APRIL 8th PREDICTION

[rollinTHUNDER]

Most Europeans don't know their union has 25 states

11.10.2006 - 09:58 CET | By Andrew Rettman

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Most Europeans don't know the EU has 25 member states and don't think that countries such as Georgia or Syria are EU "neighbours" a fresh European Commission opinion poll on the EU's so-called "neighbourhood policy" has shown.

Fifty two percent of people said the EU has less than 25 states while a further 25 percent believed that it has more or said they simply don't know, with just one in four Europeans displaying knowledge of the most basic fact of the European Union.

The levels of knowledge were the highest in new member states such as Cyprus and Slovenia but the vast majority of Dutch people (78%), Finnish, Swedish and German respondents didn't have a good handle on the 2004 round of enlargement, saying the EU has less than 25 members.

The survey also cast light on ordinary Europeans' relationships with Mediterranean, eastern European and Black Sea countries, most of which are currently included in the EU's so-called "neighbourhood policy" of enhanced financial and political integration.

Over 50 percent of people feel that only those countries - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus - with a physical border with existing EU members are EU "neighbours", while slightly more remote countries such as Moldova, Georgia or Armenia scored as low as Mediterranean states Morocco and Tunisia on about 30 percent.

On top of this, just 51 percent said they were interested in what is happening on the EU's fringe, while almost one in two Europeans - 48 percent - indicated that they do not care or care little about events on the other side of the EU's borders.

The country breakdown on interest levels threw up some surprising results with over 60 percent of Poles, Czechs, Slovakians and Lithuanians displaying little interest despite their government's strong campaigning for EU integration of Ukraine and democracy in Belarus.

Despite the high levels of apathy and worries over the financial costs of intervention abroad, two thirds believe that EU assistance to nearby countries helps reduce the risk of war.

The survey also contributed to answering the vexed question of what are "European values" - a phrase often wheeled out in defence of democracy or gay rights but never strictly defined in a bloc of 25 different countries and at least six major faiths.

Human rights (39%) came in as the EU's strongest common value, followed by peace (38%) and democracy (37%) with market economy gaining 26 percent approval.

But for countries such as Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia (official EU candidates) the other Western Balkan states (officially on the road to accession) and Ukraine (which has said repeatedly it wants to join the EU) the survey's message on public support for enlargement is less than clear.

Seventy two percent of Europeans said the EU should keep on getting bigger but "not too fast" and 70 percent also support the creation of special relationships (that fall short of accession) with third countries.

But 52 percent answered "yes" to the question if the EU should stop after the "current round of enlargement" - suggesting Romania and Bulgaria - and give no special treatment to its neighbours at all.

http://euobserver.com/9/22614

[Guest HopeInGod]

Good Luck on ur mission

GodBless

[rollinTHUNDER]

Top EU diplomat says UN should 'act' on North Korea

11.10.2006 - 17:57 CET | By Helena Spongenberg

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana has urged UN action following North Korea's controversial nuclear tests earlier this week, saying it could unleash a global arms race.

"It is an act which we condemn and protest against most vigorously," Mr Solana told the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday (11 October), following Monday's nuclear test in North Korea near the border with China.

He said that the nuclear test "is a threat to the region and constitutes a hostile act to security and stability to the whole world," adding it "could lead to further consequences in accelerating the arms race around the world."

The EU currently has five members - France, the UK, Denmark, Greece and Slovakia - in the UN security council which is seeking an agreement on what action should be taken against Pyongyang.

Mr Solana said reactions from the Asian region and from the UN veto powers had been "responsible", adding that "even China has made constructive comments on a resolution on North Korea and supports it."

"The security council has to act", Mr Solana stressed, explaining that the international community would get "confused" if there were no consequences in terms of sanctions - like there might be against Iran for its refusal to give up its nuclear enrichment.

MEPs seek room for talks

"It is no coincidence that the North Koreans test their weapons just after the South Korean foreign minister is elected secretary general of the United Nations," said German socialist MEP Martin Schulz.

"We have to try to read between the lines of this dictator's actions. We have to see where there is scope for talks," he stressed.

"We must be firm in our principles," Hungarian liberal MEP Istvan Szent-Ivany said however. "With such irresponsible acts, they put at risk international support and cooperation without which the political and social structure of their country will inevitably collapse."

But the international human rights group, Human Rights Watch, has urged the international community not to suspend emergency food aid to North Korea as part of sanctions against the country.

"It must distinguish between the North Korean government and ordinary citizens," said Sophie Richardson from the group. "Further restraints on food aid will only make ordinary North Koreans suffer more."

She explained that up to one third of North Korea's population has been dependent on foreign food aid since the mid-1990s.

EU foreign affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner echoeing the remarks said the test bombing must be met with "a smart response, to hit the government but not the people."

"I would like to maintain the humanitarian assistance," she said, explaining that the European Union has donated

[Christ's Free Servant]

Speculation mounts over Solana leaving job

19.10.2006 - 17:36 CET | By Mark Beunderman

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Speculation is mounting that Javier Solana, the EU's top diplomat, will step down for health reasons with the former Swedish, Slovak and Austrian prime ministers reportedly first in line to succeed him.

http://euobserver.com/9/22684/?rk=1 for the remainder of the article.

