Europe at aglance NEWS 52November 2019 THE WEEKParis
Lostpainting
fetchesmillions:
Along-lost
proto-Renaissance
masterpiece,
foundhangingin
thekitchenofa
houseinnorthern
France,hasgone
underthehammer
inParisfors24m,
makingitthe
mostexpensivemedievalpaintingeversold
atauction–anditsnonagenarianownera
multimillionaire.ChristMocked,bythe
13thcenturyFlorentinepainterCimabue,
wasspottedbyanauctioneerwhohad
beenbroughtintoassessthecontents
ofthewoman’shouseinCompiègne,in
Picardy.Shehadassumeditwasareligious
iconwithnosignificantvalue,andhad
hungitaboveheroven’shotplate.
Zolote,Ukraine
Hopesofpeace:Ukrainiantroops
andRussian-backedseparatistsbegan
withdrawingfromakeyfront-linezone
ineasternUkraineonTuesday–thefirst
majorsteptowardspeaceunderadeal
agreedbetweenUkraine,Russiaandthe
separatistsatthestartofOctober.The
twosideshadbeenduetobegintheir
withdrawalfromthetownofZolote
on 9 October.However,Ukrainianwar
veterans–convincedthatUkraineisbeing
luredintogivingupitssovereignterritory
byMoscow–hadsoughttopreventthe
pull-out,leadingtoskirmisheswithpolice
thatdelayedtheprocess.LastSaturday,
however,Ukraine’sPresidentZelensky
travelledtothescene,andorderedthe
veteranstodisarm.Barcelona
Rivalmarches:Supportersandopponents
ofCatalanindependence held major rallies
inBarcelonalastweekend, astensions
caused bythejailingofnineseparatist
leaderson14Octobercontinued to
simmer. On Saturday, around350, 000
separatistsmarchedthroughthe city;that
event was peaceful,butlaterthat night a
separatedemonstration infavourof direct
action,andattendedbyaround10,0 00
people,endedin violentclasheswiththe
police.Thenextday,at least80,0 00
peopletookpartinapro-union rally–
someofthem carryingplacardsreading
“WeareCatalanstoo”,as they marched
downPasseigdeGràcia, the sceneofsome
oftheworst oflastweek’srioting. Despite
thedisparityin thenumbers ofmarchers,
opinion pollsindicatethatCatalans
continue tobenarrowlyin favour of
retainingtheregion’scurrent status,
with44% describingthemselvesas
pro-independence, and48.3% against.
Madrid
Franco’sremainsmoved:Theremains of
Spain’sformer fascistdictator,General
Francisco Franco,have been exhumed
from his tomb at theValley of theFallen,
outsideMadrid,andreinterredinafamily
plot in amunicipa lcemeteryinthe ci ty.
The exhumation, last Thursday, was
conductedatthe behestof the Socialist
government, which had made itan election
pledge,and marks theend ofalengthy
disp uteover the dictator’s restingplace.
Franco’s critics argued that hisoriginal
burialsite –inagrandiose basilica atthe
monument hehimselfcommissioned as
a“national act of atonement” after
Spain’s brutalcivilwar –glorified his
decades-long regime. Buthis family had
gone to court in an ultimatelyfailed
attempt to block it. Ashis coffinwas borne
out of themauso leum,family members
shouted“Viva España! VivaFranco!”
while supporters who hadgathere doutside
the complex gave fascistsalut es.
Perugia,Italy
Triumph forSalvini:Italy’s hard-right
anti -immigrantLeagueparty, ledby the
formerdeputyprime minister Matteo
Salvini, haswon acrushing victory in
regional electionsinUmbria,bringing half
acentury of entrenchedleft-win grule in
the region to an end.The votewas the first
electoral test ofpublic opinionsincethe
unlikelycoalition between the League
and the“anti-establishment”Five Star
Movement collapsedin thesummer –
and wasreplacedby asimilarlyunlikely
coalition between FiveStarand the
centre-leftDemocratic Party(PD) .In
Umbria, the League’s candidatefor
governor,DonatellaTesei–who wasalso
backedbythe far-rightBrot hers of Italy,
and SilvioBerlusconi’s Forza Italia–took
57% of thevote,while the candidate
fieldedby the PD andFiveStartookjust
37%.Salvini describedthe decisive victory
as an evictio norder to the coalition.Erfurt,Germany
Aboostfor the
far-right:
Mainstream
parties were
routed in an
election in theeast
German stateof
Thuringiathis
week, in which
more than half of
voterscleave dto
either the radical
leftorthe far-right. DieLinke,asuccessor
to East Germany’s rulingcommunist
party, toppedthe ballotwith 31%of the
vote ,while thefar-right AfDdoubled its
share to comeseco nd,on23.4%. The
result isaboost to theAfD’s localleader,
Björn Höcke,aformer teacherknownfor
his virulent anti-immigrantrhetoric, who
leads anextremefaction within the AfD,
known as the Wing.Koblenz,Germany
Syriantorture charges:German
prosecutorshavechargedtwo Syrian
immigrantswithcrimesagainst humanity,
for theirallegedrolein thetortureof
thousands ofopponentsoftheAssad
regime.Thepairaresuspected ofhaving
beenofficers inSyria’sfeared civilian
intelligenceservice,theGID. Thefirst,
Anwar R.,issuspected ofoverseeingthe
torture of4,000 peoplebetween 2011 and
2012 at adetention centrenear Damascus,
59 ofwhomdiedasaresult.Thesecond,
EyadA., issuspectedofhavingworked at
the facility.Themenentered Germany
as asylumseekersin 2014 and 2 018
respectively, and were arrestedinFebruary
thisyear.Theyhavebeen chargedunder
the principleof“universaljurisdiction”,
allowingcourts totry crimesagainst
humanity regardless ofwheretheytook
place.Theirtrial,thefirst of its kind
relatingtotheSyrianconflict,isdue
to startinKoblenzinearly 2020.Catch up with daily news at theweek.co.uk