European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread - Page 959

On October 05 2017 16:40 Godwrath wrote:

Spoken i found it less similar imo, but barely.

Spain’s constitutional court has moved to stop the Catalan government making a unilateral declaration of independence by suspending the regional parliament session in which the results of Sunday’s referendum were due to be discussed.

On Thursday, the court upheld a challenge by Catalonia’s Socialist party – which opposes secession from Spain – ruling that allowing the Catalan parliament to meet on Monday and potentially declare independence would violate the rights of the party’s MPs.

The court warned that any session carried out in defiance of its ban would be “null”, and added that the parliament’s leaders could face criminal action if they ignored the court order.

In a televised address on Wednesday evening, Puigdemont said his government was planning to take the results of the referendum to the Catalan parliament over the next few days.

The Catalan government is understood to be meeting to discuss its response to the latest move by the court. It has previously ignored the constitutional court’s rulings, not least its order to suspend the referendum itself.

“Suspending a plenary that hasn’t yet been called must be the new approach to dialogue,” Carme Forcadell, president of the Catalan parliament, wrote on Twitter.

In a television address on Wednesday evening, the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, repeated his calls for mediation and dialogue with the Spanish government, but said the results of the vote would be put before parliament. “On Sunday we had a referendum under the most difficult circumstances and set an example of who we are,” he said. “Peace and accord is part of who we are. We have to apply the results of the referendum. We have to present the results of the referendum to parliament.”

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s court decision, the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, said the situation would only escalate further if the Catalan government carried on the path of a unilateral declaration. “Is there a solution? Yes, there is,” Rajoy told the Spanish news agency Efe. “And the best one would be a return to legality and the swiftest possible confirmation that there won’t be a unilateral independence declaration, because that way still greater harm could be avoided.”

Thursday’s court ruling raises the question of how the Spanish state will respond if Catalans decide to push ahead with Monday’s session.

The Madrid government has refused to rule out invoking article 155 of the constitution. The article, which has never been used, makes provision for the central government to step in and take control of an autonomous region if it “does not fulfil the obligations imposed upon it by the constitution or other laws, or acts in a way that is seriously prejudicial to the general interest of Spain”.

However, given the heightened tensions in Catalonia and the huge protests seen across the region this week, the move could prove counterproductive, and Puigdemont has already warned that the the triggering of the article would be the Spanish government’s “ultimate mistake”.

The Catalan government says that hundreds of people were injured on Sunday after Spanish police attempted to halt the independence referendum by raiding polling stations, beating voters and firing rubber bullets at crowds.

Denmark looks set to become the next European country to restrict the burqa and the niqab, worn by some Muslim women, after most parties in the Danish parliament backed some sort of ban on facial coverings.

Full and partial face veils such as burqas and niqabs divide opinion across Europe, setting advocates of religious freedom against secularists and those who argue that such garments are culturally alien or a symbol of the oppression of women.

The niqab covers everything but the eyes, while the burqa also covers the eyes with a transparent veil.

France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and the German state of Bavaria have all imposed some restrictions on the wearing of full-face veils in public places.

"This is not a ban on religious clothing, this is a ban on masking," Jacob Ellemann-Jensen, spokesman for the Liberal Party, told reporters on Friday after his party, the largest in the coalition government, decided to back a ban.

This would effectively mean a ban on the niqab and the burqa, he added. Around 200 women in Denmark wear such garments, according to researchers.

The three-party centre-right minority government, its ally the Danish People's Party and the main opposition Social Democrats have all said they are in favour of a ban, though they are still discussing how the ban should be designed and enforced.

"There will come a masking ban in Denmark. That's how it is," Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said on Facebook.
His party, the Liberal Alliance, had previously been one of the staunchest opponents of a ban, saying it limited people's ability to freely choose their attire, but has now aligned its stance with that of the other coalition parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals.

"So if it is practically possible to have such a ban without betraying ourselves or our own values, then the Liberal Alliance will vote for it," Samuelsen said.

The Social Democrats, Denmark's biggest party, has also signalled support in principle for a ban on garments such as the burqa, which it said oppressed women.

"We are ready to ban the burqa if that is what it takes ... But there are some dilemmas, not least with regards to how such a ban would be enforced," said the Social Democrats' leader Mette Fredriksen during a debate in parliament on Thursday.

Norway's government in June proposed a ban on face-covering Muslim veils in kindergartens, schools and universities.

On October 09 2017 05:44 Big J wrote:
@Burka Ban: Austria has one since last week. So far they've warned bikers that wore scarfs against the cold ("because it isn't cold enough for that yet") and we have had a discussion whether Halloween masks are allowed ("because they are not part of "our" tradition, which is a requirement for wearing costumes out in the open now").

Also some participants of the "Traditional Clowns March", an approved demonstration in front of the parliament against the ban that made fun of one of the information flyers that showed Clowns masks as part of the Austrian tradition, which is therefore OK to wear in public, have still been reported by the police.

Edit: Oh, I forgot. A shark mascot for "McShark", an apple reseller that opened a new shop, has to pay a fine as well. Obviously if you are wearing a shark mask you must be a terrorist!

On October 09 2017 06:33 sc-darkness wrote:
Just ban burka only and stop beating around the bush.

On October 09 2017 06:14 Liquid`Drone wrote:
I do wonder how that's gonna work out in Norway. During winter, some people actually do wear balaclavas. Back when I was paperboying I did so myself. Any burka ban, seeing as it's supposedly not targeting muslims, will be phrased as a 'not allowed to conceal your identity' law.

Like balaclavas aren't common, but there are probably 100+ times more norwegians wearing them than there are people wearing burkas.

On October 09 2017 07:22 Pr0wler wrote:
We have such law and it excludes everyone except the burkas, without really saying that. It says that clothing that conceals the face is forbiden unless it's:
part of the person's profession;
for health reasons;
in the context of sporting, cultural, educational or other similar events, when carried by the participants and of a temporary nature.
And it's allowed in the temples(churches, mosques etc.) of all registered(allowed) religions.

I know that the law makes the work of the Border police a lot easier, especially on the turkish border. Other than that though, it's pretty useless. I haven't seen or heard of anyone fined according to that law... Maybe because we don't have any burkas, lol.

On October 09 2017 07:26 sc-darkness wrote:


Edit: Actually, burka isn't that common indeed. I think niqab should also be banned though.