While Italy and the EU Commission have spoken out clearly in favour of endowing the permanent ESM crisis mechanism with more than 500 billion euros, Germany is hesitating. And quite rightly, the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments, calling for reforms to come before rescue loans: "Why must the 'eternal' euro crisis fund be increased if the Greeks, Irish, Portuguese, Spanish and Italians are all making huge cutbacks and reforming, as we constantly hear? With good reason Germany hesitates to go along with the demands for the ESM permanent crisis fund to be boosted to a trillion euros. The so far largely unsuccessful euro bailout policy doesn't exactly support the theory that the markets are impressed by high sums. ... The elites in Athens seem unwilling to dispense with their privileges and battle corruption and tax evasion. After all, the EU will pay even if Greece doesn't deliver. And who is under siege? Who is under pressure to provide 'more Europe'? The ECB and the solid EU states, first and foremost Germany." (25/01/2012)

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All available articles from » Holger Steltzner
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

A well endowed bailout fund is a prerequisite for further support from international partners, the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore writes, agreeing with IMF boss Christine Lagarde's demand: "Show me the money and I'll believe you. This kind of doubting Thomas demand is typical of the financial markets. Unfortunately it has become all the more urgent because of the EU's failure to keep its promises. Two months ago the political leaders announced that the volume of the EFSF bailout fund would grow to up to one billion thanks to leverage and other financial mechanisms. But not everyone can do the multiplying of bread and fish trick. The promise wasn't kept. Now the time for hard cash has come. If Europe wants the help of the IMF and the G20 - and it most certainly does - then it must demonstrate that Europe itself has already accomplished the most demanding financial feat." (25/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Europe, » Global
All available articles from » Alessandro Leipold
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

The Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter (ÖVP), spoke out against an extension of the ESM bailout fund on Monday, only to change her position on Tuesday with the comment that the extension was "conceivable" and "could meet with consensus". The constant wavering is detrimental to the EU, writes the liberal daily Der Standard: "It seems the Austrian government still believes it can hide the gravity of the situation behind half-truths and vague reassurances. But this strategy has been exposed and discredited at the very latest since the Greek fiasco, in which not a single promise has been honoured to this date. One rescue loan follows the next, while the chances of this money ever being repaid are nearing zero. The truly frightening thing is that by hiding the truth in this way the government not only undermines its own credibility - its domestic policy already takes care of that - but also erodes people's trust in the Union as a whole." (25/01/2012)

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All available articles from » Andreas Schnauder
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

France's Senate passed a law on Monday evening making it a crime to deny the genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Paris is unnecessarily provoking Ankara, writes the conservative daily Lidové noviny: "The passing of the law by the French Senate shows that France is not a major power. A truly great power would not make its foreign policy dependent on domestic considerations or upcoming elections. Europe needs balanced relations with Turkey, not mood-swings that in turn provoke moody reactions. ... France is among those countries that openly say that Turkey should not become a member of the EU. But Turkey is an influential and strategically important country with which a responsible, secure partnership must be built while recognising all the existing differences. Moralising laws, by contrast, could be very costly." (25/01/2012)

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All available articles from » Martin Weiss

In protest at the rising cost of diesel, motorway tolls and social security contributions, lorry drivers in Italy paralysed transport across large sections of the country on Tuesday. The liberal daily Tages-Anzeiger sees this and other planned strikes as a first major attack against Mario Monti's government: "But worse still is that this strike has laid bare the political isolation of technocrat Monti. His main weakness is his lack of political backing from society. The transport company lobby is not the only one to have realised this; other interest groups like the mafia and the populists of the Northern League or Italia dei Valori will challenge Monti with increasing frequency in future. If the major parties also start backing off, the miracle of the Monti government will soon be over. Monti urgently needs an economic success. This is also crucial if the monetary union is to be saved. Therefore the pressure on other EU countries, namely Germany, to honour Monti's reform drive and ease the austerity requirements is mounting." (25/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Italy
All available articles from » Luciano Ferrari
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

