Erik Izraelewicz considers that "the French hate to give all the power buttons to a single side. As soon as they can, they swiftly oppose the team they elected with a counter-power. ... Ten months after having entrusted the keys of the Elysée and parliament to the right, they have reinforced the left, already powerful on a regional level, in the communes and cantons. Central power on the right and local on the left. We had thought, since the presidential election of 2007, that the French had rediscovered a flare for the ballot boxes and that the left-right divide was no longer relevant. This was a bit hasty. The record abstention yesterday [around 38%] shows that the gulf between the two major governing parties and public opinion is still very deep. ...The victory of the left also shows that people are suspicious of absolute power, no matter which." (17/03/2008)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » France
All available articles from » Erik Izraelewicz

"You would have to be deaf and blind to have failed to understand the scalding message addressed to the leadership. A message of terrible disappointment", comments Joëlle Meskens. "If the left is re-conquering numerous urban bastions, it is not merely a mechanical swing of the pendulum. Not only because the French traditionally seek a balancing out of power in intermediary elections, the fact that big symbolic cities such as Toulouse and Strasbourg have swung to the left is proof that doubt has arisen in this conservative France that thought it had found a saviour in Nicolas Sarkozy, for an obvious lack of one in the Socialist Party ... which has won these elections. The losers are a right-wing that has fallen out with a part of its electorate that it has lost. ... President Nicolas Sarkozy would be well-advised to pay heed to this warning." (17/03/2008)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » France
All available articles from » Joëlle Meskens

"A large part of the social enthusiasm that the president needs to carry out his major reforms has disappeared", explains the daily. "[Sarkozy] arrived at the Elysée with a clear mandate: to reform socio-political structures so that France doesn't continue to be a big country with a lack of clear direction and in which the population lives with a nostalgia for past times and a fear of the future. His mandate did not of course include winning the municipal elections, but it would have helped him to know that the French still clearly trust him instead of having to take note of the expression of their disaffection. His objective should nonetheless remain the same: the carrying out of reforms that will free the strengths of this big country that has been sent to sleep by decades of complacent dreaming." (17/03/2008)

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » France

In its editorial, the Lisbon daily comments on the socialist victory in the French municipal elections and predicts a national career for Bertrand Delanoë, re-elected Mayor of Paris. "The French have waved a yellow card at Nicolas Sarkozy and his government. This vote of protest occurs less than a year after Sarkozy reached power and at a time when his popularity is lower than ever. Indeed, this failure coincides with the criticism expressed by numerous French people saying that there is too great a distance between the president and actual politics. The government is denying claims that there is a pink wave unfurling across the country, but out of prudence it should accelerate the pace of political and economic reforms that France seems in need of. For the socialists, this victory comes as a relief at least as the party has yet to find a direction that would allow it any hope of regaining power." (17/03/2008)

» full article (external link, Portuguese)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » France

Norway is marked by a sharp contrast between its deindustrialised centre and its productive periphery, writes Norwegian author Kjartan Fløgstad. He notes that a unique connection is being forged between the two sectors. "Today's exemplary Norwegian is a leading technocrat in the oil industry and a shepherd at the same time. ... He who drills through underwater geological formations kilometres away from the platforms today will mow the grass for his sheep in the traditional way tomorrow. Thanks to highly developed technology he is creating the foundations for the new era that will allow the good old days on the farm to go on. Using the wealth generated by oil in the form of farm subsidies, he buys what money can't buy. This radical unsimultaneous phenomenon which can also be observed elsewhere in the world is embodied in Norway by one and the same person, who acts as a museum attendant in the small farmers' business and at the same time a future-oriented laboratory assistant in the oil business."    (17/03/2008)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Economic Policy, » Norway
All available articles from » Kjartan Fløgstad

