You are here

Feed aggregator

Météo du week-end: Le temps s’annonce doux et ensoleillé

24heures.ch - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 11:22
Après un début de semaine pluvieux, le beau temps s’installe en Suisse romande. Le retour des averses est tout de même prévu mardi.
Categories: Swiss News

From Grief to Action: Demands for Democratic Renewal in the Balkans

Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 11:21

Credit: Zorana Jevtic/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, May 16 2025 (IPS)

Three catastrophic events in the Balkans have sparked powerful movements for systemic change. A train collision that killed 57 people in Greece, a nightclub fire that claimed 59 young lives in North Macedonia and a collapsed railway station roof that left 15 dead in Serbia have ignited sustained anti-corruption protests in all three countries. These weren’t random tragedies but the culmination of systemic failure – neglected safety regulations, illegally issued permits and compromised oversight – with corruption the common denominator.

Young people, particularly students, stand at the forefront of these movements, alongside victims’ families who’ve become powerful advocates for change. In Greece, the Association of Relatives of Tempi Victims has emerged as a legitimate voice demanding accountability. North Macedonia’s protests have united citizens across economic and political divides, channelling widespread disillusionment with limited youth prospects and endemic corruption. Serbia’s movement has achieved remarkable geographic reach, spreading to some 400 cities and towns with innovative tactics like ‘half-hour noise’ protests following moments of silence for victims.

All three countries became democracies within living memory: Greece democratised five decades ago when its military junta collapsed, while North Macedonia and Serbia emerged from Communist Yugoslavia after its 1990 dissolution. Today, profound disillusionment pervades these societies. Clientelism, corruption and patronage flourish, effectively placing state functions at the service of elite interests rather than public needs. In Serbia, and to a lesser extent in North Macedonia, governments have also taken authoritarian turns. The most deeply disappointed are young people who grew up after democratic transitions and were taught to expect better.

The human cost of corruption

Greece’s February 2023 railway tragedy revealed a system crippled by chronic underinvestment and maintenance failures linked to corrupt contracting practices. In the face of official denials and inaction, private investigators hired by victims’ families discovered many initially survived the crash, only to perish in the subsequent fire, possibly caused by undeclared flammable chemical cargo.

In North Macedonia, the Pulse nightclub that caught fire this March was a disaster in waiting: a converted factory with only one viable exit, locked emergency doors, highly flammable materials and no fire safety equipment, operating with an illegally issued licence.

Serbia’s Novi Sad railway station, where a canopy collapsed in November 2024, had just been renovated under confidential contracts with Chinese companies. The tragedy was preventable, but corner-cutting maximised profits at the expense of safety.

In all three cases, excessive private influence over government decisions sacrificed public safety for private gain. Warning signs had repeatedly been flagged by civil society groups, journalists and opposition politicians, only to be ignored. A protest slogan in North Macedonia powerfully captured this view: ‘We are not dying from accidents, we are dying from corruption’. The same sentiment echoed in a Greek protest slogan, ‘Their policies cost human lives’ and a Serbian message to the authorities: ‘You have blood on your hands’. Another popular Serbian protest motto, ‘We are all under the canopy’, conveyed a general sense of shared vulnerability from corrupt governance structures.

Demands and responses

Protesters across all three countries share strikingly similar demands: accountability for those directly responsible and officials who enabled safety violations, transparent investigations free from political influence and systemic reforms to address corruption’s root causes. They recognise that democracy requires functioning accountability mechanisms beyond elections, in the form of institutionalised checks and balances and public oversight.

Government responses have taken a predictable course: minor concessions followed by attempts to manage rather than meaningfully address public anger.

North Macedonia’s interior minister was quick to admit the nightclub’s licence was illegally issued and the authorities ordered the detention of 20 people, including the club manager and government officials. But protesters saw these actions as scapegoating rather than genuine reform. In Greece, following the train crash initially blamed on a ‘tragic human error‘, the transport minister resigned, but investigations progressed at a glacial pace amid accusations of evidence cover-ups and avoidance of political responsibility. Serbia’s government initially released some classified documents and promised to address protesters’ demands, yet as protests persisted, President Aleksandar Vučić shifted to confrontational rhetoric, accusing protesters of orchestrating violence as puppets of western intelligence services.

The pattern of symbolic gestures followed by resistance to substantive reform, sometimes accompanied by protest repression, revealed a fundamental credibility gap: people can’t trust that announced reforms will be implemented when implementation depends on institutions compromised by corruption. This explains why protesters across all three countries emphasise civil society oversight and adherence to international standards as essential components of any credible reform.

From street protest to institutional reform

The emotional impact of these tragedies created rare policy windows, mobilising otherwise disengaged people and generating reform pressure. The critical question remains whether these windows will close with minimal change or whether sustained pressure will achieve meaningful institutional transformation.

These movements face significant challenges: maintaining mobilisation as emotional impact fades, avoiding co-optation or division by shallow governmental reform language and shifting from opposing clear wrongs to offering politically feasible yet transformative reform ideas. History suggests real reform is rare, bringing the danger that, without government action, momentum could be coopted by populist politicians eager to take advantage of anger at government failures and put it at the service of their regressive agendas.

But there are also grounds for optimism. The broad-based protest coalitions that have emerged have shown the potential to cross traditional political divides. Their focus on specific, documented governance failures provides tangible reform targets rather than abstract demands. The moral imperative of honouring victims creates emotional resources that could sustain them over time. And they’ve come at a time when corrupt elites’ legitimacy was already under strain due to economic challenges.

As protesters keep gathering in town squares across the Balkans, they embody a compelling vision of democracy that genuinely serves citizens rather than rulers. In reclaiming democratic promises repeatedly betrayed by those in power, they serve as a reminder that power in a democracy should flow from and benefit everyone, not just a few.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 


!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  
Categories: Africa

Canton du Valais: Un supporter suspecté d’avoir blessé un policier a été arrêté

24heures.ch - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 10:57
Les faits remontent au 13 avril dernier, en marge du match entre le FC Sion et le Servette FC.
Categories: Swiss News

Le début de la fin ? Les soldats ukrainiens en première ligne envisagent avec espoir les pourparlers avec la Russie

BBC Afrique - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 10:35
Un optimisme prudent règne dans l'est de l'Ukraine, alors que des pourparlers sont prévus à Istanbul.
Categories: Afrique

Le début de la fin ? Les soldats ukrainiens en première ligne envisagent avec espoir les pourparlers avec la Russie

BBC Afrique - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 10:35
Un optimisme prudent règne dans l'est de l'Ukraine, alors que des pourparlers sont prévus à Istanbul.
Categories: Afrique

‘Managing’ the paradox: refugee self-reliance and solving the problem of refugee policy discontinuity

The refugee self-reliance agenda is marked by tensions and contradictions, echoing wider incoherence in the international refugee regime. We explore these through the philosophical concept of paradoxes. Paradoxes allow for multiple interests and narratives to be simultaneously ‘true’, leading to refugee policy outcomes that are often incoherent by omission instead of commission. To illustrate this, we draw on recent empirical studies to examine how increased access to digital technology can paradoxically lead to less access and agency in relation to health and financial services for refugees and less integration into host community life. We call these the paradox of information overload and the paradox of regulatory systems. We close with discussion of how paradoxes can a conceptual tool for policy makers and researchers to identify root causes of refugee policy incoherence, and how spaces of action can be created to ‘manage the paradox’.

‘Managing’ the paradox: refugee self-reliance and solving the problem of refugee policy discontinuity

The refugee self-reliance agenda is marked by tensions and contradictions, echoing wider incoherence in the international refugee regime. We explore these through the philosophical concept of paradoxes. Paradoxes allow for multiple interests and narratives to be simultaneously ‘true’, leading to refugee policy outcomes that are often incoherent by omission instead of commission. To illustrate this, we draw on recent empirical studies to examine how increased access to digital technology can paradoxically lead to less access and agency in relation to health and financial services for refugees and less integration into host community life. We call these the paradox of information overload and the paradox of regulatory systems. We close with discussion of how paradoxes can a conceptual tool for policy makers and researchers to identify root causes of refugee policy incoherence, and how spaces of action can be created to ‘manage the paradox’.

