In his speech Hollande explained that he wanted to address German calls for a political union. According to the liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera this is a ploy by Hollande to find out how serious Germany really is about deepening EU integration: It's a radical change of course in French policy. In keeping with the old tradition of [French ex-president] Charles De Gaulle, France has so far shown reluctance to follow Germany politically on the path to EU integration. For the Élysée the measures for saving the euro took priority and as far as Paris was concerned Berlin's solemn words about the United States of Europe were mainly aimed at sidestepping concrete questions (on euro bonds or the banking union). The 'political union' remained a foreign concept for Hollande; he preferred to use the vague phrase 'community integration' instead. Now however France apparently wants Germany to lay its cards on the table. Do you really want a union? We do." (17/05/2013)

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Who's saying what » Hollande under pressure

With his package of measures Hollande is maneuvering himself into a corner, the conservative daily Lidové noviny writes: "With the exception of the elites in France and Southern Europe, no one shares Hollande's ideas. Most of these, particularly on the subject of euro bonds, stand in direct contrast to Germany's interests. This isn't about European ideals, but about a fierce political battle over whether Europe will be more German or more French. For the French this is dangerous, even if they manage to push through their ideas. Once they pushed for the introduction of the euro in return for Germany's reunification, in the hopes of curbing Berlin's economic strength. However the exact opposite was the result." (17/05/2013)

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Who's saying what » Hollande under pressure

François Hollande has once again failed to make the best of a good opportunity, the conservative daily Le Figaro writes with an eye to the second major press conference of the president's term in office: "It's not enough to talk about businesses for them to start creating jobs, nor to praise entrepreneurs for them to stay in the country. ... Apart from that, nothing new. It reminds one of those soldiers in operettas who go on and on singing 'Let's march! Let's march!' with their manly voices, all the while staying firmly rooted on the spot. ... Still more vague promises of cutbacks; a European diversionary tactic subjected to the will of Madame Merkel; huge public investments financed through loans. ... As long as the same causes go on having the same effects, who can believe for a moment that catastrophe can be avoided?" (16/05/2013)

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Who's saying what » Hollande under pressure

No matter how many initiatives Holland comes up with, the first thing he has to do is fight the recession, the liberal daily Phileleftheros admonishes: "Zero growth means zero possibilities to reduce the extremely high unemployment. The number of jobless in France has exceeded the three-million mark - a record in the past 15 years. How should this situation be dealt with? Hollande is calling for an end to the austerity policy that has been introduced to bring the crisis under control. But apart from that, he's not doing enough to achieve this end. France's weak - and for many people bloodless - stance when decisions are made in the EU is not particularly helpful in this regard. To fight the recession you don't need words, but deeds. But so far that seems to be asking too much of Hollande." (16/05/2013)

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Who's saying what » Hollande under pressure

Bulgaria's ex-prime minister Boiko Borisov wants to challenge the results of the parliamentary elections held on May 12 and schedule new elections once again. He explained his decision on Thursday saying that serious violations of regulations took place the day before the vote. In view of the deadlock with two equally-sized blocs on the left and the right, new elections are indeed the best option for the country, the daily Standart writes: "Independently of whether one approves of Borisov's initiative, new elections are in fact the only solution. ... A government comprised of socialists, nationalists and the Turkish party [the three strongest parties after Borisov's Gerb] would be unacceptable. Why does everyone, including our European custodians, believe that we should subject ourselves to such a perversity? Is it really necessary for everyone to come to power just so that a government can be formed at all costs? That is clearly no solution, and we should steer clear of this option before it's too late." (16/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Georgi Daskalov

