The most generous tourists in London are Russians and Americans
As the mayor of the British capital, Ken Livingstone, said at the opening of the 8th Russian Economic Forum in London, Russians in London have started spending as much as Americans. "Russian tourists' spending currently accounts for 8% of the total amount spent by foreign tourists in London. This figure has equaled the spending of American tourists," said the Mayor of London.
EU migration policy may become pan-European
The European Union has simplified from April 1 the resolution of issues related to the union's immigration policy. As Interfax-Ukraine reports, now a two-thirds majority of EU states' votes is sufficient for decision-making in this area, rather than all 25 members of the union as before.
As the Ukrainian-Polish information project ProEuropa notes, the EU interior ministers responsible for migration issues hope that the new voting system will help intensify the creation of a common European migration policy.
At the same time, political scientist Jean-Yves Carnier notes that the change in the voting system will make the migration problem pan-European. "If the migration problem traditionally concerned primarily countries geographically located on the outskirts of the European Union, now it will become pan-European," says the political scientist. "Moreover, Northern and Central European states, from which concessions were predominantly difficult to obtain, will not be able to block decisions in this area."
As ProEuropa reminds, there is currently no unified view on migration policy in the EU. For example, Spain recently decided to legalize foreigners illegally working in the country, while Britain, on the contrary, complicated the procedure for citizens of other states to obtain legal work in the country.
According to ProEuropa, between 3 and 7 million Ukrainians work in EU countries, mostly illegally. Most of them are in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Typically, Ukrainian citizens look after the elderly, work in construction and seasonal agricultural work.
"Citadel Europe" strengthens its borders
Crime knows no borders, especially when they are not controlled. It is precisely the problem of strengthening the EU's external borders that became one of the main topics of the VIII European Police Congress held in Berlin.
Despite the fact that a year ago the EU borders were expanded eastward, when entering from Poland to Germany one still needs to present a passport. The Schengen Agreement, which abolished border controls in the old EU member states, does not yet apply to new EU members. According to Bavaria's Interior Minister Günther Beckstein, before changing this situation, it is necessary to create appropriate tools for combating crime and maintaining security in these countries.
The European Border Guard Agency is being created as a new tool. Freedom is freedom, but the external borders of the European Union must be intensively guarded. Human rights organizations (such as Amnesty International) even call the European Union a "citadel," alluding to the political terminology of the First World War. The executive bodies do not find this comparison convincing: Europe is defending itself not against other states, but against encroachments by criminal organizations on a free democratic society. This also applies to illegal labor migration, which damages the intra-European employment market. That is why the strengthening of this "citadel" continues.
The interior ministers of "old Europe" demand common standards for border control and declare the need for joint training of border guards from the united European countries. Actually, as Deutsche Welle notes, this is exactly what the European Border Guard Agency will be doing.
Eastern Europe receives four times less than Western
Workers in countries that recently joined the EU are paid on average four times less than workers from countries that originally belonged to the EU. Financial Times writes about this, citing research on the European labor market conducted by the largest consulting agency Mercer Human Resources Consulting.
On average, wages in the EU are 15% lower than in the US. But if Eastern European countries are excluded, it turns out that the average salary in Europe is not only 23% higher than in America, but is also one of the highest in the world.
In Europe, the most is spent on salaries in Belgium, Sweden and Germany. Hiring an employee here costs, including all necessary allowances, €50,000 per year. It is worth comparing this with €4,752 in Latvia, €5,649 in Lithuania, €8,257 in Poland and €9,540 in the Czech Republic. Moreover, the volume of social services in these countries cannot be compared with wealthier states.
Differences in European salaries increasingly affect the EU economy. For example, European companies are moving production facilities to Eastern Europe or hiring cheap labor from Eastern European countries, which exposes them to accusations of "social dumping". Workers in Western Europe, especially Germany, have to work longer for the same pay.
In France, a worker receives on average €45,879 per year, and in the UK – €46,541, which almost coincides with the Japanese figure of €45,839. At the same time, average salaries in France and the UK are 40% higher than the average US salary ($33,195). In China and India, labor costs even less - €13,884 and €2,024 per year, respectively.
Population growth in Europe is practically zero
The population growth in Europe has recently been practically zero. This is stated in an expert report by the Council of Europe, published in Austria.
Since 2003, the population of Europe has increased by only 0.23%, with two million immigrants equaling the natural population increase. The highest population growth was recorded in Turkey, Albania, Ireland and Azerbaijan, and the lowest in Ukraine, Georgia and Bulgaria.
