Lefteast
In 1999 Ukrainian government debt exceed critically level of 60% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) : $15.3 Bn.
In 2002 ,Ukraine refused credits from IMF. From the end of 2004 cooperation with international finance institutions was limited by consulting and technical support. New credit programs were not taken until 2008.
In 2004, world leading rating agencies raised Ukraine’s credit rating to “B -”B+” with stable and positive forecast.
Note from the LeftEast editors: we publish this call, sent around by the general assembly of the workers at VIOME, in solidarity with their plight and struggle.
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Dear friends:
As a result of the legal battle waged against the VIOME workers collective, the state-appointed trustee is now organising a series of auctions with the aim of liquidating the plot of land on which the VIOME factory is located. A possible sale of the land would create the legal ground for evicting the workers from the factory.
This article originally appeared on Democracy Now (where you can obtain the full video as well).
The details are out on the the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and critics say the trade deal is worse than they feared. The TPP’s full text was released Thursday, weeks after the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations—a group representing 40 percent of the world’s economy—reached an agreement. Activists around the world have opposed the TPP, warning it will benefit corporations at the expense of health, the environment, free speech and labor rights.
Nearly everywhere the operations of Uber have generated controversy. For example, Uber sparked mass protests of taxi drivers in France demanding that the service be discontinued. In contrast, when the Bulgarian Commission for the protection of competition (CPC) fined, and ordered Uber to stop operations in the country, citizens protests erupted in defense of the service. More than 20,000 signatures were collected on Uber’s official web petition in three days. Angry facebook posts abounded. So did articles denouncing the shrinking of the “right to choose”.
The night after the massacre of one hundred peace activists in Ankara on October 10, protestors crowded the streets leading to Taksim Square in Istanbul carrying signs reading, “We know the killers” (Katilleri tanıyoruz). Mourning and rage mingled in a beautifully concise statement that nonetheless leaves ample room for explanation of how it happened, with whose permission or collusion, and how likely it is to happen again.
Turkish society was not unanimous in grieving for the dead.
As the EU’s refugee ‘crisis’ continues to develop, we sat down with refugee rights organizers in central and eastern Europe to discuss the local reception of refugees, how EU policies are influencing member state policies, as well as activist responses that are seeking to curtail rising European xenophobia. Click
What specific challenges has the position of your country on the refugee corridor between the Mediterranean and Western Europe brought in the past months, in relation to numbers of refugees transiting (issues such as asylum laws, transport, border control)?
For those people who are familiar with the context and history of migration and asylum in Hungary, the situation from the summer did not come as a surprise. Asylum laws have been steadily tightened ever since the numbers started to increasing in 2013, but it must be said that the 2015 law represents a significant leap towards criminalization as crossing the border fence was declared a criminal offense punishable by serving time in Hungarian prisons.
What specific challenges has the position of your country on the refugee corridor between the Mediterranean and Western Europe brought in the past months, in relation to numbers of refugees transiting (issues such as asylum laws, transport, border control) ?
Croatia’s position in the corridor is challenging for the society and its institutions since the issue of migration and asylum was ignored for years. Formally laws have been declared, but in practice they were not implemented.
What specific challenges has the position of your country on the refugee corridor between the Mediterranean and Western Europe brought in the past months, in relation to numbers of refugees transiting (issues such as asylum laws, transport, border control)?
Curiously, Bulgaria, despite its geographical location, has not experienced the same number of border crossings as for example we witness in Macedonia, Slovenia, Hungary and Austria. But one’s curiosity is immediately satisfied if she looks at the major newspaper headlines in the country, which unambiguously show that push-backs are a major technique employed by the Bulgarian border police.
By James Neimeister
Words, like any signs, mean something. Not only do they allow us to string together thoughts, but they make an impact on the world. They structure what we see, as well as what we don’t.
Searchable online words, went the commonly held view, would usher in a new era wherein each person could be free to discover their “tribe” and form new communities of like-minded individuals.
