European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread - Page 942

17: Culture of Remembrance
The genocide of european Jews should continue to be a central part of German culture of remembrance.

On September 18 2017 08:01 Toadesstern wrote:
the 17th question actually is in there to distinguish AfD from even further right parties. The


I've read an article about that the other day and basicly they ran into the problem of having the AfD not be distinguishable from NPD / Die Rechte.
IIRC the AfD answered the above question with something along the line of "it should still be part of german culture of remembrance but we should also teach our kids more about other parts of our history. The fall of the wall etc" (not a direct quote but it was something like that).
Whereas the NPD and Die Rechte more or less said they wish to stop that because no other countries do that, with hints at the brits and french history among others and instead focus on the "glorious" parts of our history. German word they used was "ruhmreich", idk if there's a better translation for that than glorious

On September 19 2017 02:22 Nyxisto wrote:
getting the greens on first place in Austria. And also the commies are scoring higher with me than the SPÖ lol. Is that normal?

On September 19 2017 04:30 Artisreal wrote:
Austrian nationalist party would be quite a fitting translation, right?

Spain’s Guardia Civil has searched several Barcelona headquarters of Catalonia’s regional government, a Catalan government spokesman has said.

The operation comes amid mounting tensions as Catalan leaders press ahead with preparations for an independence referendum on 1 October despite Madrid’s ban and a court ruling deeming it illegal.

Officers from the Guardia Civil were searching the Catalan government’s offices of economic affairs, foreign relations and the presidency, the spokesman said.

The operation comes a day after documents related to the independence referendum were seized from the offices of Unipost, a private delivery firm, in the Catalan city of Terrasa.

Pro-separatist parties captured 47.6% of the vote in a September 2015 regional election in Catalonia billed as a proxy vote on independence, giving them a narrow majority of 72 seats in the 135-seat Catalan parliament.

But polls show Catalonia’s roughly 7.5 million residents are divided on independence.

A survey commissioned by the regional government in July showed 49.4% of Catalans were against independence while 41.1% were in favour. More than 70% of Catalans want a legal referendum on independence to settle the issue.

On September 20 2017 18:07 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Why has this seemingly got more and more tense it seems? Is this just Madrid trying to get dirt on or something?



Source

Catalonia suffers a tax deficit with respect to the Spanish state of around 8% of its GDP which in 2010 amounted to €16,000,000,000 of Catalan taxes that were paid to Madrid and not reinvested in Catalonia. This makes Catalonia the most highly taxed region in Europe and its schools, health services, roads and infrastructures are suffering in comparison to supposedly poorer regions of Spain.

Furthermore, many decisions taken by central government have negative effects on the local economy. Here are two examples.

Barcelona Airport despite being Spain's busiest airport some months of the year still has no metro connection, a very poor train service and out of date roads whilst Madrid Barajas has train, metro, new roads and there are plans for a high-speed AVE connection. AENA, the central airport authority, also prioritises intercontinental flights to Madrid meaning there are no direct flights from many destinations to Barcelona, which has a detrimental effect on multinational business in Catalonia.

The Port of Barcelona is one of the busiest in Europe and is so profitable it subsidises other Spanish ports that run at a loss. The Port of Barcelona would be even more successful if it had a freight railway line that could take goods north into Europe because ships from Asia that currently dock in Rotterdam could access the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal. Both Catalonia and the EU have been lobbying for the so-called Mediterranean Corridor, which would also benefit Valencia, Cartagena, Malaga and Algeciras, but central government has blocked the Mediterranean Corridor for years because it doesn't pass through Madrid.

On September 20 2017 19:42 Acrofales wrote:


[*] There is no campaign for remaining in Spain: the generalitat government is campaigning for independence, and the national government is saying it's illegal and to not vote. Insofar as there is a no-camp, it is split between "vote no" and "fuck off with this stupid referendum". So regardless of the outcome, its legitimacy will be immediately questioned.

On September 20 2017 20:09 FueledUpAndReadyToGo wrote:

I'm becoming more and more convinced that it should be mandatory to have 'fuck off with this stupid referendum' as an option on any referendum ballot to give the people that think it's a dumb idea a way to use their voice instead of just abstaining.