[rollinTHUNDER]

Speculation mounts over Solana leaving job

19.10.2006 - 17:36 CET | By Mark Beunderman

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Speculation is mounting that Javier Solana, the EU's top diplomat, will step down for health reasons with the former Swedish, Slovak and Austrian prime ministers reportedly first in line to succeed him.

Intense rumours about an end to the Solana era have been circulating in Brussels for the last couple of weeks, with several reasons being cited for his possible imminent retirement.

One version says it became clear to the Spaniard during the Lebanon crisis in the summer that he could never really act on behalf of the EU, with member states refusing to give him a clear mandate.

Mr Solana also had to recently admit that his efforts to get Iran to halt uranium enrichment - which he had exceptionally handled on behalf of all UN veto powers - have stalled.

On top of this, the deadlock on the EU constitution means that Mr Solana will not get the job as official EU foreign minister

[rollinTHUNDER]

Oct. 25, 2006 11:06 | Updated Oct. 25, 2006 11:16

Solana to visit Jerusalem first on ME tour

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, embarked on a six-day mission to the Middle East Wednesday, aiming to breathe new life into the stalled peace effort.

It was Solana's first visit to the region since the full deployment of an expanded UN force in southern Lebanon following the recent fighting between Israel and Hizbullah.

Following this summer's conflict, key Mideast players have been seeking to make a renewed push to restart talks between Israelis and Palestinians as part of a broader peace effort in the Middle East.

Solana wants to make clear to regional leaders that the 25-nation EU remains committed to promoting peace in the region. The EU is participating in the 7,000-strong mostly European UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

Solana's first stop will be in Jerusalem, where he will meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and other top political figures including Israel Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman.

Reviving serious talks between the two sides will be a challenge. One former EU Mideast envoy, Miguel Angel Moratinos, suggested Tuesday that the international community's main blueprint for resolving the conflict, the road map, was fatally stalled.

Moratinos, now Spain's foreign minister, told a parliamentary panel in Madrid that a new approach was needed and that any new negotiations should include Syria and take into account the Iranian nuclear dispute.

The EU envoy is also expected to visit Ramallah in the West Bank and meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

The EU refuses to talk with government officials of Hamas because of its refusal to recognize Israel, end violence and accept Israel as a peace partner. The group is on the EU's list of terrorist organizations.

Direct international aid to the Palestinian Authority has been suspended since Hamas took power after its January election victory.

Solana is expected to press Abbas to continue efforts to get Hamas to moderate and to form a unity government with his Fatah party, an effort that has so far been fruitless.

The EU foreign policy chief will also head to Beirut to visit Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, to Amman, Jordan, to meet King Abdullah II and to Cairo to visit with President Hosni Mubarak.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...rticle/ShowFull

[HAZARD]

No man will know the exact time of the end of this age in which we live, nor the day or the hour of the second coming of Jesus Christ. All that we may know is "the times and the seasons" which proves the nearness of the second advent (1 Thess. 5:1-9).

This study may be of some help regarding the future end time tribulation.

http://www.worthyboards.com/index.php?show...=49050&st=0

[rollinTHUNDER]

EU six agree to fight terrorism and illegal immigration

27.10.2006 - 09:27 CET | By Helena Spongenberg

The EU's six largest countries have agreed to work together on fighting terrorism, organised crime and illegal immigration after a two-day informal meeting hosted by the UK.

The interior ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK

[rollinTHUNDER]

Now Or Never

Not long ago we students of Bible prophecy were wondering how the Middle East peace process would shift from the US to the EU. It looks like now we know. In fact, not that long ago we were still wondering about a whole lot of things, about which now we know.

This morning President George Bush held a press conference where he informed the American people about his new strategies for dealing with the increasing violence in Iraqi. Bush said that America's vital interests are at stake. He also said America is in for a tough fight and that victory wouldn't be easy. In other words, Bush told the American people -- and the world -- that America had a job to finish and would be tied up for awhile.

In Brussels the President's words won't go unnoticed. As far as their Mediterranean goals are concerned, it's now or never. In the Middle East arena, America has been the EU's single biggest obstacle. Now, at least for the next few years, America will be occupied elsewhere.

And, for the first time since deploying his peacekeeping forces into southern Lebanon, Javier Solana is paying a visit to the Middle East's key leaders (Read about it here)>>>> http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?...amp;p=y994zxz9x

Solana will be following up on recent work done by his former personal representative to the region, Miguel Angel Moratinos. Seizing the opportunity, Moratinos has begun calling for scrapping American's unsuccessful Road Map peace plan and starting a new one -- the EU's peace plan (Read about it here)>>>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...6168513,00.html

In the meantime, a familiar rumor is haunting the halls of Brussels. The last time there was a rumor that Solana was considering stepping down was when the EU heads were deciding who would become their first Foreign Minister -- Joschka Fischer or Javier Solana. And, if ever the EU heads needed their Foreign Minster, it's now (Read about it here)>>>> http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/20...17565054290.htm

Now or never.

10-25-2006

http://fulfilledprophecy.com/now_or_never.html

[rollinTHUNDER]

Greenspan says dollar now sharing stage with euro

Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:20am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday both private investors and central bank were shifting away from the U.S. dollar and toward the euro.

"We're beginning to see some move from the dollar to the euro, both from the private sector ... but also from monetary authorities and central banks," Greenspan told a conference sponsored by the Commercial Finance Association.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews....=rss&rpc=23