Syria is getting back into the headline news again

The Syrian crisis has been pushed out of the TV screens by the situation in Egypt. And a lot of people in the West are feeling good about this. After deciding that they would deliver weapons to the rebels, many in Washington, London and elsewhere felt very uneasy about this move. The fact that Syria has been forgotten by the media during the last many weeks has given those politicians some respite.  But the tragedy is still there, the Geneva conference seems to be dead in the water and the issue is about to return to the top of the international agenda. What will be the Western response then? 

Alentejo, a Province in Southern Portugal

As I drove over the vast expanses of land that make Alentejo, the Southern Province of Portugal, I thought that all those, all over the world, that are interested in investing in commercial agriculture, food production, biofuels, exotic fruits, should consider visiting the region. There is so much farming land available there, just waiting for capital investment and technology. And the weather, on top of it, is not bad at all. 

Electoral assistance

It is not known by many, but one of the things the UN does very well is electoral assistance. Within the Secretariat there is a special unit, called Electoral Assistance Division (EAD). They have provided some of the best expertise available regarding elections, from Iraq to East Timor and Afghanistan, from Nigeria to Sierra Leone and Congo, and so on, and sometimes in very difficult national contexts. 

Portuguese challenges

The key Portuguese parties have been requested by the President to look for a broad political accord in order to guarantee enough stability during the last year of implementation of the current agreement with the international creditors.

This call is a surprise move by President Cavaco Silva. It reflects in many ways the huge economic and social challenges the country has to confront in the near future. It also reflects a very serious polarisation of the domestic political situation, not just between the government and the opposition, but also within the coalition parties themselves.  

It is a critical moment for the Portuguese. But in general, people have shown a tremendous amount of wisdom and have tried to navigate these difficult times. It is however very easy to give up hope and fall into sectarian partisan approaches. The President’s initiative should allow the political leaders to show that they place the national interest above personality clashes and power games. It is however a very complex call, very difficult to be successful. It can only be achieved if leading party people have the stature of statesmen. That’s, at the end of the day, what is on the table today in Portugal: an invitation to grow beyond one’s own limitations and to show commitment to a larger goal. 

The art of compromise

At 13:45 hours the European Commission made public their proposal regarding the establishment of a mechanism that would have the authority to deal with banking crisis. The proposed institution would oversee each one of the 6,000 banks –that many, indeed, I agree there are too many banks in Europe –that operate in the Eurozone.

A bit over an hour later, around 15:00 hours, Germany said no to the proposal.

In both cases, the positions were extreme, like two enemies in a war. It's a pity, at a time when the banking union should be moving faster. 

The art of balance, common sense and compromise is being lost in today’s Europe. 

Hollande low cost

The French President, François Hollande, has now an approval rating of 19%. This is by far the lowest rate ever. It is even worse than it looks if one takes into account that he is quite new in the job and therefore cannot pretend people are tired of him. People are just disappointed. They had expected a new style of governance, combining sensitivity and reform, and got indecision instead. In times of crisis, vacillation is the worst characteristic a leader can harbour. The voters want clarity, a well-defined sense of direction, resoluteness, and ability to communicate and mobilise. You might not be 100% sure of the best way to sort out the crisis, but you have to be perceived as being fully in control.

If not, you get 19% today and 10% tomorrow. Political devaluation goes as fast as currency devaluation in a crisis country. 

Spying on me is good for my ego

With all this spying that is going on, all over, one should feel important, because so many services are interested in what one is doing and saying.  

Egypt should not repeat the Algerian crisis

Egypt’s situation is in serious risk of paralysing the little that is still working in the country. And it is also moving fast towards a dead end. It is time to realise that a repetition of the Algeria’s crisis of the early nineties is now becoming a real possibility. One should remember the very high costs that Algerian crisis brought in, during so many years, both in terms of human suffering and underdevelopment.  The Egyptian leadership has to be able to rise to the very dramatic challenge that the country faces, be able to talk sense to the nation and propose a way forward that is as inclusive as possible.

If that is not the case, Egypt will move closer to violent unrest. 

Seville

Week end in Seville, Spain. Lots of young people from different corners of Northern Europe and from Japan and China. The city might have fewer tourists this year but is still a major international attraction. And it’s worth the visit. Ever. 

Bolivia and the EU

Just after the incident with President Morales ‘ flight, at the beginning of the week, I wrote in my Portuguese blog “Vistas Largas” that the EU countries involved  - France, Portugal, Spain and Austria – had made a serious mistake. They should not have prevented the Bolivian President’s plane from flying over their air space and the Austrian Police should not have searched the aircraft, after it was forced to land in Vienna. If there was any doubt about Edward Snowden’s presence on board the right approach would have been to request for information about the passenger list and take it at face value. This is the appropriate diplomatic procedure. Everything else was a humiliation of a Head of State. It would be immediately perceived as a very wrong decision taking into account the extreme sensitivities that prevail in South America where many believe the Europeans to be just arrogant and racist.

Now, a few days into this story, people are finally recognising the mistake. But they do not want to properly apologise for it. That’s to add injury to insult.