Germany announced this week that it is abandoning its plans to build Euro Hawk drones. The public radio broadcaster Deutschlandradio Kultur demands that someone claim responsibility for the millions that have already been wasted on the project: "It sounds like a major cock-up. Five surveillance drones were to be built for the German military at a total cost of 1.2 billion euros, half of which has already been paid to construct the first sample, and then it turns out that this ill-starred bird won't even get a permit for European airspace because its US manufacturer isn't willing to let the authorities take a peek at its hi-tech cards. ... Several hundred million euros. Such an astronomic sum has to be repeated again and again. Particularly in view of the German government's policy statement [on Thursday] on the reform of the armed forces. A reform that is being justified with the need to cut spending. ... If no one assumes political and personal responsibility and bears the consequences, this will send a fundamentally wrong message to the soldiers, the representatives of the people, and all of us." (16/05/2013)

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After four days of hearings, the Munich trial of the extreme right-wing terror cell NSU has been recessed for three weeks over Pentecost. Until now the legal content of the trial has not been addressed, as the proceedings have been dominated by applications and other formalities. Much rides on the trial for Germany, the left-leaning daily Pravda comments: "The trial is a test of how effectively the Germans have come to terms with the Nazis' ghastly deeds since World War II. Until now the democratic model of the Federal Republic has been upheld as exemplary around the world. ... But with the revelations over the NSU, many people have lost their faith in the constitutional state and are shocked that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution worked hand in hand with right-wing extremists. The judges can't answer all the questions.  Until now they haven't given the impression that they're in control of the situation. And [with its numerous applications] the defence is currently making the trial look like a big circus." (17/05/2013)

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The Latvian parliament is currently giving a second reading to a draft law that would ban the public use of symbols from both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. These continue to show up in independent Latvia, above all in demonstrations. The Russian-language daily Vesti is unhappy with the initiative: "Clearly the Latvian members of parliament have nothing better to do. They waste their precious time and taxpayers' money on this question. ... The national-conservative party Nacionālā apvienība, which is part of the governing coalition, even wants to ban the use of Soviet symbols in public. Well, what about public toilets? Or will the Latvian nationalists go even further and ban Soviet symbols in private homes? Who knows, perhaps some people in this country take disloyalty to the point of sleeping with a Soviet flag under their pillows and singing the Soviet anthem to rock themselves to sleep." (17/05/2013)

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Without the EU the British won't be able to compete in the globalised world, sociologist Ulrich Beck insists in the left-liberal daily El País: "Let's say the Eurosceptics get their way and the country withdraws from the EU. Would this give the British a stronger sense of identity? Would they have more sovereign to decide their own affairs? No! In fact it's pretty certain that the Scottish and the Welsh would stay in the EU. So the consequence would be the division of the United Kingdom. And Great Britain - no, England! - would lose a considerable portion of its sovereignty if you define sovereignty as the power to exert influence on one's own affairs and the decisions of others. The way I see it, the historical situation is crystal clear: the European Union is in a far better position to defend national interests than each nation on its own could ever be. And therefore we must campaign to have this view prevail in Europe." (17/05/2013)

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Who's saying what » Cameron flexes his muscles

The base interest rate has been at a historic low of 0.5 percent since the beginning of May. This means an aggressive redistribution of wealth and income, the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung angrily comments: "Thanks to the ECB, savers are getting a yield of just half a percent. But even that is being eaten away by inflation, and on top of everything else rising prices are nibbling away at capital. ... The politicians and central banks are perfectly willing to accept this cold-blooded expropriation of the savers and life insurance policy holders because they want to help over-indebted states through the zero-interest policy. So while those who are putting away money to make provisions for their old age are forced to watch their promised pensions melt away like snow in the sun, debtor states are happily taking out new loans because the money is so cheap. ... In future the ECB will make sure that in the Eurozone money is redistributed from the creditors to the debtors." (17/05/2013)

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A British parliamentary committee on Thursday questioned Google's head of operations in Northern Europe, Matt Brittin, regarding the company's controversial tax-avoidance strategies. Other international companies are also facing accusations of bamboozling tax authorities. The conservative daily The Times calls for new rules in the fight against international tax avoidance: "There is growing public anger at the disclosure of how little corporation tax companies such as Google and Amazon pay on their large and very successful businesses in Britain. And rightly so. ... Part of the problem is that international rules governing cross-border taxation have not kept up with technological change. This means it is possible for multinationals to structure themselves in a way that allows them to make absurd claims about where they do their online business for tax purposes." (16/05/2013)

