Blogs' News : 30th October

After Wearing The Hair Shirt For Over Two Years Hungary Is Now Helped Into The Straight Jacket. Edward Hugh, A Fistful of Euros
" ...Well we now have some of the details of the IMF package for Hungary, and interesting reading it makes. Hungary has in effect secured a 20 billion-euro ($25.5 billion) loan which is going to be sourced by three institutions: the IMF, the EU and the World Bank. The International Monetary Fund is going lend Hungary 12.5 billion euros, the European Union will provide another 6.5 billion euros, and the World Bank is chipping in with a symbolic 1 billion euros ..."

Poles apart. Certain Ideas of Europe (en)
"... The government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, adopted a plan on Tuesda, to move forward with entry into the European currency zone, which it committed to when it joined the European Union in 2004 ... the opposition wants a referendum on the matter. The Law and Justice party, led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his twin brother, the President Lech Kaczynski, fear that adopting the euro could hurt Poland's growth and stability. Mr Tusk has conceded that if the opposition insists, he may agree to a referendum ..."

Told you so! Richard, EUReferendum (en)
" ... Forecasters, we are told, are blaming a change in wind direction for the wintry spell with Arctic gusts replacing the mild south-west Atlantic breezes enjoyed in recent weeks. I am truly amazed they haven't put it down to global warming ...."

Another fine mess. Richard, EUReferendum (en)
" ...In 2006, we were citing "analysts" who were saying that the United Nations, which had 17,500 peacekeepers in the country, "would have to act with unaccustomed resolution to prevent the run-off from spiralling out of control and returning the country to civil war." ..."

The Central European Realignment. Dodo, European Tribune (en)
" ... Gati also notes the disagreement with the Bush administration's prioritising of Iraq, and writes that lack of consultation before making the decision for war was interpreted as the US viewing CEE states as mere vassals (I presume he either means public opinion, or the inofficial view of diplomats, or both) ..."

"Uncomfortable implications" - Nationwide. Ironies Too (en)
" ... A 1.4 per cent drop in house prices in October takes the annual fall to 14.6 per cent for the year according to the Nationwide Building Society ..."

Mandelson and EU openness. Nosemonkey, EUtopia (en)
" ...In any case, this all follows rather neatly from recent responses from GrahnLaw, Julien Frisch and Re: Europa to a Statewatch paper suggesting methods to achieve “greater openness, transparency and democracy in the EU” (WARNING - PDF). Worth a look - because I doubt there’s an EU-watcher out there who wouldn’t wish for more of all three.
My plea to the European Union thoughout my five and a half years of trying to blog about it remains the same as it ever was: Please, please stop being so boring and incomprehensible. Pretty please? "