Saturday, October 22, 2005

New Feature – European Parliamentary Round Up

Do let me know if you find this interesting, if so I will try to make a habit of it.

Turks begin to get the right idea
In another of those “Don’t you know who I am” moments the latest problem to bedevil Turkey's attempts to become an European Union happened a couple of days ago when a completely unknown MEP was refused access to the sublime porte, due to the fact that he was not carrying his own passport, but instead his European Parliamentarian “Laisser passer”. The Turkish customs officials obviously looked at it, looked at the increasingly irate MEP prevented him from entering the country, relenting only when he paid for an entry visa and after protests by both EU officials and Greek diplomats.
The incident was exacerbated by the fact that Ioannis Varvitsiotis, a former New Democracy defence minister, was part of a European People's Party (EPP) delegation arriving in Istanbul (Constantinople?) for the 9th Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the EPP.
"... I don't know whether this (type of incident) has previously occurred, nevertheless, it happened to me. I sat there (airport) for three and a half hours, waiting and protesting constantly, and only after protests by the Greek embassy, the European People's Party and the European Parliament was I allowed to leave, and after I paid for a visa, of course, on a diplomatic passport -- astonishing," Varvitsiotis howled to an Athens radio station.
According to reports, upon his arrival from Brussels, Varvitsiotis was told by Turkish customs officials that his European Parliament passport did not constitute a valid travel document as far as they are concerned.
Finally, Greek Govement government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos admitted that Varvitsiotis did not have his Greek passport with him; rather he carried the oh so terribly important MEP pass the "laisser-passer". As only 780 of these things exist in the world is it any wonder that the Turkish customs chap thought it was dodgy?

Meanwhile in Germany

Look ma, Hans has no clothes

In an article sure to rustle a few feathers in Brussels the Handlesblatt has pointed out that German MEPs have little or no influence back home. Singled out for irrelevance is Martin ‘Capo’ Schulz, a man of such insignificance that despite being leader of the second largest group in the EP, the paper describes thus “he is seen as a famous politician in Strasbourg, but without influence in Germany”. One MEP Armin Laschet has moved back to national politics – he is to become the minister for families in North Rhine Westphalia, quite the honour of course.

Showing their irrelevance on the national, now global stage, prize booby Elmar Brok, yup him again, has come up with a bright idea. It seems he thinks that the European Union should form a coalition to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program!!! What the hell. He and his cronies have been hamstringing all attempts to crack down of the mullocracy and their nuclear ambitions. At least the one eyed wonder is beginning to wake up. Of course his form of waking up isn’t waking up at all, it is the equivalent of a foreign policy hitting the snooze button on the alarm, when the house is on fire. What precisely does he think that the god awful EU troika has been up to over the last few years? How will he manage this ‘if the EU managed to put Russia on her side, China could also change opinion’. He also seems to believe that the European Union is the height of democratic accountability, and that little green men live down the end of the garden – not forgetting that Tory MEPs make porn movies in the EP (Well come to think about it, it might be a lucrative sideline – you just have to see the new staffers from the Eastern block).
The madness is of course is that he is the sane one – Described in Handlesblatt as the EP’s “specialist on Iran” the ghastly green Angelika Beer thinks that would be too harsh, ‘to insulate Iran on the international level, would be a “massive mistake”. Whereas apparently according to her and the idiots who make our foreign policy allowing a theocracy which has historically exported terrorism and is the centre of serious anti-Semitism to get their bloody mitts on Nuclear weapons is just fine and dandy. (I am sure that Ms Beer would be delighted to learn that the regieme that she wishes not to isolate only yesterday shot dead a 22 yera old, while he sat in his car. His crime? Seyed Mostafa was eating a snack during Ramadam. (I have since discovered that she has hitched her skirt to the Ganji campaign - credit due)

Whoops
Martin Schulz (see above) looked around himself before the last election, and noticed distinct paucity of brown faces in the German SPD ranks in the European Parliament and thus ensured that this was no longer the case by positively discriminating in favour of one Vural Oger. Oger a German of Turkish extraction is a massively wealthy businessman who has made his pile importing Turks to Germany and back again. It seems that one of his former business partners a turco-Belgian by the name of Guray Serimozu vanished. Oger admits that the fellow owes him millions of Euros.
In earlier press reports, “Together with his brother Eray, Serimozu leads the travel bureau Mediterra. He was kidnapped because he reportedly had debts to a foreigner with diplomatic status”.
Oger of course denies any links.


Polish MEP linked to murder
The Polish prosecutor’s office is carrying out investigations into Paweł Piskorski. The former Mayor of Warsaw is being checked out because a city councillor made some allegations about this just days before his disputed murder. Bogdan Tyszkiewicz was shot on the 2nd August., supposedly by his Belarussian driver. This new information casts a shadow over current theories into his brutal killing.


So what do you reckon, more like this?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

definitely want more like this!

Nick

PS - Someone in the great and good Greek Foreign Office should tell their MEPs that 3rd countries do not normally recognise the laisser-passer as a valid travel document. Seem to recall former Women's Committee Chair Karamanou running into the same sort of problems at JFK Airport. She whined like hell. And when she whines ... you gotta get some earplugs!

NotClauswitz said...

LOL - This is good stuff! Maybe they should carry Star Trek badges and wave them around at the border.

Anonymous said...

The new feature is not my cup of tea. It could get easily get tedious for those of us who are not based in Brussels.

I like the blog the way it is.

Anoneumouse said...

This is just the ticket

I can even recommend a title "The Weekly Petard"

Gawain Towler said...

OK
I will try and leven the bread. Stick to trivialities, tabliod style stuff. Criminal activities - did you hear the pone about DR John Attard Montalto and the Maltese Labour party official. Just wait and see.

The Aunt said...

Interesting comment from the Viking Eurosceptic there. Brussels stuff bores us, don't tell us about it.

And he's a Eurosceptic.

Hmmmmmmm.

Anonymous said...

Well, apart from the Poles, who cares if a Polish MEP is linked to a murder case?

Of course, if you live and work in the EP you might be sharing an elevator with the man tomorrow...

But for those of us who are living outside the Bubble, trivial gossip, murder case links and tabloid style news could easily become boring.

Georges said...

I hope this is the "first in a series"!!

Gawain Towler said...

Max,
That is you with horns up in parts North. I guess you are right, up to a point. Firstly tabloids do sell, and secondly, and I would have thought rather worryingly from your perspective, that Polish chap for example, and all those other knaves, vagabonds and political tourists have a very real impact on your society. They votes on the legislation that makles up upwars of 80% of all new laws that affect your citizens. No doubt you would be interested if a member of the Riksdag was implicated in a murder case. Well that person has a fraction of the influence of a Cypriot MEP as the legislation that governs the lives of your people.

That being said, I hope not to make this an exclusive round up of the foibles of the members.

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