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Who's saying what » Europe fights tax evasion

For the first time ever, scientists in the US have successfully cloned human stem cells to create genetically identical embryos. The medical applications must be the driving force behind this research, and politicians must keep a watchful eye on the process, the state-run liberal Wiener Zeitung urges: "Not all cultures see it as a sin that Adam was tempted by Eve into biting the apple of knowledge. Our insatiable curiosity has without doubt opened up ever new horizons for us humans. ... So insisting on bans is not a realistic or sensible reaction to the great promises held out by genetic research. But the goal must be to realise the dream of healing illnesses that have hitherto been incurable and to prevent the nightmare of human clones. For the politicians this means maintaining a flexible legal framework for this morally precarious research. ... They must not close their eyes to the possibilities, but view this research with a healthy dose of scepticism and bear in mind that our curiosity can also be our undoing." (16/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Walter Hämmerle

Plans for the Polish music band Bracia Figo Fagot to give a performance at the university in Poznan next week have triggered a discussion about racism in Poland. Twenty-five academics called in the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza for the band's show to be cancelled because their lyrics insult the Roma. The appeal has so far gone unheard - and this is just the tip of the iceberg, the paper believes: "Does this mean that in the view of the organisers it's okay for people to have fun with songs that insult minorities? Sociological studies show that Poles still have a problem with accepting Roma, Jews and blacks. The lower their level of education, the greater their distrust vis-à-vis foreigners. ... There have been negative Roma stereotypes in Poznan in the past. But this doesn't make the city any more xenophobic than other Polish cities. It's just that here there are a handful of courageous individuals who are protesting against such attitudes. It's just a pity that this is only happening here - and that it's just a handful." (17/05/2013)

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The Catholic Church in Belgium put out its report on compensating victims of abuse on Wednesday. After years of denial, finally a first step towards more openness and transparency has been taken, the liberal daily Le Soir writes: "The Church still has a long path ahead of it. The arrival of the new and likeable Pope Francis has not yet rid it of its secrecy and blockades. ... At least for the moment, the transparency of the Belgian Church is balm to the wounds of the victims, and society as a whole. But the Church leaders who are concerned about how their congregations are thinning out - above all because of the growing loss of trust after the abuse scandals - must do more to make the Church modern and credible. Only in this way can they regain the faith of followers who have been put off by the Church's silence and dogmatic denials." (16/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Marc Metdepenningen

A Finnish couple was freed at the beginning of May after being held as hostages for five months in Yemen. In view of the fact that the rescue cost Finnish taxpayers roughly half a million euros, the liberal daily Pohjalainen wonders whether those rescued shouldn't be made to foot part of the bill: "The Foreign Ministry provides constantly updates on the most far-flung regions where it's better not to travel. A welfare state like Finland helps its nationals who encounter emergencies abroad with all the means at its disposal, and that's only right. But it's interesting to ask how much people themselves are to blame for the problems they find themselves in. ... In certain situations, it might not be a bad idea to think about whether it makes sense to have people pay some of the cost of their rescue. Perhaps that would make them think twice before heading off on wild adventures." (17/05/2013)

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Football star David Beckham announced on Thursday that he will retire from professional football at the end of the season. During a football career that spanned more than 20-years, the English player had 115 caps for England, winning the English, Spanish and French championship titles and the Champions League. For the conservative daily The Daily Telegraph Beckham was far more than just a good player: "He was the incarnation, for good and ill, of modern football: a man who could single-handedly drag his country into a World Cup with a last-minute free kick, but doom its chances in an earlier tournament with a petulant foul; a savvy businessman who earned more from brand extensions than he did for kicking a ball; an icon who became so famous that he played a significant role in persuading the International Olympic Committee to give London the 2012 Games." (16/05/2013)

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