George-Henri Beauthier, a lawyer, reacts to the latest revision in Belgian's asylum law, on April 21, and to the goverment's refusal to propose a regularisation of those without residency rights. "Is it preposterous, in a democratic state, to demand a thorough debate on the entry, residency and deportation of foreigners, one aimed at crafting a clear immigration policy, with prescribed rules that must be respected? This debate is spurned. It is not through stopgap legislative measures, nor strong-arm ministerial declarations that we will solve a vital question for society: how, with whom, and on the basis of which values should we coexist? Every year, this political fecklessness swells the ranks of illegal immigrants. ... We are in thrall to a system of absolute arbitrariness, the gangrene of democracy. ... We need simple rules as a matter of urgency." (02/05/2006)

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The draft law on immigration and integration comes before the lower house of the French parliament from May 2 to 5. "Nicolas Sarkozy wants to return to a policy of 'chosen' immigration [abandoned in 1974] while restricting the rights of other immigrants," observes the journalist Franck Seuret. He believes the proposal "risks exacerbating existing social tensions without even achieving its objectives in terms of economic immigration ... Contrary to what one may be led to believe by Nicolas Sarkozy's eagerness to push this bill through - he is on his second law in less than three years - France today is in no way a country of massive immigration. It has even become the European state where demographic growth is least dependent on the arrival of foreigners. One year out from the presidential election, the interior minister is driven most of all by a desire to catch votes." (02/05/2006)

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"It is worth contrasting George Bush's attitude [favouring a guest-worker programme that holds out the prospect of eventual citizenship for illegal aliens] with the slogan coined by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French interior minister: 'Love France or leave it'," the daily notes in an editorial. "Mr. Sarkozy, himself from an immigrant background, is hardly a Front National rabble-rouser; but he vigorously supports the deportation of illegal immigrants - the 'sans papiers' - who have turned the outer suburbs into dystopian ghettos. ... Which leaves us with an intriguing question: should Britain embrace a solution to the immigration problem that more closely resembles Mr Bush's or Mr Sarkozy's? And the answer is that the Labour Government might have left us no choice. ... The Government would be incapable of managing immigration even if the European Union allowed it to..." (02/05/2006)

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Christoph Prantner asks what can still be considered socially democratic about Europe's social democrats nowadays. "After over a 100 years of the Labour movement, Europe is now completely socially democratic – and social democracy has apparently become obsolete. It has suffered a great disillusion since the implosion of communism, which has greatly reduced its relevance as a political means of salvation for the foreseeable future. While the conservatives are showing their commitment to the social state and reforming it to suit their own needs, the social democrats are acting like reactionaries who can't come up with anything better than preserving the status quo. They should have produced a major new ideology at least a decade ago. Instead, they choose to lash out at the unpleasant aspects of world development with vague terms like 'neo-liberalism'. (02/05/2006)

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Agnès Poirier, a London-based French journalist, refutes Timothy Garton Ash's recent assertion in the Guardian's columns that 'the South bank of the Thames is less elegant but more intellectually alive than the left bank of the Seine'. "Think Europe has no more intellectuals simply because you can't find their books? Think again. Guess how many books in British bookshops are translations? Just 3% - meaning the bulk of the world's intellectual output never gets read or discussed in Britain. If Camus, Borges, Calvino, Bourdieu, Foucault, Grass and Havel were young intellectuals today, they would not get translated into English. ... The rampant imperialism of the English language contributes to the building of an ivory tower invisible to its inhabitants." (02/05/2006)

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François de Smet, the vice president of the Brussels-based Movement against racism, anti-semitism and xenophobia (MRAX), asserts that revisionism is one of the worst forms of racism. "A genocide is a massacre unlike any other because it is the product of a deliberately planned policy to exterminate a people, and is therefore always based on a xenophobic ideology. One cannot fight racism without a constant reminder of what it leads to in its terminal phase: the physical annihilation of the other because he is the other. This is why revisionism amounts to a legitimate restriction on freedom of expression: by allowing someone, in the future, to freely accept or deny the existence of the genocide of the Jews, Tutsis and Armenians inevitably helps justify, indirectly, the ideology that allowed these massacres to occur." (02/05/2006)

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Swiss journalist Serge Michel takes stock of his "immersion" in the Paris's outlying region, an initiative undertaken by 'L'Hebdo' newspaper six months ago, in the wake of suburban unrest. "If there is one overriding lesson, it is the following: that two worlds exist, one on either side of the ring road. Paris, seat of power, silo of the elites, luminous carrousel, converging point of all railways, all careers, all French ambitions. Suburb, forgotten territory, the black sheep, barren shore where certain trajectories wash up, and from which others never take off ... Let's dare to make a comparison: It is West Berlin versus East Berlin, with the ring road standing in for the Wall. In the West, a consumerist society that resembles one big playground ... In the East, cafés close early and there is nothing to do after that other than hang out on the street below one's building or go home." (02/05/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » Minorities, » Social movements, » France
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"At first glance, not much appears to have changed in the two years of our EU membership," writes Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda in a guest commentary. "The Czechs haven't suddenly got rich, nor have they emigrated to the West in great droves. Companies have not gone bankrupt under the pressure of competition, and the currency remains stable. The changes have been evolutionary, not revolutionary. But the accession of Eastern European countries has certainly brought fresh impetus to the EU... We have managed to convince other members of the need to adopt an uncompromising policy towards totalitarian regimes like those of Cuba or Belarus. The new member states' experiences with totalitarian dictatorship make it easier for them to understand this kind of problem." (02/05/2006)

