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Schmid, Thomas
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5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Missed opportunity for fresh start
The chance of a fresh start has been wasted even though there was no lack of money, writes the left-liberal Berliner Zeitung, and blames the aid organisations: "So far the Haitians have received little help from the state, but plenty from the more than 3,000 NGOs there: the charity and church organisations of which only 500 are actually registered in the country. They work for the most part in an uncoordinated way and already pose a problem for the reconstruction of state structures. Most of the doctors and professionals who haven't moved to the US or France prefer to work with an NGO than with state institutions, where they earn only half as much. Entire wards at hospitals have had to be closed down because of the staff exodus. The NGOs, which have created 150,000 jobs - for skilled workers, drivers, translators, security and cleaning staff - and have two billion dollars in aid at their disposal were indispensable for providing emergency assistance. But only few of them have put effort - according to the help people to help themselves principle - into building up structures that could make the NGOs themselves redundant."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Natural disasters, » Natural disasters, » Politics, » Latin Amerika
New Kyrgyz Republic must create trust
The Kyrgyz voted in a referendum on Sunday to become a parliamentary republic. But the left-liberal daily Berliner Zeitung does not see this as much of a gain: "Now the important thing will be to create trust in a future state - particularly among the Uzbeks, the victims of the pogrom two weeks ago that cost around 2,000 people their lives. ... To do this requires three things: The government must make sure the houses that were destroyed are quickly rebuilt and that those returning to them can live and work in a secure environment. Secondly, in order to counteract any myths, it must allow an international commission to investigate the pogrom and the army's role in it and bring those who are guilty to justice. That is the condition for any kind of reconciliation. Thirdly, for it to be sustained, Uzbeks must be adequately represented in state institutions, above all in the army, which until now has mainly been a troop of Kyrgyz."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Asia
US must seize every opportunity for talks
On the successful visit of former US president Bill Clinton to North Korea the conservative daily Die Welt writes: "The high rank of the guest demonstrates yet again with what skill the otherwise so seemingly inflexible North Korea is able to employ blackmail manoeuvres to pull the ailing country through time after time. The pariah state is also unpredictable in its cunning. And this is why all this is not just about the two [released US] journalists. It wouldn't have required a man of Bill Clinton's stature to achieve that. The very fact that Clinton was welcomed at Pyongyang airport by the deputy foreign minister is a clear indication: after all, he is the country's chief negotiator in the nuclear dispute. Clinton's visit is without doubt a cautious attempt to find out whether under President Barack Obama a new phase in relations between the two countries, which had broken off diplomatic ties with each other, is possible. The US is right to use every opportunity that arises to enter dialogue."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Asia, » U.S., » Global
Lacking respect for copyright holders
The Sunday paper Welt am Sonntag writes on the status of creators and copyrights in the digital age: "Google, equipped with the nimbus of user-friendly piracy, cast itself in the role of the precursor. In their desire for the instant dissemination of information, the diseminators seem to forget that nothing can work at all without creators. The pressure Google is exerting is almost extortionary: every little scrap of information must be uploaded and made common property, part of the public domain. Anyone who resists this trend is a reactionary and fails to understand the signs of the times. What is lacking is respect for the work of creators. Good information, a comprehensive work, an enduring piece of news, all of this does not come from heaven or the wall socket. ... If the author and the creator are degraded to the status of an almost insignificant supplier it would be just as damaging to the coming knowledge society as it is for our Internet society."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Public Culture, » Online media, » Germany, » Global
One against all
The conservative daily Die Welt is surprised at Klaus' maverick approach: "Revolutions can have some strange effects. The fall of socialism in 1989 turned boilermen into foreign ministers, poets into presidents and it seemed round tables would be the piece of furniture par excellence of the future. But one individual, also a child of the revolution, revolted against this trend from the very beginning. ... As the staunch EU opponent that he has become, he [Klaus] has now used a visit to apostate Ireland to ... repeat his conviction that the EU is a compulsory institution akin to socialism. ... Václav Klaus' attempt to single-handedly ... block the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon smacks of monomania. Notwithstanding, incensed outrage is the wrong response, for the right to call everything into question is one of the guaranteed freedoms of democracy. There are worse traditions than the liberal one from which Klaus stems. Naturally, one wonders what on earth could have driven this president, who even in his own country is an isolated figure, to attempt pull off a one-man-show as a radical on the international political stage."
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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Ireland, » Czech Republic, » Europe
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