Shaping future of alliance
By Toby Vogel - 02.04.2009 / 00:00 CET
The meeting of NATO leaders will see decisions taken on important issues such as Afghanistan and appointing a new secretary-general.
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© 2012 European Voice. All rights reserved.
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And what a depressing film it makes |
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Trade commissioner warns against protectionism in Latin America. |
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How the US can adopt a more positive approach to China. |
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Fact file
Who will take the terror suspects?
Of the 250 or so suspected terrorists still held by the US at Guantánamo Bay, between 50 and 60 are completely harmless, according to the current US administration, and the EU has indicated its willingness, in principle, to take them.
But releasing them is not straightforward: the US does not want them, their home countries are likely to jail and torture them, and the Europeans cannot agree what to do with them. As long as this has not been sorted out – and diplomats suggest that this could be a matter of months rather than weeks – they will remain in US custody.
European governments are wary of admitting terrorist suspects without first examining the evidence against them, but the US does not want to share such sensitive information. Bilateral talks between EU and US officials have not yielded agreement.
A breakthrough may have come with an announcement by Brian Cowen, Ireland's prime minister, on a visit to Washington, DC, on 17 March, that Ireland would take in a small number of inmates. Having condemned the US for locking up innocents on the flimsiest of suspicions, Europeans can now make a difference to the plight of these individuals. Whether they do so will be a test of their goodwill to the US administration.
MEPs turn down a trip to Rio.
Trade commissioner warns against protectionism in Latin America.
The European Union and the United States have the world's largest bilateral trade relationship, and the economic crisis has led to renewed calls for an ambitious free-trade deal between the two sides.
The US has the upper hand
Europe and the United States have their economic problems, but the latter is in a much better position.
And what a depressing film it makes
