Belgium, E-Mails, Electronic Communication, EU, Overload, Stressed Out Individuals

One third of Belgians feel stressed out by the sheer volume of email they receive, according to a study organised by family agency Gezinsbond and the 55+ organisation Okra. The associations have released the figures to coincide with the 10th anniversary of No-Email Friday.

One in three Belgians also report feeling helpless at the speed with which they are confronted with new technologies at work, and one in 10 even fears losing their job because of it.

One in five, meanwhile, feel pressured to answer emails in the evenings and weekends when they really don’t want to. And nearly one-quarter of people aged 55 and over are anxious when they are forced to take care of business online.

A full half of those surveyed would support legislation that would allow workers to ignore emails when they are not officially at work.

Read more: One-third of Belgians stressed out by email | Flanders Today

The Netherlands: Syrian ISIS member spotted in Amsterdam - by Janene Pieters

The NL Times reports that a Syrian man who fought for terrorist organization ISIS is living in the Netherlands with false papers, the Volkskrant reports. He was at a meeting in De Balie in Amsterdam in September, where activists of civilian collective "Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" recognized him.

According to the newspaper, the activists were meeting in De Balie on September 14th following a showing of a film about their work. The 31-year-old ISIS member was there and one of the members immediately recognized him as an ISIS fighter. "We tried to take a picture of him, but he did not want to. He fled outside", Hossam Eesa of the group told the  Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant". How the man knew about the meeting in De Balie is unclear. It was not listed on De Balie's agenda for safety reasons.

A security guard from De Balie chased after the man, but could not stop him. The police were called, who gathered the activists and their families in a separate room. The police stayed there until the activists could leave the premises safely, according to the newspaper. The activists stay in secret locations in the Netherlands and Germany, because they've been seriously threatened by ISIS for some time.

As far as is known, this is the first time a Syrian ISIS member was signaled in the Netherlands. Sources around the Dutch intelligence and security services confirmed the incident to the Volkskrant, and said hat the AIVD has been watching the man for months.

After years of fighting, ISIS lost almost all of its territory in Syria. Research agency Soufan says that about 30 thousand non-Syrian people joined the terrorist group, including about 280 Dutch. What they will do now is not clear, though it seems plausible that at least some will return to their home countries. About a third of European jihadists already did so, according to the research agency. 

Note EU-Digest: Several Dutch newspaper editors and commentators noted that although Dutch intelligence said they have been watching this ISIS member for months, it seems strange that this man, who has been in the Netherlands now for months illegally, is able to attend a non-publicized anti-ISIS meeting at De Balie in Amsterdam. The other amazing thing is that this ISIS sympathizer, was never arrested, even after the AIVD, as they say, followed him around for several months. This is specially disturbing,  as  the Netherlands terrorism threat level remains high at 4 out of 5. 

EU-Digest

Eastern Europe: EU dashes integration hopes of eastern countries

The EU told Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine on Friday that it "acknowledge[s] their European aspirations and European choice", but only "in [the] context" of a 2016 EU decision which said that association treaties will not lead to membership. 

 

It said it supported the "territorial integrity" of all partners, but did not refer to the right of self-determination of Armenians in Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region as it had in previous declarations.

Read more: EU dashes integration hopes of eastern countries

The Netherlands: Trump Fan, Opportunist, Rightwing, Dutch Populist Politician Wilders says: "Russia is 'no enemy', ahead of Moscow visit - by Peter Teffer

Opportunist and Populist Dutch Politician Geert Wilders

Russia is "not an enemy" to the Netherlands, Dutch anti-EU politician Geert Wilders said in an interview published on Wednesday (22 November), ahead of a visit to Moscow in the New Year.

The far-right opposition MP, who leads the second-largest party in the lower house of the Dutch parliament, said there was "hysterical Russophobia" to which he wanted to provide a counter-narrative.

"Russia is not our enemy, and we should not make it one," he told Dutch weekly magazine Elsevier. "Russia is on our side."

Wilders said it was understandable that Russia feels threatened by the expansion of the northern Atlantic alliance Nato.

"I'm a big fan of Nato and of the Americans, but Russia has a good point here," he said.

The interview comes ahead of a visit early next year of Wilders to Moscow, which has been behind several attempts to undermine the EU and is under sanctions because of the invasion of Crimea and support for insurgents in Ukraine.

EU-Digest

International Court of Justice: Ratko Mladic sentenced to life in prison for Srebrenica genocide,dragged from court over outburst

Ratko Mladic gets life sentence for genocide against Muslims

A UN court in The Hague, Netherlands, has convicted former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic of genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life in prison for atrocities perpetrated during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war.

The court in The Hague convicted Mladic of 10 of 11 counts in a dramatic climax to a groundbreaking effort to seek justice for the wars in the former Yugoslavia.

Presiding Judge Alphons Orie read out the judgment Wednesday after ordering Mladic, dubbed "The Butcher of Bosnia", out of the courtroom over an angry outburst.

Read more: Ratko Mladic sentenced to life in prison for Srebrenica genocide, after he is dragged from court over outburs

EU: Turbulent times require peoples involvement and action

Today we were discussion among a group of friends how it seems that the world is going through very turbulent times, specially if you are American, British, Catalan, Spanish, Turkish, Middle East, or a citizen from another country in the European Union. 

Unfortunately this appears to be because populists and demagogues’ communication styles,designed to confuse audiences and convince citizens that there are facts that matter, and facts that don’t, have taken over the political scene. 

As Ken Wilber outlines in his most interesting book “Trump and a Post-Truth World”: It now appears we are living in a no-truth culture, where liars are considered the most truthful, since the truth becomes whatever they want it to become. 

Regretfully many politicians have embraced this theory, because they have realized that the battle for citizens´ hearts and minds is to be won by crafted narratives and Orwellian language.Young and old, it is time to wake-up and become involved in any way you can, within the field of your expertise, and protest. A revolution for positive change can only start with you, but the time is now.

Almere-Digest

EU Parliament warns Poland on rule of law

In the vote, the Parliament decided by 438 votes to 152 to prepare a formal request that the Council activate the preventive mechanism provided for in Article 7.1.of the Treaty. If the risk persists and the Polish authorities refuse to comply with the EU recommendations, the procedure might lead to the suspension of Poland's voting rights in the Council.

Specific concerns were voiced about the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary and fundamental rights.

The resolution calls on the Polish authorities to uphold the common European values listed in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and in the Polish Constitution. It urges Poland:

    not to proceed the new laws unless they fully guarantee the independence of the judiciary to implement all EU Commission and Venice Commission recommendations in full,
    to comply with the EU Court of Justice order to "immediately suspend large-scale logging" in the ancient Bialowieza forest,
    to respect the right of freedom of assembly,
    to strongly condemn the "xenophobic and fascist march that took place in Warsaw" on Saturday,11    November 2017, and
    to take a firm stand on women's rights, by providing free and accessible contraception without discrimination and making emergency contraception available without medical prescription.

Under Parliament's Rules of Procedure (Rule 83), its Civil Liberties Committee now needs to draw up a "reasoned proposal", the document required to call on the Council to trigger the rule of law mechanism in response to a "clear risk of a serious breach" of European values by the Polish authorities.

This is only the second time that the European Parliament has taken formal steps to call on the Council to start the Article 7 procedure. The first was taken in May 2017 with respect to Hungary. The procedure is still under way.

The dialogue between the Commission and the Polish authorities is conducted under the "rule of law" procedure initiated in January 2016.

Read more: EU Parliament warns Poland on rule of law — EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics