Europe at aglance NEWS 71February2020 THE WEEKMoscow
“Fake”parties:TheKremlinisreported
tobeplanningthelaunchofatleastthree
“fake”politicalparties,inabidtocreate
theillusionofdemocracyandgiveaboost
toPresidentPutin’sUnitedRussiaparty,
saysTheTimes.Thegroupingsare
expectedtoactas“spoilers”,inhibiting
theriseofgenuinesmallparties.If,as
anticipated,theyfailtoattract5%ofthe
votes,theirtallywillberedistributedto
largerparties.UnitedRussia,whichhas
slumpedinpopularity,wouldbethemain
beneficiary:theextravotescouldenableit
tomaintainamajorityintheDuma.Putin
recentlyunveiledsweepingconstitutional
changesseeminglydesignedtolethim
keepcontrolofthereinsofpowerafterhis
currentpresidentialtermendsin 20 24.TheHague,Netherlands
Myanmargenocideruling:Inahistoric,
unanimousjudgmentdeliveredlastweek,
theInternationalCourtofJusticeinThe
Haguehasorderedthe governmentof
Myanmar toprotectits600,000 Muslim
Rohingyapeoplefromgenocide,to
preserve evidenceofpastcrimesandto
report regularly tothetribunalaboutits
progress.The court–the principaljudicial
bodyof the UN–stoppedshortofruling
that theethnic cleansing oftheRohingya
inRakhinestate,whichbeganin August
2017,amountstoagenocide: averdict on
thatissue couldbe yearsaway. But itdid
unanimously findthattherewasprima
facie evidencethat suchagenocidehad
occurred,andissuedarulingakintoa
“restraining order”on Myanmarwhile
thecourtconsiders thecase.Itisa
humiliatingblowforAung SanSuu Kyi,
thecivilian leaderof Myanmar, who
travelledto The Haguesothatshecould
defendhercountry’sarmedforcesinthe
casein person.
Lisbon
Whistleblower:
Twoweeksago,
theworld’s press
began publishing
storiesrevealing
theallegedly
corrupt methods
by whichIsabel
dos Santos,
Africa’s richest
woman, amassed
her fortune (see page16). Thesource of
these leaks hasnowbeenrevealed:
31-year-oldPortuguese hackerRui Pinto
(pictured).Afootball fanatic and founder
of FootballLeaks, he is currentlyinjail for
exposing–allegedlybyillegal means –
extensive taxevasionbysomeofEurope’s
top football players. His lawyer sayshe did
not set outtoexposecorruptioninAngola:
it just turn ed out that Portugal’sfootball
clubs andAngola’spoliticalandbusiness
eliteusedthe samebanks –whose
computershehad hacked.
Emilia-Romagna,Italy
Populistssuffersetback:The far-right
leaderMatteo Salvini suffered ablow to
his political ambitions lastweekend when
his anti-immigrantLeagueparty failed to
wrest control of the wealthy northern
ItalianregionofEmilia-Romagna from the
centre-left Democrats(PD). Salvini, who
was forc ed outasinterior minister when
his party’s coalitionwiththe Five Star
Movement collapsedlast year, had hoped
victoryinthe regionalelectionwould
bring about the falloft he national
government–acoalition between PD and
FiveStar. Eventhoughhisparty failed to
unseatthe PD (the regionhasbeen left-
wingfor70years), the coalition govern-
mentmaystill fall,thanks to Five Star’s
disastrous showing in theelection:it won
just 4.74%ofthe vote in Emilia-Romagna.
To make matters worse, itsleader, Luigi
Di Maio,has resig nedafter amutinyby
hisown MPs. The coalitioncurrently has
onlyaslim majority in thesenate.Berlin
Far-rightsoldiersprobed:Germany’s
military intelligenceagency–the
Militärischen Abschirmdienst,or MAD
–has revealedthatitisi nvestigating 550
serving soldiersonsuspicionof having
links withfar-rightextremistgroups.
Christof Gramm,the head of MAD, told
theWeltamSonntagnewspaperthat last
year14 soldierswere sackedforhaving
links with far-right organisations: eight
hadbeenfoundtobeneo-Nazis.Afurther
40 hadbeensacked fora“lack of constitu-
tionalloyalty”. Twentyofthe cases being
investigated concernmembersofthe
Kommando Spezialkräfte(the KSK,
Germany’sequiva lent oftheSAS),which
has acquiredareputationasahotbed of
far-rightactivity.ThenumberofKSK
cases beinginvestigated is proportionately
five timeshigher than for the rest ofthe
armed forces. Gramm said the surge in the
numberof soldiers under suspicionwas on
accountof increasedscrutinybyMAD.Catch up with daily news at theweek.co.uk
Oswiecim,Poland
Auschwitzremembered:Morethan 200 Auschwitz
survivorsgatheredatthesiteoftheNaziextermination
camponMondaytomarkthe 7 5thanniversaryofits
liberation(seepage 13 ).Formerprisonersspokeoftheir
experiencesandurgedtheiraudiencetobemindfulof
theevilofwhichmankindiscapable.“Youngpeople
shouldunderstandthatnothingisforsure,thatsome
terriblethingscanhappenandtheyhavetobevery
careful.Andthat,Godforbid,whathappenedtothe
Jewishpeopleshouldneverberepeated,”saidJeanette
Spiegel,96.Manyofthesurvivors(includingIgor
MalickijofUkraine,pictured)weredressedinblueandwhitehatsoruniforms,similar
tothosetheywereforcedtowearatthecamp,whereanestimated1.1millionpeople
–mostlyJewsbutalsoRoma,gaypeopleandJehovah’sWitnesses–weremurdered.
Theyspokeinapurpose-builttentwhichenvelopedthe“GateofDeath”,where
prisonerswerebroughtintothecampincattlewagons.Lastweek,worldleaders–
includingVladimirPutin,EmmanuelMacron,andthePrinceofWales–gatheredto
commemoratetheoccasionatYadVashemremembrancecentreinJerusalem.