Little impact of EU aid for Egypt – Ongoing abuses and Brussels scrutiny puts EBRD’s best laid plans in question
June 24, 2013
How is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development able to justify a brand new host country agreement with Egypt, given the abuses still being endured in Egypt and the failure of one billion euros of EU money to improve the economic and human rights situation there?
[Campaign update] The reality of resettlement in Kolubara: Out of the frying pan into the fire
June 4, 2013
A quick visit to the Kolubara mining basin reveals that the resettlement there looks nothing like the presentation from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Guest post: Development banks and the Arab Spring, new report takes stock
May 6, 2013
A new report takes a critical look at the engagement of European development banks in Egypt after the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North African region. This article appeared originally on the Counter Balance blog and has been shortened and slightly edited.
Guest post: A Russian journalist and Khimki forest activist is dead
April 10, 2013
The news circulated yesterday that Mikhail Beketov, a Russian journalist who campaigned against corrupt practices in connection to the planned highway construction through Khimki Forest, has died. This guest post by Mikhail Matveev and Ivan Smirnov, fellow Khimki activists, tells Beketov’s story.
Don’t let facts get in the way of a good EBRD Roma headline
July 26, 2012
The EBRD’s claims it has helped turn Serbia into a “role model for social inclusion of Roma” ring hollow in light of the plethora of abuses of Romas’ rights in other cases in Serbia.
Europe’s energy games are not child’s play
April 23, 2012
A new campaign video illustrates Europe’s self-absorbed approach to its energy policy outside Europe. (A blog entry Cross-posted from the Counter Balance blog.)
Khimki Forest activist wins Goldman Environmental Prize
April 16, 2012
One of this year’s winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize is Russian Khimki Forest defender Evgenia Chirikova, but the good news is being overshadowed by continued violence against other Khimki activists.
Energy Security for whom? For what?
February 28, 2012
A new report by The Corner House critically examines the notion of “energy security,” one of the buzzwords in European politics used to justify controversial infrastructure projects like the Nabucco gas pipeline or high voltage transmission lines in Ukraine. Here an introduction to the report from its authors.
Tragedy or comedy, what is the Nabucco pipeline really?
January 19, 2012
The announcement of German energy giant RWE to reconsider its plans for the Nabucco pipeline is just the last in a series of confusingly conflicting signals regarding the fate of this gargantuan project.
There is a light at the end of the EIB tunnel
October 18, 2011
The European Investment Bank finally invited for a dialogue with civil society organisations. It might be a little ambitious to say that true dialogue happened there, but certainly the NGOs were able to send a couple of strong messages to the EIB Board, and, for a while, it felt like the Board was listening.
