July 27, 2010: The Greek government has decided to challenge its labor unions and hard left by allowing private companies to fire workers much more easily. Pensions were slashed and the retirement age raised. In many ways this is a significant policy move for the rest of the European Union, since Greece is saying that what was once called “cradle to grave” welfare is not economically viable. The government is also cutting public-sector wages. This is all tough medicine but it is what it will take to avoid a credit default and possible expulsion from the euro-zone.

July 23, 2010: Turkey charged 102 current and retired military officers with plotting to topple the government. The charge is that the military intended to launch a coup in 2003. A former land forces commander, a former air force commander, and a former naval commander are among those accused.

July 22, 2010: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008 was legal. Serbia had appealed this issue to the court. Serbia quickly objected to the court ruling. The U.S. government said that it agreed with the decision. That said, the ICJ ruling will encourage many separatist movements to invoke the “Kosovo Precedent.” Secessionist movements around the globe will use the decision to make their case for breaking away from the nation they are currently a part of .

July 21, 2010: Greek economic cutbacks have led to a surge in street demonstrations. Greek security officials hope the trouble remains in the streets and does not reignite a terror war. Such a conflict may have already begun. Greek police reported the murder of a journalist who was allegedly investigating corruption. He was killed in front of his home – shot to death. Police said that a terror group called The Sect of Revolutionaries is likely involved. The police believe the group is responsible for three murders committed in 2009. One of the individuals killed was a police officer. The Sect of Revolutionaries has warned several investigative reporters that they are on its death list.

July 19, 2010: A Turkish court issued indictments for 196 individuals who were allegedly involved in a military coup to topple the government. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is a moderate Islamist party. Turkey's military still tends to be secularist and Kemalist (named after Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic).

July 16, 2010: Police in Turkey arrested 29 Islamist radicals. The police said the accused were suspected of being in groups linked to Al Qaeda. The suspects were arrested in raids in Istanbul, Adana, Antalya, and Canakkale. Security officials reported they seized numerous weapons in the raids. “There’s so much only Mladic would know; it’s very extensive.”

July 13, 2010: The European Union issued a statement saying that Turkey is still in line for admission to the EU. The statement comes after US officials asserted that Turkey is developing ties with Iran and other radical nations because the EU has been slow to admit Turkey. France has stalled negotiations, but Greece, Turkey's oldest enemy, has been the chief obstacle.

July 12, 2010: The president of Moldova criticized the Moldovan Constitutional Court's decision to reject his decision to declare a holiday named Soviet Occupation Day. The president had declared June 28 to be a day in remembrance of the USSR's occupation and absorption of Moldova in 1940. At the time the USSR (Russia) was an ally of Nazi Germany. Moldova had been part of Romania. Russia was outraged by the declaration. Russia and Moldova remain at odds over the Transdniestr Republic, an ethnic Russian enclave within Moldova. Russia still deploys a small military force in Transdniestr.

July 11, 2010: Bosnia reburied 775 victims of the 1995 slaughter in Srebrenica (when 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men were killed by Serb forces).

July 7, 2010: The UN held an emergency session to examine the security situation in Kosovo. On July 2nd a bomb blast killed one person and wounded 11 in the town of Mitrovica.

Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled that several AKP government constitutional changes were illegal. The changes effect the organization and operation of the judiciary and the military. This sets up a huge confrontation between Turkish secularists and the AKP's moderate Islamists.