Ninme has a nice map. Why did it happen? Le Monde has this analysis: it was "a conjunction of the protest and anti-european vote..." Or to put it another way - this time from Greece, "The citizens of the founding EU members are anxiously watching convergence taking a toll on their incomes and the welfare state while simultaneously taking power away from the elected national governments and putting it into the hands of unseen and inaccessible bureaucrats."
This social market view of Europe is too convenient - it's all someone else's (ie the Anglo-Saxons) fault. Er, no; the countries of the Eurozone are locked into economic stagnation and their citizens are not happy. "European economic policymakers are already struggling with weak growth, strained public finances, stalled reforms and generally rock-bottom credibility..." says Deutsche Welle. News from the markets today only confirms this picture, "Both banks have significant presences in Central and Eastern Europe. Central and Eastern European economies are growing far more rapidly than the economies of Italy and Germany."
Meanwhile in Lebanon there are elections, "The important thing is that the Syrians are gone and that we elect a government that opposes them coming back...", and in Iraq the coalition ferrets out more insurgents.
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