‘Managing’ the paradox: refugee self-reliance and solving the problem of refugee policy discontinuity

The refugee self-reliance agenda is marked by tensions and contradictions, echoing wider incoherence in the international refugee regime. We explore these through the philosophical concept of paradoxes. Paradoxes allow for multiple interests and narratives to be simultaneously ‘true’, leading to refugee policy outcomes that are often incoherent by omission instead of commission. To illustrate this, we draw on recent empirical studies to examine how increased access to digital technology can paradoxically lead to less access and agency in relation to health and financial services for refugees and less integration into host community life. We call these the paradox of information overload and the paradox of regulatory systems. We close with discussion of how paradoxes can a conceptual tool for policy makers and researchers to identify root causes of refugee policy incoherence, and how spaces of action can be created to ‘manage the paradox’.

Kosovo : la présidente Vjosa Osmani pousse pour une sortie de l'impasse

Courrier des Balkans - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 09:30

Les séances constitutives s'enchaînent au Parlement, mais rien n'avance. Depuis le 15 avril, les Kosovars assistent, impuissants, à la foire d'empoigne opposant Vetëvendosje aux autres partis. Ce blocage institutionnel inédit pourrait finir par coûter cher.

- Le fil de l'Info / , , ,
Categories: Balkans Occidentaux

Kosovo : la présidente Vjosa Osmani pousse pour une sortie de l'impasse

Courrier des Balkans / Kosovo - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 09:30

Les séances constitutives s'enchaînent au Parlement, mais rien n'avance. Depuis le 15 avril, les Kosovars assistent, impuissants, à la foire d'empoigne opposant Vetëvendosje aux autres partis. Ce blocage institutionnel inédit pourrait finir par coûter cher.

- Le fil de l'Info / , , , , ,
Categories: Balkans Occidentaux

10 éves az NKFI Hivatal / Egy cél, ezer út − innovációval a jövőért

EU Pályázati Portál - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 09:29
A Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal (NKFI Hivatal) idén ünnepli fennállásának 10 éves évfordulóját. Ebből az alkalomból a hivatal, szoros együttműködésben a Magyar Projektmenedzsment Szövetséggel, négy részes konferenciasorozatot szervez a vállalati innováció eredményeinek, a tudományos eredmények piacra vitelének, az innováció-finanszírozás új útjainak és az innovációs ökoszisztémában rejlő szinergiák hatékony kihasználásának áttekintésére. Az első rendezvényt, amelyen az innovációban – többek közt az NKFI Hivatal támogatásainak is köszönhetően – sikeres vállalkozásoké volt a főszerep, a közelmúltban tartották meg Budapesten.
Categories: Pályázatok

Le système ferroviaire espagnol en difficulté, malgré les milliards de l’UE

Euractiv.fr - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 09:24

Le gouvernement du Madrid est sous le feu des critiques pour les défaillances systémiques du réseau ferroviaire espagnol, malgré les milliards accordés par l'UE reçus pour moderniser les infrastructures du pays.

The post Le système ferroviaire espagnol en difficulté, malgré les milliards de l’UE appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Categories: Union européenne

Cinéma | « Si la Bulgarie m'était contée » : à la Bpi, passé refoulé, passé fouillé

Courrier des Balkans - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 09:07

« Je vois rouge est le journal d'une enquête politique et personnelle... Et si ma famille avait collaboré à la police politique du régime communiste [en Bulgarie] ? » Voilà le point de départ de l'enquête menée par la réalisatrice Bojina Panayatova. Un documentaire de 2017 à (re)découvrir ces jours-ci à la Bpi de Beaubourg.

- Le fil de l'Info / , , ,
Categories: Balkans Occidentaux

Serbie : à Bruxelles, les étudiants en lutte ont-ils convaincu l'Union européenne ?

Courrier des Balkans - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 09:06

En l'espace d'une semaine, l'image « pro-européenne » d'Aleksandar Vučić a été bien écornée. D'abord par sa visite à Moscou le 9 mai puis par les témoignages édifiants des étudiants reçus à Bruxelles par les institutions de l'UE, qui ont dénoncé les dérives de son régime. Cela peut-il influer sur l'attitude des 27 vis-à-vis de la Serbie ?

- Le fil de l'Info / , , , , ,
Categories: Balkans Occidentaux

Serbie : à Bruxelles, les étudiants en lutte ont-ils convaincu l'Union européenne ?

Courrier des Balkans / Serbie - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 09:06

En l'espace d'une semaine, l'image « pro-européenne » d'Aleksandar Vučić a été bien écornée. D'abord par sa visite à Moscou le 9 mai puis par les témoignages édifiants des étudiants reçus à Bruxelles par les institutions de l'UE, qui ont dénoncé les dérives de son régime. Cela peut-il influer sur l'attitude des 27 vis-à-vis de la Serbie ?

- Le fil de l'Info / , , , , , ,
Categories: Balkans Occidentaux

Une délégation de maires à Bruxelles pour demander 300 milliards d’euros face à la crise du logement

Euractiv.fr - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 08:47

L’alliance européenne des Maires pour le logement a rencontré jeudi 15 mai le commissaire européen au Logement afin de présenter leurs propositions pour lutter contre la crise du logement et notamment demander la création d’un fonds de 300 milliards d’euros.

The post Une délégation de maires à Bruxelles pour demander 300 milliards d’euros face à la crise du logement appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Categories: Union européenne

Asia-Pacific Region Moves into a Resilient Future with International Cooperation

Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 08:08

A female merchant is preparing her produce in a market in Hanoi, Viet Nam. Informal sector is vital for the livelihood of over 4 billion people in Asia and the Pacific. Economic policies should be mapped out to support them amid global uncertainties. Credit: Unsplash/Jack Young

By Sudip Ranjan Basu
BANGKOK, Thailand, May 16 2025 (IPS)

As the United Nations celebrates its 80th anniversary, one message from the UN Charter remains particularly relevant: promoting cooperative solutions to international economic, social, health, and related problems.

Over the past eight decades, international cooperation has led to an unparalleled reduction in hunger, extreme poverty, and disease. Investments in public services have unlocked opportunities and enhanced choices in Asia and the Pacific.

There are numerous lessons for policymakers to learn and apply to the current context. Rising prices, growing wealth inequality, multidimensional poverty, and the prevalence of low-paid informal sector jobs still shape the lives and livelihoods of over 4.86 billion people in the Asia-Pacific region.

Differential outcomes in economic prosperity, social progress, and environmental stewardship have been critical in addressing policy turns. Policy insights and formulations are often shaped by the need to navigate regional and global uncertainties; with these triggers influencing policy turns.

Today, there are enormous opportunities to turn past policy lessons into future policy insights.

The age of a new international economic order

The adoption of new technologies, particularly advanced farming techniques and high-yield crop varieties, significantly boosted agricultural productivity and led to substantial rural income growth in the 1970s. Conversely, volatility in energy prices adversely affected macroeconomic conditions and increased debt levels in many developing countries in the 1980s.

The 1997 Asian financial crisis raised alarms about the deepening links of financial markets, impacting trade diversion, cross-border investment measures, and labour market absorption capacity.

These region-wide challenges were addressed through multi-layered policies focusing on public services, macroeconomic stabilization measures, active labour market policies and promoting national policies for industrial and technological development.

The policies also emphasized the significant role of supporting private sector enterprises to restore growth potential and the need to accelerate regional, inter-regional and sub-regional cooperation in trade as well as promote financial sector development.

An era of globalization

With the world turning towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, optimism soared with the prospect of ending extreme poverty and fostering a commitment to development cooperation.

Global trade performance saw a sharp rise in export growth in developing countries, alongside a steady flow of supplies across regional value chains. These positive trade experiences were complemented by a favourable macroeconomic environment, which further improved foreign direct investment flows and ICT-led growth.

