euro|topics - Sabine Verhest

Verhest, Sabine

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

La Libre Belgique - Belgium | 31/03/2008

Europeans weak-kneed when faced with China

"While the Tibetans continue demonstrating in Lhassa despite the repression, the Europeans have very courageously taken the step of treating China with kid gloves as much as possible. Meeting in Slovenia [on March 29th] under the presidency of a Dimitrij Ruppel obsessed by the Balkans, the Foreign Ministers called the umpteenth time for dialogue and respect for human rights," writes the editorialist Sabine Verhest. "But what can we hope for in a Europe, and in particular in a Greece - the cradle of democracy ! - that doesn't hesitate to clamp down on those who dare to brandish a Tibetan banner and to ban the international press from covering the arrival of the Olympic flame at the Acropolis ? Europe should maybe stop this hypocrisy and clearly state that it only defends human rights when it's convenient. And, in this case, defending human rights is not."

La Libre Belgique - Belgium | 24/01/2008

Europe's climate goals

Sabine Verhest considers that the European Commission "did a good job dealing with the intense lobbying it endured for months and is now sending out a positive message to Europe and the world. It is obliging member states and their firms to make a real effort, to see the green revolution as an opportunity rather than a threat or punishment, to use it as a trampoline to innovate and create new jobs. ... It is now a question of continuing to set an example and taking on the responsibility of its status as leader and rich region. If by any chance the Union were to fail in respecting its objectives for the lowering of pollutant emissions before the 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen, it would loose all credibility and sabotage post-Kyoto international negotiations in the future. This is a heavy responsibility."

La Libre Belgique - Belgium | 24/05/2007

Can Sarkozy become a "Great European"?

The editorialist Sabine Verhest doubts the European commitment of the new French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. "It isn't enough to pose before a star-studded flag in the official photo, to fall into the arms of the [German chancellor] Angela Merkel, or to pay a visit to Brussels [Wednesday, May 23rd] in order to be proclaimed the herald of the European cause. ... Can one declare oneself to have high ambitions for Europe while being contented with a 'simplified treaty' ... ? Can one laud a strong Europe and be contented with a necessary reformed constitution - which incidentally is utterly abstruse for the ordinary citizen - that makes no progress on fields as emblematic as fundamental rights, energy, security and justice or social-economic governance ? No. ... When he was a cabinet minister, Sarkozy stood out mostly for being absent in the Union's inner circles, which he was supposed to attend. Thus we cannot tell if, in actual contact with the 'thing', the man will turn out to be a great European, such as [The Belgian prime minister] Guy Verhofstadt turned out to be."

La Libre Belgique - Belgium | 05/07/2006

Central Europe's disillusionment

"While the extreme right is hardly absent from Western Europe - and from Belgium - populists have gained ground in a Central Europe in the midst of economic catch-up by whetting a national pride that one criticises at one's own risk, and by promising more jobs, more money and fewer liberal reforms," reports Sabine Verherst a day after nationalists and members of the extreme right joined the Slovak government. "This situation reflects the fear of new and painful reforms in societies that have been in constant transformation for the past 17 years. Even if the region remains open to changes, there is no shortage of those ready to denounce 'lumpen-liberalism' (an expression of the Polish Kaczynski twins), elites who have grown rich overnight, or foreign hypermarkets that kill off small business."

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