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Dési, András
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5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Hungary cosying up to Germany
Viktor Orbán's right-wing conservative government has launched a charm offensive to woo Germany in recent days. However this new tack complete with a dose of self-criticism is not the result of the government realising its mistakes but rather a lack of funding, writes the left-liberal daily Népszabadság: "It's been a long time since so many Hungarian politicians travelled to Germany as in recent days. In addition to János Martonyi and the chairman of the ruling party Fidesz, János Lázár, a delegation of the foreign policy parliamentary committee was also in Berlin. ... Martonyi said after a meeting with his counterpart Guido Westerwelle that he aims to dispel Germany's worries regarding the policies of the Hungarian government. ... For his part Lázár practised the art of self-criticism during his visit, saying that the Hungarian government had not consulted its European partners as much as it should have done up to now. ... It is a welcome development that leading politicians of the Orbán government want to correct the tarnished image of Hungary they themselves have created. A little support from Germany in the negotiations with the EU Commission and the International Monetary Fund about a loan for Hungary would certainly come in very handy."
» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Politics, » Germany, » Hungary
Germany's Greens too inflexible
In a referendum held in the German state of Baden-Württemberg on Sunday a clear majority voted in favour of the highly controversial railway station project Stuttgart 21. The ruling Greens have consistently rejected the building plans. The party's unwillingness to compromise could jeopardise its power, writes the left-liberal daily Népszabadság: "We have principles, the Greens say. But when it comes to governing the capacity to compromise is indispensable. The Greens' rejection of the Stuttgart 21 project, strained to the point of conservatism, is notable in that many of the successes achieved by the environmental party in the past decades were thanks to its newness and openness. The Greens however also exhibited the same conservative inflexibility in Berlin, where they recently missed the opportunity to participate in a governing coalition with the Social Democrats because of a dispute over the construction of a three-kilometre-long section of urban motorway. ... But when you're at the helm different rules apply, and the Greens must accept this otherwise the voters may gradually turn their backs on them, too."
» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Germany
Social Democrats down for the count
The left-liberal daily Népszabadság comments on the SPD's bitter election defeat in Germany's federal elections: "After eleven years in government the German Social Democrats are demolished. Their miserable results in the election (23 percent) also mean that the gap between them and the Greens and the deep-red The Left party has narrowed dramatically. Not so long ago, back in 1998, the SPD was able to garner 41 percent of the vote as the leading force of the Left. … What has happened to the SPD now could already be observed in other European countries. The times when the socially disadvantaged were represented by a single big party are gone. And on top of that the SPD has faced competition from left-wing rivals twice within a short period of time. First the Greens lured away its voters and then The Left party did the same. The SPD has neither been able to find answers to the age of globalisation nor has it come to terms with the other left-wing parties. It seems to be facing a hopeless situation."
» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Germany
The controversy in Germany over integration and assimilation
The newspaper's Germany correspondent András Dési comments on Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's speech in Cologne: "It may sound rather bizarre, but Erdogan has actually done German politicians a favour. The Turkish leader knows full well that German conservatives reject the idea of Turkey joining the EU. The message of the Cologne spectacle is that although political objections and excuses can be found to put obstacles in Turkey's way, economically Turkey has in fact been integrated in the EU for some time, and the presence of more than 5.3 million Turks (some calculations even put the figure at 15 million) in the countries of the EU is a fact of life. The döner is here to stay in the everyday lives of Germans and western Europeans, even if many still find it rather indigestible."
» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU enlargement, » Domestic Policy, » Germany, » Europe, » Turkey
Bucharest - new center of the Balkans
Three weeks before Romania's accession to the EU, András Dési has discovered the new centre of the Balkans in Bucharest: a "bustling, vibrant, colourful" city that has "developed at breakneck speed... For Bucharest - its official population is 2.5 million, but weekday commuters swell that number to four million - the old clichés still fit. Behind the flag-bedecked Ministry for European Integration, stray dogs wander among piles of trash. Only five kilometres away is an encampment of Roma that is in terrible condition; its neighbours have erected a barbed-wire fence... Currently, mega-investors are waiting to sink a total of four billion euros into the city. The TriGránit Company is building a new district, the Esplanada City Center, whose modern apartment buildings are meant to compensate for the terrible view of the Palace of the People, built during the days of the dictator Ceausescu. Bucharest's economic development is limping five to ten years behind the other great cities of eastern central Europe, but there is no reason to write off the residents of Bucharest. Instead of just gabbing, they are getting down to business."
» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Architecture / Cities, » South East Europe, » Romania
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