The Czech writer and translator Monika Zgustova considers that the oppression of the Prague Spring by Soviet troops in 1968 sealed a divorce between the western left and Moscow. "In a Europe split in half by the Cold War, there was little talk in western intellectual circles of persecutions suffered in the East. .... After the Prague spring, the Czech language and other Slave languages were opened up to the world thanks to a considerable quantity of translations ... The works translated unveiled communist barbarity. And even if certain intellectuals stuck to their guns for a while, maintaining that the Soviet invasion was in defence of the just cause of protecting communism from Capitalist voracity, this discourse gave in to the obvious evidence of the gulags and secret political practices. This evidence rendered pro-Soviet discourse obsolete once and for all." (15/03/2008)

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » History, » Czech Republic, » Europe, » Eastern Europe
All available articles from » Monika Zgustova

In July 2009, Sweden will take over the presidency of the EU. The daily calls on the government to use this period to promote tighter data protection laws, arguing that these are being undermined by EU laws like the law on the storage of private e-mails. "The government's priorities during its presidency are more or less fixed, but that shouldn't prevent it from adding another point to the agenda: the bolstering of personal integrity," the newspaper writes, adding: "Energy and climate protection, work and growth, demography and migration - for the EU these are all central issues to guarantee its future and prosperity, but without the right to privacy, the lives of EU citizens will become impoverished. [During its last EU presidency] Sweden did pioneering work for more openness in Europe. This time the top priority is to stress the protection of personal integrity." (16/03/2008)

» to the homepage (external link, Svenska Dagbladet)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Sweden, » Europe

Edmondo Berselli is following the electoral campaign leading up to the legislatives to be held mid-April and notes that the candidate of the Democratic Party, Walter Veltroni, is progressing in the north of the country, which is traditionally on the right. "The Democratic party's change of direction has modified the confrontation between left and right. Four thousand people gathered on the Plazza delle Erbe to welcome Veltroni to Mentua, Lombardy. This hasn't been seen since Karol Wojtyla's visit. Can it be said that a national political leader has been born beyond the river Po? ... Veltroni's initiative is a medium-term and long-term investment. The north is a concentration of stagnant interests and secular political cultures that, with time, have blended into Berlusconi's mould. Veltroni's chances in the north will not depend on his capacity to come across as a moderate left-wing missionary, but rather on his ability to seem a carrier of a modern political and economic vision." (17/03/2008)

» to the homepage (external link, La Repubblica)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Italy
All available articles from » Edmondo Berselli

Despite the rioting of several hundred right-wing extremists, Peter N. Nagy noted a slight easing of tension between the two political camps on March 15, Hungary's National Day marking the Revolution of 1848. "There's a good chance that we're returning to the world of political civilisation. One can still see two different civilisations that don't understand each other, but the messages that are being thrown over the wall are no longer of a destructive nature. ... Although today's speech givers keep trying to push their opponents into the past, at least they no longer call for their annihilation or expulsion, but instead unambiguously place the emphasis on the rule of law and non-aggression. And this is new."  (17/03/2008)

» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Hungary
All available articles from » Péter N. Nagy

"The Government's war against post offices appears to have been extended to the village shops that house them", complains the daily. "Not content with pushing through the deeply unpopular closure of 2,500 branches, it is allowing the Post Office to impose mean-spirited and anti-competitive rules on outlets that carry on trading after losing their postal business. Hundreds of rural shops will lose their compensation for loss of business if they offer anything remotely resembling their former services. ... Many village shops, whose existence was precarious enough as sub-post offices, can survive only if they receive compensation for their confiscated trade and are allowed to offer associated services. ... As a result, some rural communities could simply disintegrate ... the Government - in common with the rest of the political class - has become dangerously alienated from the conditions of everyday life, and nowhere is this more true than in its cack-handed approach to the countryside." (17/03/2008)

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Economic Policy, » United Kingdom