However, the 2008 global financial and economic crisis had an adverse impact on the Asia-Pacific region. Economic growth experienced one of the most severe downturns since the Great Depression of the 1930s, constraining domestic economic activities and destabilizing the trade sector, causing hardship for millions and dampening job prospects.

During this period, policymakers pursued multilayered goals to balance strategies on multiple fronts based on their national and regional contexts. Governments prioritized anti-poverty agendas, scaled up public-private investments, and fostered cooperation around fiscal, financial, and monetary responses to mitigate the severity and duration of the crises.

Governments announced fiscal stimulus packages and reinvigorated global policy coordination post-2008 crisis to overcome the Great Recession. Post-2008 policy turns emphasised governance, decentralization, and trans-boundary cooperation, which stabilized the macroeconomic and foreign exchange markets.

As people began to enjoy the benefits of stability and the spirit of cooperation, there was a renewed call to increase socio-economic opportunities for the marginalized groups.

Towards sustainable development

As the world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, international cooperation was championed to transform our world. Forward-looking policymaking has been mainstreamed to unlock opportunities across regions. Inspired by policy choices for inclusive development, structural transformation, accelerated energy transition, technology-driven industrialization and sustainable financing, a new path has been paved to overcome the existential threat of climate change.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted communities and countries across the region, exposing weak healthcare systems, inadequate social protection mechanisms, informal labour markets, supply chain vulnerabilities, and limited trade and economic diversification strategies.

The multi-speed economic recovery highlighted the need for cooperation during turbulent times, while prioritizing sustainability to ensure a smooth recovery from the cost-of-living crisis as well as global supply chain disruptions and debt distress.

Governments emphasized the importance of reimagining public policymaking, ranging from cooperation in vaccine production to environmental protection policies, technological advancements, and early warning systems.

Strategic foresight and going beyond 2030

In 2025, all stakeholders face a critical choice between regional and subregional cooperation and focusing on limited interests, which could further stall progress in socio-economic prosperity and climate action. As policy turns occur, international cooperation and fostering partnerships are once again poised to play a catalytic role in expanding and scaling up solution-focused pathways, enhancing futures thinking for all stakeholders in Asia and the Pacific.

Now is the time to focus on developing economic and social infrastructure, trade and investment strategies, and private sector engagement to align with the aspirations of the people in the region.

Sudip Ranjan Basu is Chief of ESCAP Sustainable Business Network Section

Source: Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

IPS UN Bureau

 


!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  
Categories: Africa

Sanofi : l’investissement massif aux États-Unis passe mal en France

Euractiv.fr - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 08:07

Sanofi a essuyé de vives critiques jeudi 15 mai en France au lendemain de sa décision d’investir massivement aux États-Unis, Bercy y voyant un « mauvais signal » et les syndicats redoutant un « désengagement industriel et social » du secteur pharmaceutique en Europe.

The post Sanofi : l’investissement massif aux États-Unis passe mal en France appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Categories: Union européenne

Polish farmers rebel against EU Green Deal on eve of crucial election

Euractiv.com - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 07:07
In today’s edition of The Capitals, read about why the EU's defence pact with the UK makes sense, Spain’s rail system struggling despite billions in EU funding, and so much more.
Categories: European Union

Position of the Polish Pharmaceutical Sector on the Reform of Pharmaceutical Legislation in the European Union [Promoted content]

Euractiv.com - Fri, 05/16/2025 - 07:00
Discussions among Member States regarding reform of the European Union's pharmaceutical legislation, which aims to guarantee all its citizens access to affordable medicines and development of their production in EU, are coming to an end. This will ensure strategic resilience and autonomy of the Union, economic growth, and stability of healthcare systems in member countries.
Categories: European Union

Pages

THIS IS THE NEW BETA VERSION OF EUROPA VARIETAS NEWS CENTER - under construction
the old site is here

Copy & Drop - Can`t find your favourite site? Send us the RSS or URL to the following address: info(@)europavarietas(dot)org.