Word: spain
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...splitting the West and the wider international community, the U.S.-backed declaration of independence by Kosovo has given Russia an opening. Countries concerned with separatist problems of their own, from Spain or Cyprus to China, have been unable to follow the U.S. lead in recognizing Kosovo's breakaway from Serbia. And Russia has sought to exploit the gaps that have emerged as a result...
Just two days before Spain's national election, terrorism forced its way back onto the political stage when a gunman killed former Socialist official Isaias Carrasco at midday near his home in the Basque town of Arrasate. As Carrasco's wife and daughter stood watching, a single gunman shot the former regional councilman several times from behind, then fled the scene with a waiting driver. Though no claim of responsibility has yet been made, a Spanish Interior Ministry spokesperson said the government was "certain" the attack had been carried out by the Basque separatist group ETA. Carrasco's murder would...
...during elections." Indeed, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba last month raised the country's security alert to its highest level, saying "We believe that ETA is going to try to kill before the elections." This afternoon he told a hastily convened press conference that ETA "will never intimidate Spain's society...
When asked whether the killing would affect the election, Arístegui was unequivocal: "Absolutely not." Juan Aviles, security expert at the Spain's National Distance University, agreed. "It's not going to influence the campaign. It's true that some could see it as evidence that Zapatero's strategy of negotiating with ETA was mistaken, but voters could also show solidarity with the [Socialist] victim...
...have called for Basques to abstain from voting in an election they see as illegitimate. But according to Landaburu, the killing, if it was an attempt to enforce the boycott, might well backfire. "I wouldn't be surprised if people turn out en masse to vote not only in Spain, but in the Basque Country too. The only response to a group like this, a group that asks for abstention, is to vote...