KNOWING ABOUT THIS..

What is the EU defense cooperation? Already in the beginning of the 1950ies initiatives were taken to start a special defence cooperation in Europe.  NATO started in 1949. But with the aggressive behaviour of the Soviet Union and of Stalin everybody agreed that more had to be done, and that the disarmed West Germany had to contribute to it too.  A way and a structure had to be found, so that re-armament of West Germany would be acceptable to all. The first initiative was the European Defence Community , EDC .  It was taken by “The Six”, the same countries which already started the European Coal and Steel Community from 1952. It was France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and West Germany.  EDC was ratified by the parliaments of the involved countries. Except by France. The year was now 1954. Stalin had died, and the Korean War was over. The Gaullists and the Communists held strong positions in the French parliament. So the project was voted down....

MARCH 30: Today I want to tell something about NATO. Why?   Because the alliance just got its member state no. 30:   North Macedonia.   So, now four former Yugoslav countries are full members of NATO. The history very briefly:    NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ) was created in April 1949.   It had 12 member states from the beginning, incl. the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway and Denmark.   On the other side of the Atlantic the US and Canada were also full members from the start. West Germany only became an independent country one month later, and it joined NATO from 1955. See more on NATO’s home page:    https://www.nato.int/ The most important article in the NATO treaty is article 5. It says:   An attack on one member state is automatically considered to be an attack on all members!   And in the years following the start a significant improvement of the military equi...

MARCH 29: Today I want to tell a short, real story from daily life in our corona time: I was as usual working in my “home office” of this and that, incl. my morning greetings. As it now and then happens, I got hungry half way through the afternoon.  I sneak into our kitchen, grap hold of the rye bread and a huge bread knife. And I have often been told that this is not an axe, so do not chop. You have to cut.   So that was what I did.   Now, the rye bread seems to be quite nervous. It was moving left and right on the table.   You are not going to cheat me , I said to myself and took a firm grip of it.   And the knife and I made solid progress on our way through the bread. Concentrating on that I had forgotten one detail:   to move my left thumb away before the knife arrived ☹ I did not get a piece of dark bread.   I got a piece of red bread.    My thumb is already making good progress in healing again 😊 PS: All this made ...

MARCH 28: The government here in Belgium decided yesterday to prolong the present lockdown until April 19 – in principle the first school day after the Easter vacation.   It was at the same time decided that it will be further prolonged until May 3, if circumstances require it.   The country has in practice in many ways come to a stand-still.   There are companies still working. Public transport functions, but with less frequency than normal. The hospitals and the health sector are, of course, working in full speed.   The hospitals still have free capacity ready, if more patients continue to come in.   Temporary hospitals are also being established.    The rules on use of parks etc. have been strengthened, as some people do not seem to have understood that getting together in groups is not allowed due to the risk of further spread of the virus.   The police is using drones to monitor the parks. And if they discover groups of people...

Yesterday two important Summits about the Corona-pandemic took place. One was in the G-20 group, an organisation of 19 countries from around the world and the EU. Saudi Arabia is its president this year. The participants are the heads of state and government and the directors of the central banks from all members. The other summit, the European Council, took place in the EU – with Charles Michel as its president. Both summits took place via video conference. It was agreed at the two summits that this global crisis must be addressed globally , not by every country on its own.   A very close cooperation is needed now during the crisis as well as afterwards.   All initiatives taken until now were supported.   And a number of plans were agreed for the future. When the EU is concerned it was agreed to strengthen the external borders further and also to ensure that the temporary closures of some internal borders between the member states have to be manag...

It is in my view very important that we – also in these special times – do other things and follow other events that all what is related to the corona pandemic.   There ARE other important issues in the world.   Take NATURE – just outside our windows.   Spring is here, though still chilly.     Enjoy your garden and surroundings.   Go for a walk.    And you can also go for a walk in nature on the internet. Do you know the tulip park in Keukenhof in The Netherlands?   It is closed right now due to the lock-down.   But you can enjoy it on the web:   https://keukenhof.nl/en And Google Earth has recently arranged a virtual tour to 31 wonderful parks around the world: https://www.countryliving.com/uk/travel-ideas/abroad/a31891488/google-earth-virtual-tours-31-national-parks/   You know what?   Imagine the day when all this crisis is over.   And you think: How did I actually use this special time? ...