The Cartel Alfa Cluj trade union is demanding that Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia give its workers an Easter bonus, which in Romania traditionally takes the form of a lamb or a pig. Nokia has not yet refused, but in Florian Bichir's opinion the demand is inappropriate. The trade unions are making fools of themselves in Romania, which is still living in the past. The trade union bosses have sold themselves to their employers, and the trade union itself is nothing more than an appendage of the company management, which plays with the money of those who still believe in justice. Others make implausible demands or lapse into violence. ... In Romania it will be some time before the work of the trade unions can be taken seriously." (17/03/2008)

» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Finland, » Romania
All available articles from » Florian Bichir

In an interview with Dunja Batarilio, Richard Stallmann, developer of the Linux operating system and a pioneer of the free software movement, advocates the right to have control over your own hard drive. "The first freedom I will name is control over your own computer. This enables you to know what you computer is doing and to change that according to your needs. It entails free access to the source code. ... The second freedom is the freedom to help your friends without coming into conflict with the law. That means being allowed to copy and pass on free software. The third freedom is the freedom to work with others. That means you can pass on modified software and share it with others. ... When I say 'free' I mean free in the sense of 'free speech', not 'free beer'. Naturally, you can also earn money with free software." (17/03/2008)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Social movements, » Global
All available articles from » Richard Stallman, » Dunja Batarilio

In an interview with Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, British film director Ken Loach, whose film about immigrants 'It's a free world' is currently showing at Polish cinemas, criticises the British for what he sees as their hypocritical treatment of refugees. "Every day the right-wing newspapers run articles that foment hostility towards newcomers. The publishers accuse them of taking away 'our' privileges, 'our' hospital beds and the desks at 'our' schools. For these journalists, the inference appears to be clear: foreigners should leave. Yet employers with right-wing views like to employ them. This is the hypocrisy of the right - throw them out but exploit them first. The challenge for the left consists in making it clear to the British that the British and the immigrants share the same interests: they want security, social protection, a decent income and to see their dignity respected." (15/03/2008)

» more information (external link, Polish)
More from the press review on the subject » Social Policy / Employment, » Migration, » Labour market / Services, » United Kingdom
All available articles from » Ken Loach, » Krzysztof Kwiatkowski

Stefan Ulrich reports on today's "least used language," spoken by only approximately 1,000 people worldwide: Cimbrian, a mixture of Bavarian, Italian and Middle High German. "It appeared that the last bastion of the Cimbrians, the village of Lusern 1,300 metres above sea level, would disappear or become just another Italian mountain village. More and more families were leaving. But then a kind of Cimbrian resistance movement emerged. ... The mayor of the village [Luigi Nicolussi] now aims to attract tourists from Germany in a bid to protect his mother tongue. He came up with an idea involving Bruno, the problem bear that crossed the border from Trentino into Bavaria in the summer of 2006 and was shot. Nicolussi has asked the state government in Munich to give him the stuffed bear to put on exhibition. 'We are ancient Bavarians' he wrote in his appeal to the state premier, and pointed out that the Cimbrians were now threatened with extinction. 'The dead bear Bruno can make a positive contribution to our fight for survival'". (17/03/2008)

» to the homepage (external link, Süddeutsche Zeitung)
More from the press review on the subject » Minorities, » Italy, » Switzerland
All available articles from » Stefan Ulrich

March 17th is St. Patrick's Day, Ireland's national holiday. "Reflections this year must include reference to the consolidation of peace on this island with the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement on its 10th anniversary as well as significant changes in Ireland's economic and social circumstances", considers the daily, "St Patrick is a wonderful symbol of reconciliation between North and South, Ireland and Britain, because his life story draws on all these territories and peoples. While he cannot, without a process of distortion, be forced into the mould of contemporary Catholicism or Protestantism, nationalism or unionism, he can be an inspiration for all of them as they each claim a more inclusive sense of Irish allegiance and belonging. St Patrick has a relevance for an Ireland that is host now to hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers, representing one-tenth of the Republic's population, after a long history of emigration." (17/03/2008)

» more information (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » United Kingdom, » Ireland