European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread - Page 932

On August 19 2017 02:07 OtherWorld wrote:

Why are European countries still allied to this guy, seriously

On August 18 2017 23:40 Acrofales wrote:
Everybody must show up for the monthly bacon ball and eat at least 3 slices.

A 22-year-old Moroccan national is at the centre of the Spanish police’s search for the driver of the van used in the Barcelona attack.

Younes Abouyaaqoub is understood to be the chief suspect for the attack on Las Ramblas that killed at least 13 and injured more than 130.

According to the Spanish newspaper El País, police in Catalonia said they were searching for the man, who is thought to be a key member of a 12-strong jihadist cell responsible for the attacks.

On Friday it emerged that another suspect, Moussa Oukabir, who is thought to have rented the van, was among five men shot dead as they launched a second attack in the coastal town of Cambrils.

The teenager, said to be 17 or 18 years old, is suspected of using his brother’s documents to hire the vehicle that ploughed through pedestrians in the Barcelona tourist hotspot on Thursday evening.

He reportedly died along with Said Aallaa, 19, and Mohamed Hychami, 24, who were part of a group that mounted a similar attack in Cambrils that left one woman dead and six people injured.

The identities of the other two dead jihadists are yet to be confirmed by police.

Four men, aged 21, 27, 28 and 34, who were arrested in connection with the attack, remain in custody. Three are Moroccan and one is Spanish. Police said none of them were previously known to the security services for terror-related reasons.

Moussa Oukabir’s older brother, Driss Oukabir, is reported to be one of those detained.

Several of those suspected of involvement in the attacks are thought to come from Ripoll, an inland town of 10,000 people about 60m (100km) north-west of Barcelona. Police on Friday searched the apartment of the town’s imam, neighbours said.

An apparent search warrant seen by the Associated Press authorised police to extract any terrorism-related “weapons, ammunition, explosives, instruments, documents or papers” found in the apartment.

Despite fears that Abouyaaqoub is still at large, Spain on Saturday decided to maintain its terrorist threat alert at level 4, the second-highest level, declaring that no new attacks were imminent. Interior minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said the country would nevertheless reinforce security for events that draw large crowds and popular tourist sites.

“We are going to redirect our efforts and will adapt these to every place or area that needs special protection,” Zoido told a news conference, adding that Spanish authorities considered the cell behind the attacks had been fully dismantled.

About 34 nationalities were among almost 130 people wounded in the attacks in Las Ramblas and in Cambrils, which lies around 70 miles (110km) to the south-west.

Thirteen of the 14 victims have been identified, although not all have been named. Five were Spanish, three were German, two were Italian, with one from the United States, Belgium and Portugal respectively.

Authorities said 54 people injured in the attacks were still in hospital on Friday night, with 12 in a critical condition and 25 in a serious condition.

Relatives of a seven-year-old who became separated from his mother during the Barcelona attack are continuing to appeal for information. The father and grandmother of Julian Alessandro Cadman are travelling to Spain from Australia as the wait for news continues, family member Debbie Cadman said.

Speaking after the family’s initial plea for help, the prime minister, Theresa May, said a child with dual British nationality was believed to be among those unaccounted for.

Four Australians were injured in the attack, the country’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said.

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said one Canadian was killed and four injured during the attacks.

Police have revealed that the terrorists behind the rampage were preparing bigger attacks, with an explosion on Wednesday at a house in Alcanar believed to have robbed the killers of materials to use in larger-scale operations.

Reports from Spain had earlier suggested the terror cell may have been planning an attack using gas canisters.

A van containing gas canisters has been discovered near a music venue in Rotterdam, hours after a tip-off from Spanish police led to the cancellation of a rock concert.

The driver of the Spain-registered van was detained by police, Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told journalists.

US band Allah-Las - which often gets threats because of its name - had been due to perform at The Maassilo.

But the warning led to the gig being called off at the last minute.

However, Mr Aboutaleb said it was not clear if the van and the terror threat were linked. The warning came amid a heightened sense of alert after attacks in Spain.

The Spanish driver was arrested on a nearby road and taken for questioning, police said.

A bomb squad was examining the van, reports said. Police wearing bulletproof vests were at the venue, which was evacuated.

On August 27 2017 19:50 TheDwf wrote:

And the free fall goes on...



(Approval rating.)

Comparison with his predecessors:

+ Show Spoiler +

On August 27 2017 21:19 Nebuchad wrote:
Mostly he's not doing a great job with communication and his numbers were inflated by having been put against Marine.

On August 27 2017 22:52 LegalLord wrote:
Saw the news last night, was wondering when it would make its way here .

This guy seems like an even worse Hollande honestly. He has all of the European leadership gushing over him because he very much seems to be on board with a pro-EU policy but once the dust clears people start to realize that he is one utterly awful choice. I can certainly sympathize with that folk would defend voting for him as an alternative against Le Pen, but beyond that he definitely gave off the vibe of being a Hollande v2.

On August 27 2017 20:04 Toadesstern wrote:


sry not really keeping up with french politics myself, but is there some reason behind that? Like is there one big thing looming over his head that is tanking his ratings atm like how it was with Merkel during the days of refugee crisis or is that just generally people in France being unhappy with their president as they always are? Sorry if that's a misconception but as a kid I was obviously less into politics and even less into foreign politics so the only ones I really remember ever actively thinking about are Macron and Hollande.
And Hollande ended up with record lows on his approval as well, right? Granted it wasn't in the early stages of his presidency but by the end of it but you get the idea.

Because frankly I'd say he's well liked over here and I don't think that's just a german thing. Perhaps the same elsewhere in Europe?

On August 28 2017 07:58 Toadesstern wrote:
i mean from the outside we just don't get a very detailed picture unless you really want to look into it. I'd say I'm more into politics than the average german my age but even then I have absolutly no idea what's going on in France aside from who is president. Not really any knowledge about what he's doing.

So from our perspective we pretty much just see a charismatic (?), young person in office and I'd say that's why people like him abroad?