Compared to other regions of the globe, Europe's population is significantly older. According to RIA Novosti, the average age of the population of the Old World is currently 37.7 years, while in North American countries it is 35.4, in Oceania 30.7, in Asia 26.1, in Latin America 24.2, and in Africa 18.3 years. Life expectancy in Europe over the past 15 years has increased for women from 77 to 78.8 years, and for men from 70 to 72.1 years.
Visa fraudsters in Germany get off with a fine
The administrative court of Cologne ruled to impose fines on two people involved in the smuggling of Ukrainian illegal migrants to Germany as part of the so-called "visa scandal".
According to Deutsche Welle, the court ruled that a 33-year-old Ukrainian, whose name has not been disclosed, helped 200 illegal migrants from Ukraine enter Germany. He must pay a fine of €7,200. The court also found a woman involved in the scheme; she will pay a fine of €1,800. Both helped Ukrainians obtain so-called "travel insurance" - documents that facilitate the obtaining of a Schengen visa.
The Cologne court acknowledged that the criminals took advantage of the relaxed rules for issuing German visas that were in effect several years ago and became the subject of the "visa scandal". It is believed that between 2000 and 2003, hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants from Eastern Europe, mainly from Ukraine, entered Germany.
State Department employee who worked in Lithuania arrested in US
In the United States, a State Department employee Matthew Christ, who previously worked at the American embassy in Lithuania, has been arrested and charged with illegally trading American visas.
According to the US State Department press service, the indictment says that Christ took money for each visa issued ranging from $3,000 to $14,000. The total amount of money he received was $42,500. In addition, as a bribe, he also received an antique German BMW motorcycle.
The State Department reports that the arrested diplomat worked from 1999 to 2001 in the political-economic section of the US embassy in Vilnius, where, with his assistance, non-immigrant entry visas for travel to the United States were issued without the mandatory personal interview at the embassy. Christ's detention was the result of a 22-month investigation conducted by US law enforcement agencies with the assistance of Lithuanian law enforcement agencies. Nine other people are also implicated in this case along with Christ, about whom nothing is said in the press service statement.
The US State Department emphasizes that only a court can establish the diplomat's guilt and that Christ is presumed innocent until a court decision. "Employees who commit violations in visa work constitute a very small percentage of our total workforce," the US State Department notes.
Passenger planes turned back over America
American authorities sent back a KLM airliner that was flying from Amsterdam to Mexico City and was supposed to fly over the United States. While the plane was in the air for about six hours, Americans studied the list of 278 passengers and found that two of them were on the US no-fly list.
According to "Vremya Novostei", this list, which is not particularly publicized, was compiled after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The persons listed are prohibited from being on the territory and in the airspace of the United States. The plane turned around over Canada and returned to the Netherlands, where the "culprits" of the incident were released, as they are not on any European no-fly lists. The names and nationalities of the two passengers are not disclosed.
The other passengers on the airliner flew to Mexico with a day's delay. A representative of KLM, which is part of the French airline concern Air France-KLM, called what happened an "unprecedented event". The costs will apparently have to be borne by the Europeans. There is an agreement between the United States and the European Union obliging all 25 EU member states to provide Americans with information about all air passengers traveling through US territory. In the Netherlands, however, a scandal broke out: parliamentarians are outraged by Washington's behavior and demand an investigation.
Cyprus plans to open its embassy in Kyiv
As part of the UITT-2005 tourism exhibition held in Kyiv, the Cyprus Tourism Organization held a press conference for Ukrainian journalists. It featured Loizos Kartoudes, a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Tourism Organization, and Dimitris Dimitriou, director of the Moscow office.
Due to Cyprus's accession to the European Union, entry rules to the island for citizens of CIS countries, including Ukraine, have become significantly more complicated. This immediately affected the decrease in tourist flow. Thus, in 2004, only about 10 thousand tourists from Ukraine visited Cyprus.
The Cyprus Tourism Organization is making efforts to improve the current situation. An important step in this direction will be the opening of the Cyprus embassy in Kyiv. At present, only the Cyprus trade representation operates in the capital of Ukraine, which does not deal with tourist visa matters. The visa processing and issuance process is currently delayed because all documents must be sent to the Cypriot Foreign Ministry.
Another problem for Ukrainian tourists is the limited transport options for traveling to Cyprus. The Cyprus Tourism Organization is negotiating with several airlines to reduce passenger fares.