Post by Kassandros on Dec 8, 2008 12:39:47 GMT -5
www.neurope.eu/articles/90982.php
“The Last Days of Pompei” Syndrome
8 December 2008 - Issue : 811
Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Sergei Stanichev (L) and of Greece Costas Karamanlis are at the gun point of the European Commission services , which “penalises” their countries for disobeying Washington, with the political blessings of President Jose Manuel Barroso
Due to a lack of space this week, we defer to the first issue of next year - just to have a spicy start, - the publication of documents proving that the Barroso Commission has “forgotten,” to say the least, to keep its promises to the Court of Auditors and issue a Commission Decision for the Eximo case.
This week, having in mind the Commission’s approach to the Eximo case, we will look at the behaviour of the Barroso Commission as to other most important issues, which are supposedly judged on the same legal, moral and ethical principles.
Without prejudice, it goes beyond any logical doubt that if the Eximo dossier ever fell on the desk of a prosecutor it would probably be investigated for possible criminal aspects. The Eximo case, which deprived the Community budget of 25 million Euro (plus interest,) was handled by the same Commission officials who handle similar cases, involving other countries, with very serious repercussions to the social peace and political future of those countries.
The Barroso Commission, for which President Jose Manuel Barroso himself and his Commissioner for Agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel, are politically responsible, generously granted Germany 25 million Euro (plus interest,) as if there were millions coming out of their own pockets. The same Commission, using the same tools (OLAF and the Department of Agriculture,) and the same officials, is using the same rules and principles to make happy their overseas friends at the expense of two Member States. Bulgaria was sentenced to an economic “death,” with less evidence and without any high-ranking politician or official of the government of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev having taken the initiative to make “gifts” to anybody. In the case of Eximo, the “gift” of the Barroso Commission to Germany was 25 million Euro, in cash.
Why Bulgaria is persecuted by the European Commission in any possible occasion is a different story and does not have to do with the substance of the Commission’s claims against Sofia. It has to do with the political choices of the Bulgarian government as to oil and gas pipelines crossing its territory. Washington is contrary to “vertical” pipelines in Europe, pipelines such as “South Str eam” and “Burgas-Alexand roupolis,” go - ing from north to south. Instead, Am erican interests, expressed through Brussels, are putting pressure for the exclusive development of “horizontal” pipelines, that is, pipelines going from east to west. Such pipelines are “Nabucco” and “Baku-Ceyhan.”
Bulgaria has for some time been at the gunpoint of the European Commission, and, in particular, of the anti-fraud department, which is using all of its severity and intolerance to penalise Bulgaria at every occasion. It is a common secret in Brussels that the purpose of the Commission’s “rigidity” shown to Sofia is aimed at forcing a change of government in Bulgaria that will bring into power a new coalition which will abandon the two pipeline projects. Wait till next summer, and if Sergei Stanishev loses power, then you will witness a new Bulgarian government, to which the Commission will display all of its tolerance on the grounds of its discretionary powers, and the money will start flowing again to Sofia while “South Stream” and “Burgas-Alexandroupolis” will be completely forgotten.
For the same reasons, Greece - the leading EU Member State in Southeast Europe which has its own political approach to energy supplies by participating, together with Bulgaria, in the two Moscow- promoted “vertical” pipelines - has also been placed at the gunpoint of the Commission. With Greece, however, things are more difficult, because it is an EU Member State and a full NATO Member for many decades and, thusly, more drastic measures are required. The government of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is facing an escalation of intolerance and tough penalties on the part of the Commission services, in particular of the Department of Agriculture under Com - missioner Mariann Fischer Boel with the blessings of President Jose Manuel Barroso himself. The obvious purpose is to bring a new government to power, probably a leftist coalition, that will also abandon the two “vertical” pipeline projects.
The Karamanlis government first “ignored” the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and his USsupported “Nabuco” pipeline project, and then, a few days later, signed with the Bulgarians and then Russian President Vladimir Putin the “South Stream” pipeline agreement. Since then, Costas Karamanlis has been facing an escalation of political attacks by US-“friendly” opposition media. Indeed, Greece is in the orbit of endless TV debates and Parliamentary investigations centred on scandals which eventually end by proving nothing, but are gradually destroying the image of the government.
One such case was the attempted suicide of an under-Secretary of State which was immediately associated with presumed maladministration of state funds and which, after several months of “explosive” reveals, proved to be only a love story of a married man with an overambitious woman. The same happened with the presumed maladministration of bonds owned by pension funds, which after endless accusations, proved that the same administrative pattern was used for decades. Currently, public attention in Greece is focused on a scandal at a Monastery of Mount Athos whose protagonist is a Cypriot monk-businessman, with several million Euro of transactions through offshore companies, where, despite the government apparently not being involved, gets bad publicity because it does not control any media. It is highly likely that when the Mount Athos scandal is completely investigated and no government responsibilities are proven, the government will have lost in the opinion polls another couple of percentage points, and the US-friendly media will discover another presumed scandal, this time probably involving the Ministry of Economy. This, according to our sources is scheduled for early next February
“The Last Days of Pompei” Syndrome
8 December 2008 - Issue : 811
Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Sergei Stanichev (L) and of Greece Costas Karamanlis are at the gun point of the European Commission services , which “penalises” their countries for disobeying Washington, with the political blessings of President Jose Manuel Barroso
Due to a lack of space this week, we defer to the first issue of next year - just to have a spicy start, - the publication of documents proving that the Barroso Commission has “forgotten,” to say the least, to keep its promises to the Court of Auditors and issue a Commission Decision for the Eximo case.
This week, having in mind the Commission’s approach to the Eximo case, we will look at the behaviour of the Barroso Commission as to other most important issues, which are supposedly judged on the same legal, moral and ethical principles.
Without prejudice, it goes beyond any logical doubt that if the Eximo dossier ever fell on the desk of a prosecutor it would probably be investigated for possible criminal aspects. The Eximo case, which deprived the Community budget of 25 million Euro (plus interest,) was handled by the same Commission officials who handle similar cases, involving other countries, with very serious repercussions to the social peace and political future of those countries.
The Barroso Commission, for which President Jose Manuel Barroso himself and his Commissioner for Agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel, are politically responsible, generously granted Germany 25 million Euro (plus interest,) as if there were millions coming out of their own pockets. The same Commission, using the same tools (OLAF and the Department of Agriculture,) and the same officials, is using the same rules and principles to make happy their overseas friends at the expense of two Member States. Bulgaria was sentenced to an economic “death,” with less evidence and without any high-ranking politician or official of the government of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev having taken the initiative to make “gifts” to anybody. In the case of Eximo, the “gift” of the Barroso Commission to Germany was 25 million Euro, in cash.
Why Bulgaria is persecuted by the European Commission in any possible occasion is a different story and does not have to do with the substance of the Commission’s claims against Sofia. It has to do with the political choices of the Bulgarian government as to oil and gas pipelines crossing its territory. Washington is contrary to “vertical” pipelines in Europe, pipelines such as “South Str eam” and “Burgas-Alexand roupolis,” go - ing from north to south. Instead, Am erican interests, expressed through Brussels, are putting pressure for the exclusive development of “horizontal” pipelines, that is, pipelines going from east to west. Such pipelines are “Nabucco” and “Baku-Ceyhan.”
Bulgaria has for some time been at the gunpoint of the European Commission, and, in particular, of the anti-fraud department, which is using all of its severity and intolerance to penalise Bulgaria at every occasion. It is a common secret in Brussels that the purpose of the Commission’s “rigidity” shown to Sofia is aimed at forcing a change of government in Bulgaria that will bring into power a new coalition which will abandon the two pipeline projects. Wait till next summer, and if Sergei Stanishev loses power, then you will witness a new Bulgarian government, to which the Commission will display all of its tolerance on the grounds of its discretionary powers, and the money will start flowing again to Sofia while “South Stream” and “Burgas-Alexandroupolis” will be completely forgotten.
For the same reasons, Greece - the leading EU Member State in Southeast Europe which has its own political approach to energy supplies by participating, together with Bulgaria, in the two Moscow- promoted “vertical” pipelines - has also been placed at the gunpoint of the Commission. With Greece, however, things are more difficult, because it is an EU Member State and a full NATO Member for many decades and, thusly, more drastic measures are required. The government of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is facing an escalation of intolerance and tough penalties on the part of the Commission services, in particular of the Department of Agriculture under Com - missioner Mariann Fischer Boel with the blessings of President Jose Manuel Barroso himself. The obvious purpose is to bring a new government to power, probably a leftist coalition, that will also abandon the two “vertical” pipeline projects.
The Karamanlis government first “ignored” the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and his USsupported “Nabuco” pipeline project, and then, a few days later, signed with the Bulgarians and then Russian President Vladimir Putin the “South Stream” pipeline agreement. Since then, Costas Karamanlis has been facing an escalation of political attacks by US-“friendly” opposition media. Indeed, Greece is in the orbit of endless TV debates and Parliamentary investigations centred on scandals which eventually end by proving nothing, but are gradually destroying the image of the government.
One such case was the attempted suicide of an under-Secretary of State which was immediately associated with presumed maladministration of state funds and which, after several months of “explosive” reveals, proved to be only a love story of a married man with an overambitious woman. The same happened with the presumed maladministration of bonds owned by pension funds, which after endless accusations, proved that the same administrative pattern was used for decades. Currently, public attention in Greece is focused on a scandal at a Monastery of Mount Athos whose protagonist is a Cypriot monk-businessman, with several million Euro of transactions through offshore companies, where, despite the government apparently not being involved, gets bad publicity because it does not control any media. It is highly likely that when the Mount Athos scandal is completely investigated and no government responsibilities are proven, the government will have lost in the opinion polls another couple of percentage points, and the US-friendly media will discover another presumed scandal, this time probably involving the Ministry of Economy. This, according to our sources is scheduled for early next February