euro|topics - Jean-François Verdonnet

29/08/2008

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Verdonnet, Jean-François

5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Tribune de Genève - Switzerland | 07/01/2008

Nicolas Sarkozy's popularity is decreasing

According to several polls published last weekend, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is experiencing a drop in popularity. The editorialist Jean-François Verdonnet considers that a spell has been broken. "Public opinion ... is not allowing itself to be distracted by the astonishing spectacle being orchestrated at the Elysée palace. Defiance is being triggered by the way he creates a new head-line-grabbing event everyday and the loud display of his public life. His discourse may well be simple and wilful; he may well be breaking away from the classic rhetoric of his predecessors, but soon he could well become insignificant. No matter what, it is not enough to transform reality: the growth that could change everything is not something you just decree. And everyone already knows that it won't be anywhere to be seen this year."

Tribune de Genève - Switzerland | 12/12/2006

The EU assents to the partial freezing of discussions with Ankara

"It will not be a suspension, even less a rupture. Rather, it will be something like a 'slowing-down' of negotiations", explains Jean-François Verdonnet. "The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to elude the crisis with a last minute proposition to open a port and airport to Cypriots. Initially saluted by Brussels as an 'important step', the offer was then judged too weak and too vague. The Turkish, notably, did not specifying whether their offer was unconditional, or subordinate to the end of isolation regarding the Turkish part of Cyprus. Resistance has also come from inside. Insufficient for Brussels, the concession has been judged excessive by Ankara. ... The Turkish polemic, being electoral in part, is not at all artificial. It reveals tight constraints on the Cyprus question that the European summations now have little chance of slackening."

Tribune de Genève - Switzerland | 30/11/2006

A yellow card for Ankara

Jean-Francois Verdonnet considers that the climate has changed in Turkey. "In one year, the EU has lost its appeal. The perspective of accession, which mustered together most public opinion no longer appears to justify either the sacrifices demanded or the rebuffs that have been suffered. The negotiations, by specifying litigations, have increased a feeling of distance and a mixture of bitterness and resignation. The dead-lock is not however insurmountable. Ankara can count on allies such as Tony Blair who are ready to defend its cause. As for the rest, no matter what their ulterior motives may be, not one of the partners cares to question the negotiation process. Turkey, finally, will not be able to immediately give up the prospect of accession that has been orienting its foreign policy for four decades."

Tribune de Genève - Switzerland | 04/05/2006

Local elections in England

Jean-Francois Verdonnet believes the elections being held in England on Thursday, May 4 will give voters free rein to vent their frustration with the government. "The democratic reaffirmation at the polls in May 2005 did not restore the state of grace that prevailed in the early years. Unkept promises in the Iraqi campaign, an economy running out of steam, public finances on the skids: the Kingdom's situation has lost some of the apparent luster that set the country apart from most states on the continent. In a different period, disappointing local elections would have been put down to a passing hiccup. But coming after a long period of governmental management - nine years - they will appear tomorrow in a different light, as a sign of repudiation, an additional blow to Tony Blair's authority."

Tribune de Genève - Switzerland | 23/02/2006

Serbia, Mladic and the EU

According to editorial writer Jean-François Verdonnet, "the protection network, it seems, is slowly succombing to foreign pressure: true or not, the rumours of the past few days have not arisen by mere chance. While they do not allow us to declare the date and hour of arrest, they underscore a growing fragility, an accelerated transition to a new phase of political action. This newly hostile environment at once favours a new balance of forces in Serbia and the greater effectiveness of outside intervention -reminders to abide by TPIY rules, a greater coordination between Western intelligence agencies, a stepped-up determination by the powers involved and an end to their hedging and equivocation. For Mladic, playing the game has become all the more difficult as the rules have changed in Belgrade."

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