The Romanian President Traian Băsescu, who has remained practically silent on events in his country since the start of the protests on January 12, has announced he will make a statement today, Wednesday. The liberal-conservative daily Adevărul hopes the president will step down: "The government, the opposition and the people seem to be heading in three entirely different directions. ... The government seems to focus on the small number of demonstrators, whom it tries to appease with tidbits. The oppositions profits from the fact that the protesters have no leader. ... They simply adopt the slogans that suit them, like "Down with [Prime Minister] Boc", "Down with Băsescu!", but not the vehement call for a thorough purging of the political class. The only one who remains silent is President Băsescu. But he too must pay his dues, in his case with his two remaining years in office. ... Such an agreement could once more get Romanians back to the polling booths." (25/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Unrest / Riots, » Romania
All available articles from » Liviu Avram

The German intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, has more MPs belonging to the far-left Left Party under observation than had been known to the public, the news magazine Spiegel revealed on Sunday. The agency would have done better to focus its efforts on the right-wing extremists, the liberal daily Sme observes: "It's nothing new that the German secret service has politicians under observation. Nor is it news that it mainly monitors left-wing politicians. In this way it helped to have the Communist Party banned in the 1950s, in the 1960s it had the leftist student protest under observation and in the 1980s it focused on the Greens in the Bundestag. After reunification it turned its attention to the post-communist PDS, and now its successor, the Left Party. ... But the worst of it is that the agency has failed in its surveillance of the activities of the far right. It was 13 years before by pure chance a neo-Nazi trio was exposed that had murdered immigrants, robbed banks and carried out bomb attacks. This undermines the Germans' trust in the rule of law far more than any speeches made by left-wing politicians in the Bundestag." (25/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Weltanschauung, » Crime, » Germany
All available articles from » Miriam Zsilleová

In Egypt's first free parliamentary elections the Islamist parties have won right across the board, occupying roughly 70 percent of the 498 seats in parliament. Meanwhile the country's much touted revolutionary youth is barely represented. Egypt still has a long way to go before it can be considered a stable democracy, writes the daily Dagens Nyheter: "The EU and US must keep an eye on the military and the Islamists. Encroachments must be criticised, but as long as the general direction is acceptable support should be made available. Human rights, political and religious rights are the basis of a democracy. That only two percent of the new members of parliament are women raises questions. The military should be subjected to civil controls as quickly as possible. The friendly relations with neighbouring countries, including Israel, must be protected. Egypt has already made considerable progress. Now it is important that it sticks to the course it has started out on." (25/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Egypt
Who's saying what » Arabs fight for freedom

Following the EU's lead the US stepped up sanctions against Iran and froze Iranian assets in its banks on Tuesday. In an article published in the left-liberal daily El País, Bill Keller, former executive editor of the New York Times, warns against carelessly risking a war with Iran: "The point of tough sanctions, of course, is to force Iranians to the bargaining table. But the mistrust is so deep, and the election-year pressure to act with manly resolve is so intense, that it's hard to imagine the administration would feel free to accept an overture from Tehran. Anything short of a humiliating, unilateral Iranian climb-down would be portrayed by the armchair warriors as an Obama surrender. Likewise, if Israel does decide to strike out on its own, Bibi Netanyahu knows that candidate Obama will feel immense pressure to go along.That short-term paradox comes wrapped up in a long-term paradox: an attack on Iran is almost certain to unify the Iranian people around the mullahs and provoke the supreme leader to redouble Iran's nuclear pursuits, only deeper underground this time, and without international inspectors around. Over at the Pentagon, you sometimes hear it put this way: Bombing Iran is the best way to guarantee exactly what we are trying to prevent." (24/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » U.S., » Iran
All available articles from » Bill Keller

