Divided and Conquered, Catalonia Weighs the Damage

 It might look over, but the Spanish region’s independence bid has long-lasting repercussions.
By Charles Penty , Manuel Baigorri , and Esteban Duarte
Bloomberg

The drama in Catalonia may have reached its epilogue, but the economic and political consequences are still to emerge for a region Spain could never afford to let go.For now, the separatist leadership has been deposed, a would-be European republic snuffed out and a potential bank run avoided.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has gone from lame duck premier dogged by a party corruption scandal to the country's unlikely savior. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont painted himself on Tuesday as a victim of the vengeful state after fleeing to Brussels to avoid arrest.
Yet that winner-and-loser narrative masks a delicate balance. Catalonia's 7.5 million people remain as torn as ever in the stop-start push for their own state since the death of General Francisco Franco four decades ago. A tumultuous month started with an illegal independence referendum on Oct. 1 that police tried to forcibly extinguish. It culminated with a loss of autonomy that’s cherished even by those who want to remain part of Spain.

British PM May to fire starting gun on Brexit

Wed Mar 29, 2017 | 7:15am EDT

Reuters


By Guy Faulconbridge and Elizabeth Piper | LONDON
Prime Minister Theresa May will file formal Brexit divorce papers on Wednesday, pitching the United Kingdom into the unknown and triggering years of uncertain negotiations that will test the endurance of the European Union.

Nine months after Britons voted to leave, May will notify EU Council President Donald Tusk in a letter that the UK really is quitting the bloc it joined in 1973.

The prime minister, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote, will then have two years to settle the terms of the divorce before it comes into effect in late March 2019.

‘Brexit’ Fuels Feeling in Scotland That Time Is Right for Independence

By KATRIN BENNHOLDMARCH 14, 2017

LONDON — Scotland’s nationalists wasted no time: Just minutes after the country’s leader, Nicola Sturgeon, called on Monday for a new independence referendum, a website went live asking people to show their support on Twitter and donate to the campaign.

By Tuesday morning, 204,345 pounds, or about $249,000 — more than a fifth of the £1 million target — had been raised; pro-independence banners in Scotland’s blue-and-white colors had gone up across the country; and celebrities were offering support, including the actor Alan Cumming, who shared a Twitter post by Ms. Sturgeon, with the comment “It’s showtime!”

It was an early glimpse of the Scottish nationalists’ formidable campaign machine, evidently little diminished since the last referendum, in 2014. Support for independence rose from about 27 percent at the start of that campaign to 45 percent at the final count.

Greece, Not Italy, Still Poses Biggest Challenge to Eurozone

A crisis in one country only becomes a crisis for the whole eurozone when a collective European response is required, Simon Nixon writes

The Wall Street Journal

By SIMON NIXON
Dec. 7, 2016 3:27 p.m. ET
4 COMMENTS
Not for the first time this year, the doom-mongers have been confounded. The Italian referendum over the weekend resulted in a resounding defeat for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who promptly announced his resignation. Yet the sky didn’t fall in, the euro dipped and then rallied, and Italian bonds and bank stocks barely budged. Other European assets were also largely unmoved.

Markets stabilise after Italian referendum

5-12-2016
BBC

The euro was hit after Mr Renzi announced his intention to resign. At one stage the euro hit $1.0505, its lowest level against the US currency since March 2015.
But it rebounded from that low to stand at $1.0634, a fall of just 0.3%.
Shares in Italian banks opened lower before recovering ground.
The troubled Monte dei Paschi was down by more than 5% in the first few minutes of trade, but then rebounded and had edged into positive territory. Shares in Unicredit and Intesa also fell sharply at first before recovering.

Greece hints at referendum over EU rescue demands

Market Watch

Published: Mar 9, 2015 2:45 a.m. ET

By MICHAEL KITCHEN ASIA EDITOR

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Greek officials say they may hold a referendum on whether to accept terms from the European Union over further aid to their country, according to various media reports. "We can go back to elections. Call a referendum ... But, as my prime minister told me, we are not glued to our seats yet," Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, in an interview that published Sunday.

Scottish Vote on Independence Starts

Referendum Will Determine Whether Scotland Splits From the U.K.

The Wall Street Journal

By JASON DOUGLAS, JENNY GROSS and CASSIE WERBER

Updated Sept. 18, 2014 5:40 a.m. ET

EDINBURGH—Voters in Scotland on Thursday began casting their ballots in a historic referendum on whether to go it alone as an independent country or remain part of the U.K.

Ten Things to Know About Scotland's Independence Referendum

BY ALASTAIR JAMIESON

NBCnews

NDON -- Britain is under 72 hours away from a once-in-a-lifetime vote on Scottish independence that could break up the 307-year-old United Kingdom, splitting apart one of America’s key global allies. With polls suggesting that a Scottish split from the rest of Britain is a real possibility, lawmakers including Prime Minister David Cameron are making urgent appeals to save Britain its biggest constitutional upheaval since the Wars of Independence that led to the creation of the United States.

What will be voted on?

As Ukrainian separatists claim victory in self-rule vote, fears of all-out civil war mount

The Washington Post

By Simon Denyer, Michael Birnbaum and Fredrick Kunkle, Published: May 12 E-mail the writers

DONETSK, Ukraine — Separatists in eastern Ukraine proclaimed the birth of two new “sovereign” republics Monday after asserting victory in controversial self-rule referendums, and one of the regions promptly asked to join Russia.

Leaders of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic also demanded that Ukrainian security forces leave the separatists’ territory.

The statements represented a hardening of positions that could drag Ukraine closer to all-out civil war and is likely to intensify tensions between Russia and the West.

Opinion: A risky Greek gambit with few alternatives

From DW  World.DE

The Greek referendum on the EU bailout plan proposed by premier George Papandreou has stunned EU leaders and markets. But DW's Spiros Muskovou says Papandreou had few options left.

Greece Faces Grilling at G-20

Fears of Political Chaos Tank Global Markets as Europe's Bailout Plan Teeters

The Wall Street Journal

By MARCUS WALKER And ALKMAN GRANITSAS

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, fighting for political survival at home, faced a grilling from euro-zone leaders over his plan to put Greece's international bailout to a referendum.

Greek Vote Threatens Bailout

Premier Calls for Surprise Referendum Days After European Leaders OK Aid Deal

The Wall Street Journal

ATHENS—Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou stunned Europe by announcing a referendum on his country's latest bailout—a high-stakes gamble that could undermine the international effort to preserve the euro.