"Friends don't have to agree on everything but they should be able to at least talk about anything," Martin Ehl writes commenting on Donald Tusk's first official meeting with Angela Merkel as Polish Prime Minister. "After yesterday's meeting it's clear that Tusk and his ministers smile more and have a more restrained approach but they will represent Polish interests just as doggedly as the previous government under Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Tusk was well prepared for his visit to Berlin. In a lengthy interview and an article he wrote for Germany's most widely read tabloid, he made it clear why the foundation of a centre for expellees in Berlin under the control of the Federation of Expellees and the joint German-Russian construction of a gas pipeline bypassing Poland are unacceptable for Poland." (12/12/2007)

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Frank Herold thinks that the Polish Prime Minister's visit was constructive on the Polish side: "The Polish Prime Minister's idea of building a museum dedicated to the history of the Second World War in Gdansk merited much more than the cool reception it received from Chancellor Merkel. ... A museum located in the city where the war began 70 years ago could serve to create a connection between all the different aspects and tell the story of the events from a European perspective, without accusations or locally-prejudiced myths. Organising international cooperation for the project would undoubtedly be a rewarding and confidence-building German-Polish effort, and wouldn't have the effect of making memories of individual historical processes redundant. Therefore it's a good thing that Tusk has abandoned his original idea of using the museum as an alternative to the documentation centre on expellees planned by the German government for Berlin. Competing memorial projects would be the wrong approach." (12/12/2007)

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German chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed Donald Tusk's proposal to build a museum but wants to stick to the plans for the expellee project. Andrzej Talaga is disappointed by such an outcome. "One can hardly describe this visit as a success. In point of fact Tusk was butting his head against a brick wall. You can't blame him for not coming out as the winner of this clash. His visit has shown that it wasn't the anti-German prejudices of the previous government that caused the tensions in German-Polish relations but Berlin's tough stance. It refuses to budge on issues like the expellees and the gas pipeline. It has to be said that it's a strange friendship when the stronger and wealthier partner ignores the fears of its weaker partner." (12/12/2007)

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According to Krisztina Koenen, the former party functionaries of Eastern Europe have continued to spin their webs in society since the fall of communism. These "clan-like" alliances are the winners of the transition, she writes. "The view that individual persons or groups of persons, rather than the rule of law, impose the rules on society is prevalent throughout the political-economic elites. Now we are seeing the terrible consequences of the fact that during the socialist era the formation of elites outside the sphere of influence of the state parties was impossible. Nowadays all the different camps have distinctly dynastic structures: these people marry within their own elite, attend the same universities and look after the interests of each other's children. ... The upper ranks of the legal system, the central banks, the tax authorities and the police force are reserved for the members of the clan that has been elected into power. The financial sectors, companies, media and legal systems are divided up between the clans - or simply become the property of a clan for an entire legislative period." (12/12/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Social movements, » History, » Eastern Europe
All available articles from » Krisztina Koenen

In a comment distributed by Project Syndicate, American economist Joseph E. Stiglitz questions the efficiency of CO2 cap-and-trade system planned in the Kyoto protocole, and currently discussed at the UN framework convention on climate change conference (UNFCCC) in Bali. "Economic efficiency requires that those who generate emissions pay the cost, and the simplest way of forcing them to do so is through a carbon tax. There could be an international agreement that every country would impose a carbon tax at an agreed rate (reflecting the global social cost). ... Of course, polluting industries like the cap-and-trade system. While it provides them an incentive not to pollute, emission allowances offset much of what they would have to pay under a tax system. ... Moreover, Europe has grown used to the concept of cap-and-trade, and many are loathe to try an alternative. Yet, no one has proposed an acceptable set of principles for assigning emission rights." (12/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Joseph E. Stiglitz

The daily comments on Gordon Brown's apparent uneasiness while attending the European treaty signature in Lisbon thursday December 13th. "[The Prime Minister] will rise and breakfast at Number 10, face questions from the Commons Liaison Committee, then board a chartered jet and be in Portugal for lunch. He will, regretfully, miss the official signing ceremony for the European 'treaty' that dare not speak its name, but will sign it in private, unphotographed. ... Mr Brown does face two real risks. The first is the certainty that this treaty will be vilified by history. ... The second risk is of ridicule, in verse. 'Sign, sign, sign, they said /' (of Magna Carta). 'Sign King John, or resign instead! / (And King John signed.)' In which context there is one thing to be said for 'Gordon'. It wouldn't scan." (12/12/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » United Kingdom, » Europe

Columnist Daniel Vernet studies the role played by Moscow in Central European 'frozen conflicts', such as in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Karabakh and Transnistria. "Let alone sporadic incidents, the situation in these regions has been frozen for years. Central states cannot take control, either politically or militarily. Russia supports separatists, but does not acknowledge their claim to sovereignty. (...) For one down-to-earth reason: avoid any risk of contagion across Caucasian Republics belonging to the Russian Federation. (...) Status quo is perfect for Russia. It's a mean of pressure on its neighbours, and a way of feeding obsession in countries looking westwards." (12/12/2007)

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"During a visit in Cyprus on December 10th, Russian Foreign Minister Sergueï Lavrov warned the EU of the consequences if Kosovo declares independence", reminds columnist Costas Venizelou, who shares the same opinion. "Kosovo's independence would be a recognition of the fact that a state was invaded. This is comparable to the Cypriot case, which lost one fourth of its land after being invaded by the Turkish army in 1974. Acknowledging the independence of Kosovo will open a door to the recognition of Northern Cyprus' independence, and ruin all hope of seeing the still-divided isle unite again. Turkey wishes the independence of Kosovo, in order to legalise its 1974 aggression on Cyprus. Greece should also beware of any Kosovar move, since the Thrace region, located in the North, is inhabited by a great majority of Muslims." (12/12/2007)

