will seek a second referendum in the [...]
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