The present pandemic has, of course, also made people ask:   What does the EU do to help solving these huge problems? The short reply is that the European Union does not have special competences when health issues are concerned.   And it never had so. The founding fathers of the EU chose that these matters are national issues.   So the EU does not have the possibility to adopt regulations or directives about health questions.   And when such possibilities do not exist they are not there either in a major crisis like today, even if there seems to be a general wish that EU should do more. This being said it is evident that the 27 EU member states can and are using their close cooperation in the EU to coordinate their work and initiatives.   This also happens in the present situation. On February 13, the health ministers from all the member states held an informal meeting. The heads of state and government have done the same.   And they will do t...

Yesterday I suggested that we together should make a collection of short descriptions on how we experience this special time of lock-down.   I have received many positive reactions back from you.   And I have also received the first very interesting contributions.   May I suggest that you also make your contribution – 10-20 lines about what you do, what you experience, what you think, etc.    This will inspire everybody.   Then mail them to me. And I will step by step put the contributions into a special blog, which it is easy for all of us to use.    Ok? I also shared three websites with very interesting cultural offers from Europe and around the world in my latest mail to you.   Today I will send you four more very interesting and inspiring offers from our rich cultural world: 1.        Europeana :   over 3500 European museums, libraries and archives. An EU initiative. http://www.europeana....

The CORONA continues to attack us. I enclose my newest overview with the official figures from yesterday. The daily updating on the public sites take place at the latest 1400 hours. I write the new figures into my scheme right away. And if you cannot wait to see them until the following morning you can minutes later see them on my special blog:     KNOWING ABOUT THIS……     https://knowing-about-this.blogspot.com   I have today also added information about how much each figure has increased in % from the day before.   It gives an impression of the development.   But the figures have to be seen with a certain uncertainty – as a Belgian expert explained on TV last night. Why?   Because some reports from hospitals and doctors might not have arrived in time. In other words:   the situation might in some cases be worse than the tables show. Here in Belgium the authorities said yesterday that the present situation might wel...

It is Sunday – it is spring. So I will today leave my daily comments to some of the very creative initiatives, which are taken around Europe during this curfew. To thank the staff in the health sector – and also to use the time for some new, inspiring actions. If you want to see the videos I have picked up from Facebook, you probably will have to open your Facebook account.   Perhaps not. Spain: https://www.independent.co.uk/ news/world/europe/coronavirus- spain-lockdown-news-applause- health-workers-balconies- aplauso-sanitario-a9402746. html Virtual choir with Eric Whitacre:   ( it is ten years old, but can certainly still be used) https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=D7o7BrlbaDs   Switzerland, March 20: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/coronavirus-solidarity-_swiss-applaud-medical-staff-from-balconies-and-windows-/45631358   Italy – ”table tennis”: https://www.facebook.com/ 100001245461597/posts/ 3147734991944652/?...

CORONA: we do not have to be worried and sad all the time. People are very good at mobilising their creativity to spend this special time with new initiatives. Perhaps that will also have an effect on how we all live after all this is over. Today I want to mention a very interesting initiative taken by Denmark's Radio .  Every morning at 09.05 a well-known conductor and music specialist encourages everybody to join him in singing 3 or 4 well known songs. They can do it inside their house or with open Windows and balconies. In this way perhaps a whole street will sing together.    It is called DANMARK SYNGER   ( Denmark Sings ). You can see more here: https://danmarksynger.dk You can also see it off-line on a special site  on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ DanmarkSynger/ Even if you do not understand Danish you can easily get the feeling and an idea on how it works. Lots of associations, singing clubs, Foundations, etc., are part of this init...