Nuclear energy and Russian gas. Following the decision by the German authorities, confirmation of Austria's position and similar orientations elsewhere, the referendum in Italy has also come out against nuclear energy (it is therefore a definitive decision). Mr Cohn-Bendit was obviously delighted about this, as were a number of other political figures. The Czech minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, however, made an unexpected observation about how abandonment of nuclear energy for civilian purposes “risks increasing European dependency on Russian gas”. I believe that the appropriate response, after so many years of discussions, consists of putting transport infrastructure projects into practice, which will help diversify gas and oil supply sources from northern and eastern countries. This should, obviously, be done in parallel to concluding the new links planned with Russia.
Greek émigrés mobilised? One aspect involved in the action taken by Greece to overcome the crisis has not had the echo it deserves - the project proposing to Greek émigrés and their descendants the opportunity to purchase bonds specifically for them. This would involve around 7 million people, 2.5 million of them in the US. The operation would be launched during the third quarter of the year. Interest rates would be set at below 5%, which involves voluntary effort from those underwriting them. The objective would be aimed at raising more than €2 billion, which is not an enormous amount, but according to the government the project's success would help to re-establish credibility in Greek treasury bonds. Mr Papandreou was born in the US and graduated from Harvard. He represents an example of the citizen born abroad but who helps to facilitate economic and social recovery at home.
The Colonel's son now wants a democratic Libya. If it were not for the tragedy destroying a country, killing and injuring its people and destroying and irreparably squandering its resources, certain aspects of the Libyan tragedy could also be perceived as a comedy. Two examples prove this.
The first is the proposal made by Saif Al Islam, the son of Colonel Gaddafi, to rapidly organise elections that would allow Libyans to choose the regime they would like - his father or the rebels. Before the vote takes place, a constitution would be developed that would guarantee equality for all citizens and freedom of the press. The future Libya would be founded on strong local autonomies and central government in Tripoli with reduced powers. For this “statesman” son, the old Libya is no more - whatever happens, everything has to change. His father's regime is dead and buried, the events now taking place require something completely new. Nonetheless, he can be sure of the result and he is certain of his father's victory. He is, however, guaranteeing that the rules will be respected. The contender that obtains the majority of votes will have all the power and the Colonel would automatically retire, even if the victor were the French-Jewish intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy (the son grins widely at his own joke). All of this was said in an interview to a journalist colleague, Lorenzo Cremonesi, published in last week's Corriere della Sera, Italy's most illustrious newspaper.
Good management and stolen money. The second example of the Libyan tragicomedy involves the squandering of the wealth Mr Gaddafi stole from his people. This was provoked by a combination of the financial ability of his son and the efficient management of two western banks. The subject of the affair involves the sovereign wealth fund, the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), with around $70 billion gushing in its coffers. The investigation was carried out by the Wall Street Journal, which indicated that $1.8 billion had been put into the French Société générale bank and that more than half of this had “evaporated after having been invested by the bank in so-called structured financial products”. In the part ferried across the Ocean to Goldman Sachs (SG), 98% of the first payment of $1.3 billion rapidly disappeared, which the Wall Street Journal considers to be a world record for this kind of investment.
The LIA and SG held a meeting in the City of London and representatives from the bank proposed a number of compensation packages, which were all rejected as inadequate or ridiculous. The details and the discussions were reported in the Wall Street Journal, which ultimately posed a number of questions: where did this money end up because it certainly hasn't been lost? Why did the LIA restrict itself to making verbal protests alone? The answer: because this was simply the result of financial embezzlement by the Gaddafi family. Why were Libyan leaders so slow to realise what was happening? Because, contrary to other Arab sovereign wealth funds, the LIA was not managed by financial experts but by Saif Al Islam himself, who wanted to make all the decisions on his own. Will he prove even more efficient for preparing the Libya of tomorrow? (F.R./transl.fl)