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According to Peteris Strautins, Latvia's "return to Europe" two years ago has led to people being valued more highly in the country. This, he says, is expressed in terms of higher salaries, but also in more politeness in their dealings with each other. "It would be even better if this process were fuelled by pure idealism and deep conviction, but the main thing is the result. It's easy to understand why this is happening: people are valued higher nowadays because they're in short supply. For two years now, the possibilities for living and working abroad have been growing, which in turn means that there are fewer possibilities for forcing people to do things they don't want to. If we don't take the needs and wishes of others into consideration, they can simply turn their backs on us as colleagues, friends or partners." (02/05/2006)

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"The deadline for handing over war criminal Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague has expired," Mirek Toda notes. He now sees Serbia "in a very difficult position". Toda is referring to the EU's threat to discontinue membership talks with Belgrade. "This is not the first time the European Union has confronted Serbia with an ultimatum, but each time the EU was persuaded to give Belgrade another chance. Now, Serbia has little cause for optimism. The EU has no alternative. If Serbia doesn't hand over Mladic (and Radovan Karadzic) it won't be allowed to join the Europe Union of the 25." (02/05/2006)

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For columnist Teresa de Sousa, the iranian nuclear issue provides a test for strengthening the relationship between the United States and Europe. "So far, the United States and the EU have maintained a seemingly unshakeable united front vis-à-vis Iran. A reality that may be explained, first of all, by the acceptance on the part of the big three (Germany, the United Kingdom and France) that direct negotiations with the regime in Tehran have led nowhere. Secondly, it also signifies, on a broader level, that Europe has decided not to create any further friction with Washington following the bitter episode over Iraq. In Iran or in Palestine, this is the new watchword from European embassies." (02/05/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Europe, » U.S.
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Following a discussion between 400 Danish citizens and leading Danish and European politicians in Odense, the newspaper comments: "The Danes' interest in Europe has become very pragmatic. The EU should focus on international problems such as the battle against terrorism and environmental issues. The main problems, however, are the complicated procedures in Brussels and the individual countries protecting their own interests. It's precisely here that the European constitution could help create greater transparency. Perhaps other countries can learn something from us Danes: not only do Danish citizens have easy access to elected representatives, we also have a long tradition of public debate on issues of interest to all." (02/05/2006)

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Following the animated election on Friday, April 30 of Franco Marini as Senate speaker, Romano Prodi now faces another difficult stretch: forming his government. Several members of different parties in his coalition have signalled their desire to be named to the most important ministries. "The inaugural speeches of the presidents of both chambers showed the degree to which the political cultures and strategic choices within the centre-left differ," explains editorial writer Angelo Panebianco. "Two courses offer themselves to Romano Prodi: to bring into being a government with a strong progressive stamp ... or choose a more liberal course that would reassure markets and international partners."  (02/05/2006)

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To mark the opening of the Press Photo Exhibition in Hungary, author Peter Nadas praises the press photographer's profession in a speech published by the newspaper. "Photographers have a job, and in this respect they don't differ much from a plumber. But their job is also their calling, their way of life... Photographers can't afford to take things that happen to other people lightly. They don't have to starve among the starving, and they're not forced into the front line to become victims, but they seem to be the ones who have to ask other people's final, important questions. In order to preserve their mental health, they often put their bodies at risk." (02/05/2006)

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"Young European cinema... is discovering the continent's peripheries. Europe's virtually forgotten and often half deserted regions are becoming discursive spaces in which the possibilities, but also the flaws, in Europe's structure are discussed," Hans Schifferle writes, commenting on the film festival "Crossing Europe" which took place in Linz. "Perhaps Finnish film best captures the spirit of European cinema; this is peripheral cinematography par excellence... Finland and Finnish film often give the impression of being what could almost be called an exotic wasteland in time and space – frequently impressive, full of searing boredom, but offering small gaps which leave space for original ideas, for new opportunities and developments." (02/05/2006)

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Tests for applicants for citizenship are under discussion in Austria, as in other European countries. Referring to a quiz show featuring Austrian celebrities, historian Anna Siegmund raises the question of what Austrians, themselves, should know – for example, where Arnold Schwarzenegger was born – and which questions they are never asked. "No mention was made on the show of eminent scientists or important painters like Klimt, Schiele or Kokoschka. The only thing worth knowing about a famous literary figure is the rather trivial, but apparently vital information that he did advertising for a certain brand of shoes. Despite this year being Mozart's anniversary year, his works were barely mentioned, and Sigmund Freud only came up as one of the possible, but wrong, answers. Austrians apparently need to know as little about Grillparzer, Schubert and Beethoven as they do about Wittgenstein or Otto Wagner. And it seems that Austria has no Nobel laureates, nor any important architects or philosophers." (02/05/2006)

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All available articles from » Anna Siegmund