the freedom of press protected constitutional right in democratic countries. finland takes and, in patria case, taught lesson of democracy, of rule of law, , of business ethics world. whether mot s charges of bribery true or not, finland protected freedom of speech better united states, , against own national interest. mot report of enormous value european union , attempt put democratic transparency in european defense procurement. arms trade enjoys particular status in eu, due essential connection national state security, per art. 346 of lisbon treaty:
the provisions of treaty shall not preclude application of following rules:
….(b) member state may take such measures considers necessary protection of essential interests of security connected production of or trade in arms, munitions , war material; such measures shall not adversely affect conditions of competition in common market regarding products not intended military purposes.
art. 346, while granting member states right classify national information on subject, i.e., apply state secret arms production , trade of member states, explicitly prohibits use of civilian (indirect) offset form of distortion of free competition in common market of european union. aerospace , defense companies abuse of indirect offsets equivalent straight bribery, if not worse. level more sophisticated not different bribe, , level of commercial war between patria , general dynamics, in slovenia 1 of european battles.
there 3 reasonable hypotheses on truth or falsity of mot program:
1. finland , slovenia corrupt countries. rest of european countries not. magnus berglund discovered corruption, , mot program truthful , accurate. looks slovenia corruptible country, while countries portugal or belgium (with on 1 billion euro purchase) not. slovenian politicians accept bribes, while rest of military sales involving armoured wheeled infantry vehicles bribe-free. furthermore, finnish companies patria ethnically inclined corrupt foreign states ¨to obtain , retain business¨, while german siemens, , u.s. general dynamics have better policies against active , passive corruption.
2. magnus berglund s mot program populist propaganda increase audience. no valuable truth content. in fact slovenian police did not open investigation on corruption charges against prime minister , military. wiitakorpi scapegoat, not smart, innocent. no bribes. variation on hypothesis wiitakorpi , friends pocketed alleged bribe, , used bribe allegation enrich themselves. variation on hypothesis of falsity of mot allegations journalists have been paid or tricked patria competitors, in order create false report. in these cases there no bribe, slovenian politicians , public officials clean , innocent.
3. third reasonable hypothesis corruption of state , military officials in arms trade european plague. not question business ethics of finnish businessmen , political integrity of slovenian politicians , military (that allegedly shared 21 million eur, 7,5% of contract price paid slovenian taxpayers). mot program burst of sunlight, in spite of small errors or minor slips sensationalism. actually, program sensational, , if not, why did slovenian embassy in finland request stop broadcast?
follow money
the best angle may seen following money involved in arms trade. authorities have complete investigations, free press of continent has professional duty , constitutional right research on 1 of less transparent , protected items in national budgets. lack of investigative reporting in media dangerous democracy deficit. in democracy, security issues should not used conceal accountability. defense procurement budgets taxpayers money. corruption in security 1 of corrosive forms of corrupt practices in democracies, since not money. citizens trust in lowest rank policeman president of country.
european offset distribution: direct, indirect military, indirect civilian
the actual situation regarding offset agreements in eu described in details in study on defense offsets in union countries commissioned european defense agency , published in 2007. according study volume of eu offset agreements in 2006 above 4-5 billions euro. distribution of these offsets shown in diagram: direct offsets, military indirect offsets, civilian indirect offsets.
one nothing have emerged, if wiitakorpi have humbly asked experienced american giant advise on how use indirect offsets. have solved problem of bribes (if bribe due) establishing offset fulfillers in liechtenstein, or in 1 of convenient branches of lgt. no need transfer money through austria liechtenstein. while austria treasures bank privacy, abides money laundry international laws. in austria alleged patria case scheme exposed, perhaps because of zealous bank clerk (or perhaps because slovenia did not buy austrian pandur). in case, fault blame on naïve jorma wiitakorpi, leader of excellent dwarfish defense company. sure, wire transfer feldkirch (austria) compensation defense contract called bribe, while same wire transfer schaanwald (liechtenstein) compensation same contract called indirect offset. no difference, geographical speaking, 4 km in alps, great difference in international defense contractors sophistication. lgt luxembourg branch can transform money (being bribe or fake indirect offset certificate) in whatever 1 likes in schengen area. substantially legally speaking still corruption, hard understand investigative journalists.
mot opened valuable breach in obscured area and, if right, reveals standard of requested bribe percentage sell weapons in europe.
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