On September 20 2017 20:13 Gorsameth wrote:

Or... you go and vote No?

Spain’s prime minister has called on Catalan separatist leaders to end their “escalation” as several thousand people took to the streets of Barcelona to protest at Madrid’s attempts to stop a banned referendum on independence.

“Stop this escalation of radicalism and disobedience once and for all,” Mariano Rajoy said in a televised statement on Wednesday night as protesters remained in the centre of the city after a day-long demonstration.

Catalonia’s president earlier accused the Spanish government of suspending the region’s autonomy after police intensified efforts to stop a vote on independence that has sparked one of the worst political crises since Spain’s return to democracy four decades ago.

Spanish Guardia Civil officers raided a dozen Catalan regional government offices and arrested 14 senior officials on Wednesday as part of an operation to stop the referendum from taking place on 1 October.

Carles Puigdemont, the head of Catalonia’s pro-sovereignty government, described the raids as a “a co-ordinated police assault” that showed that Madrid “has de facto suspended self-government and applied a de facto state of emergency” in Catalonia.

He also appeared to draw a parallel between the raids and the repression and abuses of the Franco dictatorship, tweeting: “We will not accept a return to the darkest times. The government is in favour of liberty and democracy.”

Speaking after an emergency ministerial meeting, Puigdemont vowed the poll would go ahead.

“We reaffirm our peaceful response,” he said. “The Spanish government has crossed a red line and become a democratic disgrace.”

The mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, called the raids “a democratic scandal” and said Catalans would defend their institutions.

Tensions between Madrid and Barcelona have escalated rapidly over recent days as the government of the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, attempts to make good its promise to stop the vote.

On Wednesday morning, Spain’s interior ministry announced it was cancelling leave for all the Guardia Civil and national police officers tasked with preventing the referendum. In a statement, it said the affected officers would have to be available between 20 September and 5 October, but added the period could be extended if necessary.

in his TV address, Rajoy called on Catalonia’s regional leaders to cancel the referendum on the grounds that it goes against Spain’s laws. “Don’t go ahead. Go back to the law and democracy. This referendum is a chimera,” he said.

The raids come a day after the Guardia Civil confiscated referendum documents from the offices of a private delivery firm in the Catalan city of Terrassa. More than 1.5m referendum leaflets and posters have also been seized.

The Catalan high court said that police acting on a judge’s orders had searched 42 premises on Wednesday – including six regional government offices – adding that 20 people were being investigated for alleged disobedience, abuse of power and embezzlement related to the referendum.

The regional government confirmed that Josep Maria Jové, secretary general of economic affairs and an aide to the Catalan vice-president, and Lluis Salvado, the secretary of taxation, were among those arrested.

The Spanish interior ministry said that police had confiscated nearly 10m ballot papers. Polling station signs and documents for electoral officers were also seized during a raid on a warehouse in a small town outside Barcelona.

As news of the arrests emerged, a crowd began to gather outside the finance ministry, one of the targets of the raids. By mid morning the crowd had swelled to more than 2,000 people blocking Gran Via, one of Barcelona’s principal thoroughfares.

By late afternoon, under the clatter of surveillance helicopters and with a heavy police presence, the angry but peaceful rally had grown to some 5,000, with hundreds more people joining as they finished work or got out of school.

The crowd, breaking into the Catalan national anthem and waving placards reading “We are voting to be free,” began by chanting “No tinc por” (I’m not afraid) – the slogan used in response to last month’s terrorist attacks in the city.

But the chant was soon replaced by a new cry: “Occupation forces out!”

Smaller demonstrations were being held in other parts of the city, blocking major roads and causing traffic chaos. The mood was tense and very different from the party atmosphere at the million-strong pro-independence rally a little over a week ago.

Catalonia is mainly policed by the local Mossos d’Esquadra. The paramilitary Guardia Civil, strongly associated in some people’s minds with the fascist dictatorship, is rarely seen in the region.