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Columnist Steven King fears integration of east Europeans migrants in Ireland could be slowed down as they keep strong ties with their home country through medias. "Modern communications allow migrants to be physically in one place but emotionally and intellectually in another. Migrants nowadays can keep closely in touch with home by watching satellite TV, reading newspapers written in their mother tongue (not least on the internet), chatting with family and friends for a few cent a minute, and travelling back to their country of origin as cheaply as taking a train from Dublin to Cork. In many ways, this is one of globalisation's upsides. The downside is that coming here no longer means really leaving there. We can sometimes be closer to people thousands of miles away than we are to our next door neighbour. That is fragmenting the nation state deeply. It would be fine if we had a substitute for the nation state, but we don't and, therefore, it is not fine." (12/12/2007)

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There will be no referendum on the new EU Reform Treaty in Denmark. The Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen considers such a step unnecessary: in his view Denmark should only hold referendums on the subject of the EU when there is a risk of erosion in Denmark's sovereignty. The newspaper supports the decision: "Between 500 and 1,000 pages of complicated EU text simply aren't appropriate subject matter for a referendum. ... But the government and the Social Democrats should counter the desire for a referendum with honest arguments. Juggling with legal technicalities about the treaty and the transfer of sovereignty won't do any good. It would be much more sincere to bolster the importance of parliamentary democracy and make it clear that this kind of decision should left up to the Folketing. The people's representatives are there to represent Denmark's interests - regardless of their political stance." (12/12/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Constitution, » Denmark, » Europe

To protest against the rise of oil prizes, thousands of truck drivers have decided to jam roads and motorways, and are thus preventing gas stations from being supplied. "Behind this wild truck strike ... lies the fundamental question of lawfulness, of respecting or violating the law", says columnist Giovanni Valentini. "This extends to an even more serious question, about the authority, the legitimacy of political power, and thus, its ability to foist social rules on the community in a democratic way. ... It's not a matter of left or right, of being ruled by this or that government, or of having a strong or a weakened majority. The lack of political credibility, authority and consensus, threatens the social fabric. Individual interests, selfishness and corporate demands could blast it away." (12/12/2007)

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Both Romania and Bulgaria have been EU members for almost a year now, but Romania has done far better than Bulgaria from an economic point of view. Bulgarin journalist Martin Karbovsky examines why: "One reason for the positive economic performance is that Romania's market is three times as large as Bulgaria's, and then there's the fact that it's closer to France. But other factors are no less important. At the beginning of the transition Romania adopted a much tougher stance towards the old political class. ... The violent confrontation between the Romanians and the Communists had left the latter without any illusions about being able to continue to rule the country. The Romanians didn't make the same mistake the Bulgarians made of changing the economic system without replacing the representatives of the old system." (12/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Martin Karbovski

On December 13th 2006, francophone Belgian public channel RTBF broadcast a very realistic programme staging Belgian partition. Roland Planchar believes this fiction launched a real debate in Belgium. "If we are still referring to 'Bye Bye Belgium', even a year later, it is because this caricature, as all caricatures, is close to reality. The public tv channel broke a taboo by cheerfully shatterig the kingdom, by dumping Albert II, and by showing a gruesome Flemmish community. This electroshock has fostered numerous comments on the country's future, and on what should be done for a better mutual understanding. If ever some people do wish Belgium's end, the RTBF did not invent it. It just had the guts to shout it out, that's all. But it's always easy to shoot the messenger..." (12/12/2007)

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In an interview by Jacques Morice on his latest film "La graine et le mulet" released this week in France, French film director Abdellatif Kechiche explains the reasons why his films deal with working-class. "People coming from working-class have always some difficulties [finding their place in society]. It's hard to climb the social ladder, to break in another culture. You always feels like you are still alienated. ... When I became a film director, I feared of being caught up by my social condition. I need to work hard to gain artistic freedom. It seems to me that it was easier before, that there was more social mixing. Films dealt more often with working-class issues. Let alone [Ken] Loach or [Robert] Guédiguian, nowadays very few filmmakers take interest into this social class. ... Movies used to unite. That has nothing to do with looking out for recipes in order to drain the largest number of filmgoers, and be so-called 'popular filmmakers'." (12/12/2007)

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An exhibition of the work of the Romanian-German sculptor and photographer Peter Jacobi is currently on show at the National History Museum in Bucharest. It features pictures of deserted and run-down villages in Transylvania, a region that before the Second World War was inhabited by the Transylvanian-Saxons, a people of German origin, and which lies in central Romania. Maria-Magdalena Crisa comments: "The exhibits are an alarm signal; they should provoke an immediate reaction from the local authorities and all who are concerned about the country's cultural heritage. ... Jacobi has researched areas that are practically unknown - small, deserted villages. ... In an appeal for the rescue of Transylvania's architectural monuments Jacobi writes: 'The Transylvanian ensemble is so unique and comprehensive that even the loss of individual objects belonging to this cultural area is painful because the specific magic and uniqueness of Transylvania is not to be found in individual objects but in its entirety'." (12/12/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Architecture / Cities, » Exhibitions / Museums, » Photography, » History, » Romania
All available articles from » Maria-Magdalena Crisan