“I don’t know what solidarność means in Persian. But this is what it looks like….”

This is the facebook comment of a Polish friend. Across the globe these days, when looking at the massive protests in Iranian cities, memories come back of Berlin, Budapest, Prague 1989  – in other words, of the peaceful revolution against European communism that ended the Cold War, heralded the collapse of the Soviet Union and meant the demise of state socialism as well as a triumph for market democracy.  Manifestations of mounting anger about a regime suppressing freedom, the global excitement, the regime’s reactions ranging from helplessness to intransigence to violence, its allegations of “foreign interference”, but above all, the feeling that we are seeing one of those rare but momentous points in time when history is made by the people in the street (quite literally): Whoever has lived through those dramatic months at the end of the eighties in Europe, had a clear sense of déjà vu this week about Iran.

So is this ’89? The short answer is no, because a collapse of the mullah regime is not imminent, according to most observers. The long answer is, however, that depending on further developments, this may very well be something like Prague in 1968. And I am less referring to the violence applied by Soviet troops then, although massive violence now seems to follow in Iran. The much more important parallel is that most of the people then, and certainly all of their leaders, did not want to abolish socialism. They wanted “socialism with a human face”, just like the demonstrators in Iranian cities constantly repeat they are not marching for “regime change”, only for their votes to be respected, for reform and more personal freedom. And come to think of it, even Poland’s striking shipyard workers in August 1980 did not dream about a market economy. But they paved the way for its arrival 9 years later, just like it took the Czechs and Slovaks 21 years to make Venceslas Square again reverberate with their protest – and this time, it was for the end of communism, period.  But all that means that in a wider sense, and with all due respect for cultural and historical differences – yes, we may witness some sort of ’89 moment, if not now, then in 1 or 2 or 3 years, not in 10 or 20. (Maybe YouTube and twitter have helped accelerate history, too). After all, it took a whole year from the first massive protests against the Shah in 1978, to the takeover of Ayatollah Khomeini in early 1979.

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European issues directly affect every single moment of our daily lives and the future Europe we will give our sons and daughters. Although European governance may appear distant from the everyday reality of European citizens, we shouldn’t become trapped by euro-scepticism. 

The EU is not an impenetrable ‘Kafkian castle’, but an evolving tangible reality that we, as the electorate, have the opportunity to shape according to our needs and values. It is most unfortunate that it is still evident that Europeans have widely not taken advantage of this opportunity, as more than half of citizens did not exercise their democratic right in the Parliamentary elections last week. Criticisms of the EU’s shortcomings, as of many national and supranational institutions, are well-circulated and, in certain cases, quite valid. However, this article is devoted to acknowledging the undeniable achievements the EU has ensured for its citizens. Read the rest of this entry »

To be clear, EPA is not called Economic Partnership Agreement for nothing. It is a not a Development Aid package but rather a trade agreement, one of many, such as its predecessor the Cotonou Agreement signed in 2000. EPA seeks to realign the business/trade relationships which were granted to ACP countries under a preferential agreement, reached at time of the signing of the entry of the UK to the European Union in 1972. In time, there has been a gradual change of these preferential trade relations between the Caribbean, African and Pacific regions and the EU. This is evident, amongst others, from the downturn in the regions’ sugar and banana industries.

The concerns voiced by the academics is typical of a “reactive approach” taken by peoples of our region. The academics claimed that representatives have made the deal of EPA with their eyes wide shut. The truth is, it is not for the representatives to make deals. They are channels of information. It is for the elected Caribbean leaders to make sensible decisions on our behalf. At this point, leaders are aware, or at least should have been aware, of the consequences of the UK’s membership of the EU. There was time enough, more than 30 years, in which our leaders should have created a strategic plan in which Jamaica, after almost 46 years of independence, would have been able to step up to the challenges of playing ball on an unlevel international field.

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