Amsterdam's Orthodox Jewish community has suspended chief rabbi Aryeh Ralbag after he described homosexuality as a disease. Sociologist Paul Scheffer calls in the liberal daily NRC Handelsblad for church and politics to adopt a clearer stance regarding such statements: "A tolerant stance cannot be one-sided. The right to religious freedom entails the responsibility to guarantee the same freedom for believers and non-believers alike. ... This reciprocity also applies to non-believers, who tend to banish religion to the private sphere. However religion is more than a private affair and belongs in the public sphere. ... Criticism of religion and religious freedom belong together. And it is particularly in safeguarding this openness that most political movements fail miserably. ... Orthodox piety calls for opposition, first from the liberals within the churches, synagogues and mosques. To live and let live requires commitment from politics, too. There is a lack of this at present, and this is why the open society is so unsure in its dealings with religion." (25/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Society, » Netherlands
All available articles from » Paul Scheffer

Greece is said to have falsified its deficit figures for 2009 under former prime minister Giorgos Papandreou, so as to remain eligible for aid from the euro bailout mechanism. The financial prosecutor Grigoris Peponis has filed charges against former leader Papandreou and ex-finance minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou with parliament. The conservative business paper Naftemporiki regrets the falsifications, which it says could seriously harm the country's credibility. "The word statistic comes from the Latin 'status', which refers to the state. When this science was established it focused on gathering data required by the state. In addition, this science registered other data, such as for instance surface area, population, productivity and other relevant figures, which those in power absolutely needed to know. ... Now Greece's politicians have been able to distort mathematical principles and discredit the country. Theory says, by the way, that no state can exist without correct and reliable data on the basis of which prognoses can be developed and rational decisions taken. Unfortunately we've known that for a long time." (25/01/2012)

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All available articles from » Nikos Frantzis
Who's saying what » Greece in dire straits

Key business players, experts and politicians from around the world gather today in the Swiss resort of Davos for the World Economic Forum. In addition to the official keynote topic of the economic power shift to the East and to the South, the repercussions of the euro crisis will take the limelight, writes the conservative daily The Times: "Europe is back in the centre of the stage. There is no more pressing and no more important economic question than finding a durable solution to the euro crisis. Though European politicians have taken tentative steps in the direction of such a solution, they have yet to find the answer. A disorderly break-up of the euro would have calamitous consequences for all the Davos delegates, no matter their country of origin. ... If any progress can be made towards solving the debt crisis, something good will have taken place in the snow." (25/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Financial Markets, » Economy, » Switzerland, » Global
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

The head of the ECB, Mario Draghi, took up his post three months ago in the midst of the European debt crisis. With one of his first acts in office Draghi has temporarily saved the euro, writes the liberal business paper Les Echos: "In particular the introduction of the Long Term Refinancing Operation shows that the novice has quickly become emancipated. This loan provided to European banks for three years at an interest rate of one percent is in fact unique. In view of its first results it seems to be very efficient. At the end of December 500 billion were pumped into the banking system in this way - a double success for Mario Draghi: by providing more oxygen for the ailing banks he has not only saved the continent from a catastrophe but also - at least for the time being - answered the tricky question of how the euro countries are to be financed." (25/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Banks, » Europe
All available articles from » François Vidal
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

The Polish director Agnieszka Holland was nominated for an Oscar for her film In Darkness on Tuesday. The left-liberal news portal Polityka Online is full of praise: "This is wonderful news and confirms that Polish cinema is getting better and better. After Angry Harvest and Europa, Europa this is Holland's third nomination for a film about the Holocaust. But she has reached her artistic peak here and hit the right note by placing the tragic story of the annihilation of the Jews on a broader basis than before. The war crimes were committed by different people driven by different motives. Naturally not all the words of praise should go to the director. Many highly creative Poles worked together on In Darkness. First of all Jola Dylewska should be mentioned - the camerawoman and creator of outstanding images." (25/01/2012)

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All available articles from » Janusz Wróblewski