Things We Lost In The Mire - 37

CATALONIA/VOTE – More than 700 mayors from Catalonia met in Barcelona over the weekend in a show of strength against Madrid.  The government says the Oct 1^st independence referendum will be illegal and that mayors could be prosecuted if they allow municipal buildings to be used for voting.

KUWAIT/N KOREA –  Kuwait will expel North Korea’s ambassador this week says AP.  This comes after pressure from the U.S. to cut ties due to as Pyongyang’s nuclear programme and missile tests. Several thousand N Korean labourers work in  the Gulf States.

GERMANY/TURKEY – Chancellor Merkel says Germany will have no choice but to restrict economic ties with Turkey to pressure its NATO partner into releasing German citizens it imprisoned on political grounds.

EU/BORDERS – Unconfirmed media reports suggest that Germany, Austria, France, Norway and Denmark want the European Commission to extend the maximum length of temporary border controls from two to four years.  The EC may change the rules on border controls for security reasons in October.

BURUNDI/CONGO – Congolese forces shot and killed at least 18 Burundian refugees near Burundi’s border, according to AP quoting local officials. 50 people were wounded.

ICELAND/ELECTION – Iceland’s prime minister, Bjarni Benediktsson, resigned on Saturday and said new elections will probably be held Nov. 4.

COMING UP 

It’s UNGA week! The annual U.N. General Assembly in New York. Lot of speeches by heads of government, some of which give indications of policy. The week always brings headlines, but probably the bigger story will be the results of the German election. I say ‘results’ because although Frau Merkel is expected to remain as Chancellor the size of the vote for the AFD will almost certainly mean the entry into the German parliament by the extreme right wing for the first time since 1945.

DIARY

Mon – Latest round of the somewhat fractious EU/UK Brexit negotiations.

Mon – Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg to observe Russia’s Zapad military exercises with Belarus.

Mon – International Atomic Energy Agency annual conference begins in Paris. Watch for comments on N Korea.

Mon – India’s Supreme Court to review a case on the legality of deporting Rohingya Muslims back to Myanmar.

Tues – 1^st day proper of the annual UN General Assembly. 17 world leaders speaking President Trump, President Macron, and PM Netanyahu. Among those absent this year is Chancellor Merkel. She’s a bit busy.

Tues – President Trump and PM Netanyahu meet in New York.

Weds – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko presents proposals for a U.N. peacekeeping force in Donbas.

Thurs – Canada’s Justin Trudeau addresses UN General Assembly.

Thurs – USA. Japan, and S Korea meet in the ‘margins’ of UNGA.

Thurs – Inauguration of new Angolan president, Joao Lourenco.

Fri – President Macron expected to announced his new labour reforms which in turn will spark further strikes by the unions.

Fri – UK PM Theresa May speech in Florence setting out UK’s relationship with EU.

Sat – Demonstrations against Macron’s proposals expected. (See above)

Sat – New Zealand election.

Sun – German elections. Chancellor Merkel expected to secure a 4^th term and lead a coalition. Watch for the share of vote for the extreme right Alternative For Deutschland.