The Week - UK (2021-02-13)

Europe at aglance NEWS 7

13 February 2021 THE WEEK

Paris
Dejeuneraubureau:Inanemergency
easingoftherulesgoverningofficelifein
France,designedtocontainthespreadof
thecoronavirus,Frenchemployeesareto
beallowedtoeatlunchattheirdesks.Up
untilnow,underArticleR.4428-19ofthe
3, 324 -pageCodedutravail,companiesare
bannedfrom“allowingworkerstohave
theirmealsinplacesdedicatedtowork”.
Themeasurewasintroducedamidfears
thatifworkerscouldeatasandwichat
theirdesks,firmswouldfeelnoneedtolay
oncanteens,andtheirlunchhourswould
beeroded.However,therearenowfears
thatworkerscongregatingincanteensand
otherdedicatedeatingareasismakingit
hardertocontainthevirus.Thesehave
beenmorecrowdedthanusual–though
manypeopleareworkingfromhome–
owingtotheclosureofcafésand
restaurantsaspartofongoingCovid
restrictions.Otherprovisionsinthecode,
firstdraftedin 1910 ,stillapply,including
therighttodrinkwineintheworkplace.

Berlin

Holocaustcrimes:A 9 5-year-oldwoman

anda100-year-oldmanhavebeencharged

withbeingaccessoriestothemurderof

thousandsofpeoplewhodiedinthe

Holocaust.IrmgardFwassecretarytothe

commandantoftheStutthofconcentration

camp,eastofthecityofDanzig(now

Gdansk,Poland),from 1943 to 1 945.As

shewasunder2 1 atthetime,shewillface

trialasaminor.Theotherdefendant,who

hasnotbeennamed,wasaguardatthe

Sachsenhausenconcentrationcamp,just

northofBerlin.Fordecades,German

courtsonlywentafterhigh-rankingNazis,

butin 20 11,theychangedtack,and

startedlookingforformercampguards

andothermorejuniorpersonnelwhohad

notbythensuccumbedtooldage.

Rome
Consensus politician:Mario Draghi, the
former president oftheEuropean Central
Bank,looks settobecomeItaly’snew PM,
having won thesupportof two formerly
anti-euro“populist” parties.BoththeFive
StarMovementand thefar-rightLeague –
twoofthe biggestpartiesinItaly’scurrent
parliament –signalledtheirsupportforthe
73-year-old afterdiscussions last weekend.
Aformeracademiceconomist,Draghi has
neverbeeninvolvedinparty politics,but
iswidelyrespected forhis handling ofthe
Europeandebtcrisisasheadof theECB.
HewasapproachedlastweekbyItaly’s
president toleadagovernmentof national
unityasawayoutof the crisistriggered by
theresignationofGiuseppeConteasPM,
andhisinabilitytoforgeanew coalition.
Draghialso hasthesupportofthe
centre-leftDemocraticParty,formerPM
SilvioBerlusconi’sForzaItalia,and former
PMMatteoRenzi’sItalia Viva.

VaticanCity
Woman inthe
synod:In amajor
breakwith
tradition,Pope
Francishas
appointed a
womanas an
undersecretary of
the Catholic
Church’ssynod
of bishops, the
body which adviseson majorquestions of
doctrine.Theappointmentof Sister
Nathalie Becquart,aFrench member of the
Xavière MissionarySisters,signals the
pontiff’sdesire“foragreaterparticipation
of women in theprocess ofdiscernment
anddecision-making”, said Cardinal
MarioGrech, thesecretarygeneralof the
synod. Becquartis the firstwomantotake
the seniorrole, andtohavethe right to
vote in thesynod.

Moscow

Navalnytensions:Moscowhasexpelled

three Europeandipl omats–from

Germany, Poland andSweden–for

allegedlyparticipatingin pro-Navalny

demonstrations. Germany said its

diplomat hadsimplybeen doinghis job

of “informinghimselfaboutdevelopments

on thegroundbylawfulmeans”. And in

asign of ramped-uptensions, Chancellor

Merkel described the expulsionsas

evidence that Russia is now “quitefar

from the rule oflaw”.Toadd insult to

injury,the Kremlinannounced the

expulsionsduring avisit toMoscow of the

EU’s foreign policychief, Josep Borrell. All

three countrieshave since made tit-for-tat

expulsions. Themass proteststhat

followedNavalny’s returnand arrest and

subsequent jailing havebeenthe biggest

show of dissentagainst Putin’srule for

years (see page 19). Around 11,000 people

havebeenarrested.

Istanbul,Turkey

Student protests:Hundredsofpeople were

arrested lastweekinIstanbuland Ankara

as rumbling student protests boiled over

intoclasheswith police.The protests

beganinJanuary, following theimposition

of an Erdogan allyasthe newrectorof

Istanbul’sprestigiousBogaziçi University.

Since then,they have morphedinto a

wideryouthmovement,demanding

greaterdemocracy,attackingpolice

brutality,anddefendingthe rightsof the

LGBT community.Last week, police used

plastic bullets andpepperspra ytobreak

up protests in Istanbul, andmade

hundredsof arrests.PresidentErdoganhas

condemned thestudents as“terrorists”,

and describedthe LGBT movement as

incompatible with Turkish values.

Followingthe failed 2016 coup, Erdogan

assumedthepowertoappointuniversity

heads,and thegovernmenthassince

closeddown15universities.

Berlin

Vaccine

frustration:

Germany’s

financeminister,

OlafScholz,made

clearfrustrations

attheslowpace

oftheEU’s

vaccineroll-outat

acabinetmeeting

lastweek,when

hedescribedthe

“vaccinedebacle”overseenbyUrsulavon

derLeyenas“shit”andsaidthatGermany

“cannotletthisshitrepeatitself”.Scholz’s

centre-leftSPDfiercelyopposedthe

appointmentofvonderLeyen,Germany’s

formerdefenceminister,asECpresidentin

2019,claimingshewasan“inadequate

andinappropriate”candidate.Lastweek,

vonderLeyenapologisedfortheslow

starttotheroll-out,sayingthata

country“canbeaspeedboat;the

EUismorelikeatanker”.

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