Sara Høyrup | skribent

BASICS – Everybody wants to come across as a green democrat for freedom. But the confusion does not end with the names of the political groups in the European Parliament. Treading through the maze of confounding names for the other institutions, here is a clear layout of what it is all about.

HISTORY – During the Cuban missile crisis, the Russians sent the Americans mixed messages, and the Americans took their chances reacting only to the one they believed to be from Krushchev personally, while ignoring the following harsher one believed to be from the Politburo. The two messages could simply not be understood as the rational output of a unitary actor.

ANALYSIS – "The non-believers go to pick up the believers at the mosque to march together. The Algerian youth is modern and well-prepared. They are politically mature. And they have a lot in common with young people on the European side of the Mediterranean. Like them, they want a chance."

LITERATURE – Where Seierstad is shiny and self-centered, Borchgrevink is serious and empathic. While Seierstad is brimming with contempt for the premodern societies, they fill Borchgrevink with a longing away from the overly quiet and feminized Scandinavian reality.

ANALYSIS – There is no doubt about it: Bernie Sanders loves Denmark, and Denmark loves him right back. If it were up to the Danes, this mild-mannered gentleman would be leading the world’s only superpower. So why is the entire globe stuck with the man with the orange skin color and the dubious mental state? And does the left-leaning candidate Sanders stand a chance this way around?

ANALYSIS – More populist and dictatorial than Socialist as such, the late Chávez’ Bolivarian revolution has led to yet another version of authoritarianism in the guise of social justice. This is why, even when the people wants rid of this regime, it will not go away willingly.

ANALYSIS – In the light of the risk of a no-deal scenario for the British exit from the European Union, the European Commission has adopted a series of contingency proposals on 30 January 2019. The purpose is to mitigate the consecuences of a possible hard split on UK and EU citizen alike, by allowing current cross-boundary activity to run their course.

ANALYSIS – While we have been waiting for the American President to snap out of his tantrum, get on with the tedious toiling of administrating, and thus be allowed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to inform the world of the State of the Union, we have taken stock of the first half of Donald Trump’s tenure.

ANALYSIS – On January 14, letters were sent back and forth between London and the continent. First, the British Prime Minister Theresa May wrote to the European Union that the United Kingdom is in the process of leaving, in an orderly or abrupt fashion; or perhaps not at all, as British Remainers keep campaigning for. At noon, the Union had its answer ready.

ANÁLISIS – En estas fechas que no sabemos si el Reino Unido se va de la Unión Europea o se queda, y de qué manera, conviene analizar qué consecuencias tendría un brexit duro sin acuerdo para Irlanda. O acaso un brexit blando con un acuerdo que vende la paz irlandesa en pos de otros intereses, ahora que la derrota del plan forjado por la primera ministra Theresa May y la Unión Europea deja el futuro incierto.

ANALYSIS – Spain is selling spare parts for combat vehicles to Venezuela and producing naval vessels for Saudi Arabia. Protesters hold the Spanish King responsible, while the Socialist prime minister refers to contracts signed by the former Conservative government.

INTERVIEW – The Catalan journalist Juan Pablo Cardenal talks about his forthcoming book on the secessionist lobby in his home region. His research concerns the lobby’s impact internationally as well as locally on the press coverage and public opinion.

INTERVIEW 2/4 – I talk to Jonathan Wilson about the secessionst process in the region he has lived and worked in since before the Olympics 1992.

INTERVIEW 3/4 – I talk to longtime Catalonia resident Jonathan Wilson about the stalemate in Spain's rebellious Northern Eastern region.

INTERVIEW 4/4 – I talk to the Northern Irish immigrant Jonathan Wilson about what it means when the Catalan separatists claim to be non-violent.

COMMENT – No training, no certification, no preparation: Welcome to the Danish asylum interpreting

ESSAY – Europe is ill prepared for populist campaigns running contrary to any healthy concept of democracy. While the European institutions have timidly withstood the Catalanist lobby’s winging and whining, member state media and parliamentarians have warmed to the secessionist claims of group rights. Little does the claque care that these supposed rights are made up of self-serving ”misunderstandings” of international legislation. Everybody loves a good cause; and simple narratives make the media’s job as watchdog so much easier.