In this issue:

Washington Post's Jim Hoagland Touts European 'Mellowing' on Mideast Policy

Probable Next Archbishop of Canterbury Calls Iraq War Plans 'Immoral and Illegal'

Germany's Stoiber Visits Paris To Inject New Life into Franco-German Cooperation

Rumors of Financial Scandal Led to Sacking of German Defense Minister

Real Situation of European Banks Soon To Be Exposed

From the Vol.1 No.20 issue of Electronic Intelligence Weekly

EUROPEAN NEWS DIGEST

Washington Post's Jim Hoagland Touts European 'Mellowing' on Mideast Policy

Senior Washington Post columnist Jim Hoagland, writing in the July 14 issue of the Post in his characteristic sanctimonious tone, claims that the French and Germans have begun to "come around" to a compromise with President George W. Bush's Mideast policy. (Hoagland distinguished himself in a recent column by calling for an old-style U.S. imperial protectorate over Iraq.)

In his July 14 piece, he specifically cited discussions with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. De Villepin, who is about to arrive for his first official visit to the U.S., paid lip service to the need to reform the Palestinian Authority, while Fischer did the same, calling it the "biggest shortcoming of the 1993 Oslo Accord," that the Accord put "everything in the hands of the Tunis group" (Arafat's PLO).

Fischer has announced a proposal for the establishment of an Emergency Palestinian Authority, which would hold elections next year, declare a provisional state at the end of 2003, and start final status talks in 2004. The UN Security Council would appoint a representative to oversee overhaul of the PA, as part of this plan.

One of the angles Fischer is promoting is that Arafat should appoint a strong Prime Minister, to avoid conflict with the Bush Administration.

Obviously, all of this ignores the shock waves that can be expected from intermediate developments, including a war against Iraq.

Probable Next Archbishop of Canterbury Calls Iraq War Plans 'Immoral and Illegal'

According to the Daily Telegraph of London, Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales and expected to be named the next Archbishop of Canterbury (spiritual head of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion), on July 12 issued a declaration blasting plans to make war on Iraq. The declaration, also signed by Anglican Bishop of Chelmsford the Rt. Rev. John Perry, and Roman Catholic Bishop of Brentwood the Rt. Rev. Thomas McMahon, states: "We deplore any military action that regards the deaths of innocent men, women and children as a price worth paying in fighting terrorists, since this is to fight terror with terror....

"The terrible toll exacted on Iraq's civilian population by a combination of UN sanctions and U.S./U.K. bombing (including the premature deaths of hundreds of thousands of children) has contributed to the devastation of Iraq's infrastructure."

The declaration also states: "It is our considered view that an attack on Iraq would be both immoral and illegal, and that eradicating the dangers posed by malevolent dictators and terrorists can be achieved only by tackling the root causes of the disputes."

The Daily Telegraph notes that Williams' views "will alarm Downing Street, which is already concerned about Cabinet splits over the issue."

Germany's Stoiber Visits Paris To Inject New Life into Franco-German Cooperation

The candidate for Chancellor of Germany's Christian Democratic Party, Edmund Stoiber, wants to give new life to Franco-German cooperation. In a two-day visit to Paris that ended July 16, Stoiber met with President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, and Bank of France Governor Jean-Claude Trichet, as well as with former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

In a gesture to honor Stoiber's engagement for Franco-German cooperation over the last 20 years, Chirac appointed his German guest Commander of the Legion of Honor. After his meeting with Chirac, Stoiber said they had agreed to prepare a joint memorandum for the 40th anniversary of the (Adenauer-de Gaulle) Elysée Treaty of 1963, in January. The memorandum is not designed to call for a new treaty, but for a "new quality" in mutual relations, Stoiber said, adding that in European affairs, nothing can work without Franco-German understanding, as being the core of the European integration process.

Stoiber also listed three main points on the agenda of Franco-German relations, for the near future: 1) a common initiative for the planned convention on a European Community Constitution; 2) no disruptive decisions for the agricultural sector of the present European Union, in preparation for the planned expansion of the EU toward Eastern Europe; 3) the construction of the A400M large military transport aircraft, as a priority project of military-technological cooperation between France and Germany.

Rumors of Financial Scandal Led to Sacking of German Defense Minister

Rumors of another financial scandal led to the sacking of German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping, but the issue of Iraq may have played a role too, according to German and other European wire stories.

Revelations in the current issue of the weekly Stern about Scharping's close business relations to public-relations manager Moritz Hunzinger, ended the controversial Defense Minister's career on July 18.

After emergency sessions involving the leaders of Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party, its parliamentary group, and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's staff, Schroeder announced shortly before 4 p.m. that he had sent a note on Scharping's dismissal to President Johannes Rau.

The revelations are the latest in a series of private and Ministry-related scandals involving Scharping, and it is no secret that his political demise is welcome among many military men, because of his failure to provide the necessary minimal funds and up-to-date equipment for the armed forces. Just last week, Scharping called off, for "reasons of fiscal bottlenecks," the project of the new Panther armored personnel carrier, designed to replace the 30-year-old Marder vehicle. (Of course, the members of the government chiefly to blame for the fiscal malaise are Chancellor Schroeder and Finance Minister Hans Eichel.)

The prominent role played in the scandal by the anglophile leak-sheet Stern—and the fact that Scharping, although hardly competent, was at least not one of the warmongers of NATO, and has opposed another Iraq war—are both suggestive. Scharping had become a target of the Wolfowitz gang in the U.S. Defense Department for his lack of enthusiasm about attacking Iraq, and the timing of the most recent revelations indicates that some other motives were driving the ouster of Scharping, besides just the desire to have a Defense Minister whose finances were clean.

Mentioned as a possible successor to Scharping is Hans Ulrich Klose, former chairman of the SPD parliamentary group and member of the German group at the Atlantic Bridge—and strongly in favor of German support, if asked, for an American operation against Iraq.

Real Situation of European Banks Soon To Be Exposed

The real situation among Europe's big private banks will soon be exposed, to judge by the Wall Street Journal of July 19, and wire stories. The case of BNP Paribas, the biggest private bank listed in France, is seen as indicative of what the earnings situation among all of the big banks in Europe looks like. BNP reported an "unexpected" drop in net profits by 13% in the second quarter of this year, revealing problems that also exist for the other banks; namely, depression, falling stock markets, and bad debts.

BNP released its figures just two weeks ahead of the other banks, which are due to report early next month. The German Commerzbank's announcement July 18 that it will turn to a 31-hour working week for its employees, for the time being, is a prelude to the real story, which has yet to be published and which will involve job losses.

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