Europe at aglance NEWS 729 February 2020 THE WEEKParis
Abuseallegations:
Thefounderof
theCatholic
charityL’Arche
–whichruns
communities
forpeople
withlearning
disabilities
–sexuallyabused
sixwomen
between 1970
and2005,accordingtoareport
commissionedbythecharity.Duringhis
lifetime,JeanVanierwasregardedasa
greathumanitarian.Butaroundthetimeof
hisdeathlastyear,severalwomen–who
hadlinkswithL’Arche,butwhowerenot
disabled–cameforwardtoclaimthathe
hadengagedin“manipulative,emotionally
abusive”,and“non-consensual”
relationshipswiththemundertheguiseof
offeringspiritualguidance.Thereport
notesthattheiraccountswereallsimilar,
anddescribesthemas“credible”.
Volkmarsen,Germany
Carnivalattack:A29-year-oldGerman
citizenwasarrestedonsuspicionof
attemptedhomicideonMonday,after
drivinghiscarintoacrowdofpeople
attendingacarnivalparadeinVolkmarsen,
asmalltowninthecentralstateofHesse.
Around 60 peoplewereinjuredinthe
incident, 1 8ofthemchildren; 3 5ofthe
woundedremainedinhospitalonTuesday.
Withwitnessesclaimingthatthedriver
hadtargetedchildren,policesaidthatthey
didnotthinkitwasanaccident–butthey
hadnot,asyet,detectedapoliticalor
terroristmotiveforhisactions.Tensions
werealreadyhighinGermany,following
lastweek’sfar-rightterroristattackinthe
townofHanau,inwhichtenpeoplewere
killed(seepage1 6 ).Paris
Former PMon trial:FrançoisFillon–the
former FrenchPMwho wasthe favourite
to win thepresidencyin2 017 –hasgone
ontrial onchargesstemmingfromthe
“fakejobs” scandalthat ruinedhis
politicalhopes.The65-year-old
conservativeisaccused ofembezzlingmore
thans1min public findsbyclaimingfor
15 years that hisBritishwifePenelopewas
workingashisparliamentaryassistant, a
job prosecutorssays she neverdid.The
allegationswereaired byasatirical
magazine duringhis2017campaign,and
followed upbypolice, leadingtoacollapse
in supportforFillon,aRepublican,that
paved thewayfor thecentrist Emmanuel
Macron totakethepresidency. Penelope
Fillon,64,who was bornin Wales,has
been chargedwithcomplicityinthefraud.
Thecouple,devoutCatholicswithfive
children, insisttheyareinnocent.
Lisbon
Euthanasiaapproved:Portugal’s
parliament has voteddecisively to legalise
euthanasia andmedically assistedsuicide
for terminally illpeople, despitefierce
oppositionfrom conservatives, the
Catholic Church andsome bodies
representingthe medicalprofession. The
passing of thefivebillsputs Catholic-
majority Portugal ontrack tobecomeone
of asmall group of six countrieswhere
active euthanasia is legal. (Theothers are
Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Canada and Colombia.)Aspecial
commissionwill now considerafinal
consolidated bill,whichwill beputto
Portugal’spresident,MarceloRebelo de
Sousa.Heisknown to bescepticalabout
euthanasia andcouldveto the law.
However, parliamenthasthe power to
overrideany suchveto,and thelegislation
is expectedto take effect once ithasbeen
confirmedbyasecond parliamentaryvote.
Moscow
Presidential
immunity:
The citizens’
commission
chargedwith
framingRussia’s
newconstitution
–which is made
up of 75 people
handpickedby
the Kremlin–has
proposedgiving
formerpresidentslifetime immunityfrom
criminal prosecution. Vladimir Putin’s
finaltermaspresident endsin2 024 ,but
analystsbelieve he isplanningtocarve out
apowerfulnewrolefor himself (seepage
16 ). Putin andhisentouragehavebeen
accusedof corruptlyamassingtens, ifnot
hundreds, of billionsof dollarsduringhis
tenure.“Putinisathief!” isachantoften
heard atanti-governmentrallies.Hamburg,Germany
CDUcrisis:AngelaMerkel’srulingparty,
theCDU,hasabruptlypulledforwardits
leadershipelectionfromtheendofthis
yeartoApril,followingacatastrophic
showinginaregionalelectioninHamburg.
Thepartypolledjust 11 .2%ofthevote,its
worstresultinaregionalelectionsince
1951 –andastarkillustrationofthe
severityofitscurrentcrisis.Having
struggledtoimposeherauthorityon
theparty,andtocountertheriseofthe
far-rightAfD,theCDU’scurrentleader,
AnnegretKramp-Karrenbauer(AKK),
announcedearlierthismonththatshewas
resigning,andwouldnotbestandingto
replaceMerkelaschancellorinnextyear’s
generalelection.Shehadbeendueto
overseealengthyleadershipcontest,
culminatingattheparty’sannualcongress
inDecember.However,theCDUwill
nowelectanewleaderataspecial
conferenceon 25 April.Thefront
runnerinthe(sofar)three-way,
all-maleraceisright-
wingerFriedrichMerz.Catchup with daily news at theweek.co.uk
Lesbos, Greece
Riots over newcamps:Residents ofLesbos
clashed with riotpolice thisweek during
protests against thebuildingof new
migrant centres ontheGreek island.
There were also protestsonnearby Chios,
as maskeddemonstratorsblocked roads
to stopconstructionworkersmovingin.
Thegovernmentsaysithas tobuildnew
campsto preventworsening overcrowding
in existing facilities.Tens of thousandsof
asylum seekersare trapped insqualid
conditionsinopencampsonthe islands,
off the coastof Turkey.TheMoria camp
on Lesbos was designed to hold around
3,000 people,butowing to the
government’s containment policy, itis
currentlyhometoalmost20,000 people,
some of whom have been livingthere for
twoyears. Localssaythe islands arebeing
transformed intogiantprisons,and want
more asylumseekers to betransferredto
camps on the mainland.