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Zumach, Andreas
4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Referendum a warning to all
Switzerland has the lowest rate of capital crimes and sex crimes in Europe. Yet petitions for referendums like the one which has just been stopped on reintroducing capital punishment still have good chances of success, the left-liberal paper die tageszeitung writes. "With the help of certain media a section of the political class never ceases fomenting these fears and exploiting them for their own interests. It would be wrong to see the initiative to reintroduce the death penalty in Switzerland as justifying the sort of popular concerns people never tire of citing in Germany against extending representative democracy through referenda. The initiative is an early warning signal to which people in Switzerland and abroad will hopefully respond with more than just indignation and legal objections this time."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Switzerland, » Europe
Dangerous loopholes
The leftist newspaper doubts the viability of the draft for a ban on cluster bombs. "This time the loopholes in the treaty are considerably larger and unfortunately also more dangerous [than in previous arms control treaties]. The [German] government is largely to blame. ... Fortunately, its calls for exemption from the ban or at least postponing its introduction for several years as far as the M-85 is concerned - which accounts for 95 percent of the German Armed Forces' entire cluster bomb arsenal - failed in Dublin. The foreign ministry's belated attempt to pass these demands off as 'compromise proposals' is simply grotesque. We can only hope that the German government keeps its promise to destroy the ammunition and does not try to flog it off for a profit on the global weapons market in the eight months that remain until the treaty enters force."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » Germany, » Europe
Russia interferes in the race for the IMF
Andreas Zumach is all for "open competition for appointments to international positions" but is mystified by the Russian government's decision to nominate Tosovsky as candidate. "Does Moscow really believe that, despite all his professional qualifications, Tosovsky has even the slightest chance of winning the election by 185 IMF states, particularly given that the Czech government doesn't support his candidacy ?... Nonetheless, Tosovsky's candidacy could encourage men or women from other southern countries who have the necessary qualifications and are interested in the IMF position - for example South Africa's Finance Minister Trevor Manuel - to run for the post. Only then would there be a chance of ending the conspiracy between Brussels and Washington which has ensured that so far the position of head of the IMF has always gone to an EU candidate and the position of president of the World Bank has always gone to the US."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Fiscal Policy, » Tax Policy, » Czech Republic, » Russia, » Global
Europe on a peace mission in the Middle East?
In response to UN Secretary General Kofi Anan's proposal to deploy a multinational security force to Lebanon, Andreas Zumach points out that a moEurope and the Middle Eastnitoring force has already been stationed there for many years. "To de-escalate the current conflict, it would be necessary to quickly deploy a robust UN force not only to southern Lebanon, but also to both sides of the Lebanese-Israeli border. This troop's task should be not only to monitor Hizbullah's weapons stockpile and to prevent further missile attacks against Israel, but also to prevent further military actions and attacks by Israeli forces against Lebanese territory."Europe's peace plans for the Middle East
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Middle East
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