In the Sunday media review, Youropa’s editors dig into a week of EU coverage and pick up a few pieces that caught their attention. Some of the most interesting stories from international newspapers, handpicked by Youropa.
Serbia’s ups and downs
In a series of articles, the cross-border European magazine cafebabel.com looks at what is moving in the EU candidate country Serbia.
Last Wednesday, the online magazine published an article on the developing film industry.
But the series caught our eye early on with a feature story on the young Serbian community in Belgrade that is reshaping public spaces throughout the city.
Although these youngsters have taken things in their own hands to move the country forward, it is estimated that 30,000 young people have moved out of Serbia between 2001 and 2011. They look for opportunities in other parts of Europe, leaving their Serbian life behind.
However, young and ambitious Serbs are not the only people fleeing Serbia.
Trends reports of the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR shows that Serbs represented the biggest group of asylum seekers worldwide in 2010, and the fourth biggest in 2011. This ranking is due to one of the country’s most pressing issues: the fleeing of Roma’s, who have great difficulties of integration in Serbian society.
In an earlier piece, cafebabel.com looks at these ‘invisible’ Roma’s at the edge of society. Essential reading when browsing the series.
USSR reminder
In Friday’s FT, Phillip Stephens wrote a comment about the lessons of the Soviet Union’s breakdown – something the EU can keep in mind these days.
The point is simple: “If you think that something cannot happen, then you are unlikely to take the necessary preventive action.” That is what happened to the Soviet Union. Nobody thought it would ever cease to exist. And one day it did.
The EU risks digging its own grave if it pretends to will remain to exist in its current form, says Stephens.
“The Soviets thought that doing nothing would preserve the status quo. They learnt subsequently that inaction is a decision like any other.”
Phillip Stephens doesn’t claim that the EU is in the same mess as the Soviet Union was when it failed economically and politically in the early nineties. After all, the euro wasn’t the cause of the financial crisis:
“The global crash was a product of the Anglo-Saxon model of liberal financial capitalism. Those who blame the eurozone for the condition of, say, Spain should consider the dire plight of countries such as Britain and Hungary that kept their own currencies.” (ab)
The FT lets readers register, but the piece is out there if you log in!
Turkish business
The Yerli brothers are the founders of the blooming games developer Crytek that is based in Germany and employs 600 people worldwide.
The three brothers grew up with Turkish and German influences and they credit their mixed background as the source of their success, writes the German paper Die Welt in a feature on the successes of immigrants’ entrepreneurship.
Reports on integration in Germany have shown an improvement of the situation of immigrants. They don’t leave school early as much as before and the percentage of migrants obtaining higher degrees is increasing.
But what comes after education? There is still 2.35 times more unemployment amongst migrants than among native Germans, Die Welt cites recent figures.
The results is a booming self-employment and entrepreneurial spirit amongst the country’s immigrants. Up to one-third of all companies in Germany were founded by non-Germans. About 80,000 Turkish companies create a turnover of 36 billion euros – and 400,000 jobs.
After 50 years of Turkish immigration, the immigrants’ entrepreneurial spirit is pushing integration forwards. They cherry-pick what they like about the Wirtschafswunder - and add their own flair where needed.
If you don’t master German, Worldcunch offers an English version of the story.
We leave you with this cartoon of the Belgian cartoonist Kroll in Le Soir, which was published on Thursday. If anyone doubts the usefulness of the numerous EU summits of the past year: they still lead to good satire.
Translation | EU Summit. Herman Van Rompuy: “As usual… Those asking for money queue on the left. Those who are tired of giving out money, to the right. Those who have a solution: raise your hand. Coffee is scheduled at 5pm.”
