"No matter who ends up winning this film festival feud – and at the moment things are looking good for Venice – the clash with Rome is still bad news," writes Susan Vahabzadeh. "For sure, competition gives the business a boost, but even if Rome does end up giving Venice a higher profile and more cinematographic credit, money is in short supply in Venice. It needs a new festival palace, and now that there's another applicant for the little funding available, all hopes of a quick way out of its financial plight have evaporated. But for now the Venetians have declared a film war on their competitors. Rome won't be able to match the programme put together by Marco Müller, in his third year as director of the festival. Müller has concocted a potent mixture of exciting, big films and cinematographic rarities – and there's plenty of Hollywood glamour, too." (30/08/2006)

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In an interview conducted by Giussepina Manin, Davide Croff, president of the Venice Biennale, doesn't seem to fear competition from the Rome festival. "Our strength lies first of all in the absolute originality of the linguistic melting pot that the Mostra represents, a unique example with world-wide authority. Both intuitive idea of film as art and the idea of a review/show-case were born here in the 1930s. All the other festivals, Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, were modelled on us, the festival in Rome too. Its birth does not bother us. There is no conflict between us, only healthy emulation." (30/08/2006)

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"Nowadays an extensive programme that includes a generous sprinkling of Hollywood premieres is part and parcel of an A-rated festival like Venice," Dominik Kamalzadeh writes. "Now that it's facing a well-endowed rival, the Venice festival is even more dependent on this strategy. A film festival will be held for the first time in Rome this October, and Nicole Kidman has already agreed to be there. For its part Venice has long been struggling with infrastructure problems. The cinemas are old and the festival palace was temporarily flooded after a storm last year. Rome, on the other hand, has a brand new auditorium designed by star architect Renzo Piano. Marco Müller, director of the Venice festival, is a skilled lobbyist and his only trump card now is the festival's illustrious reputation. But at least this year it looks like the Venice festival, with its high-carat programme, will win the battle." (30/08/2006)

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"Italy itself has just slipped a mine beneath the fragile feet of the venerable Mostra. The latter was already having to battle against all sorts of competition. This time it finds itself facing an unexpected rival on its own turf," writes Thierry Jobin. "The Mostra has already had all the difficulty in the world maintaining, in a Berlusconian context, its 10 million euro budget of which a quarter is now derived from private sources. Rome, meanwhile, struts its stuff. Right from it's first year, the RomaCinemaFest has disposed of financing, essentially private, almost equivalent to that of Venice. Above all, it will circulate in a brand new auditorium built by the Italian architect Renzo Piano. In these conditions, the idea of this new festival, launched by the left-wing mayor Walter Veltroni to spruce up his capital, appears as a strike of genius. One which is mobilising all Italian cinema, while Mostra pales in comparison." (30/08/2006)

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The Indian economist, Amartya Sen, winner of the 1998 Nobel prize in economics, writes about increasing scepticism concerning the concept of multicultural society in Europe. He wants to dispel confusion between "cultural freedom, a fundamental element of all societies and the defence and celebration of all forms of cultural heritage, without seeking to know whether the individuals concerned would actually chose these practices if they were able to examine them from a critical angle. Properly understood, cultural freedom is to know how to resist systematically accepting past traditions when individuals can see why they should change their way of life. In Great Britain, a young woman from a conservative family of immigrants would like to go out with a young English-man, she makes a virtually irreproachable choice in terms of cultural freedom. However, her family's attempt to prevent her is hardly a multicultural reaction, as it shows a desire to maintain cultures in isolation from one another." (30/08/2006)

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The Spanish socialist and European deputy Luis Yanez-Barnuevo defends the commemoration carried out by the relatives of the victims of Franco's repression. "Some people, not necessarily with bad intentions, are opposed to the revival of the memory of the victims of Franco's regime. They fear that stirring up the past will add to the division once again of contemporary Spanish society. However, as in Germany and in France, the past catches up with one and makes one pay for one's mistakes if one doesn't deal with them in the right manner. In addition, when the issue is a good cause, which is obviously the case here, its defence is a moral imperative. Tens of thousands of families were not able to grieve their dead at the time. Has the time not come, 70 years on, for them to finally do so ? If not, when?" (30/08/2006)

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Miroslav Kusy, a Slovak political expert, warns that there could be a sharp rise in the number of anti-Hungarian attacks in the country, saying that every attack should therefore be publicly condemned. "Of course, Prime Minister Fico can't react to everything, but his reactions tell us what his priorities are." Kusy points out that Fico's remark that incidents like the attack on a student of the Hungarian minority happen all over the world won't improve the situation. Nor will the calls on the media to keep quiet about such incidents. "We must put an end to the wave of ethnic hate fuelled by the Slovak National Party's government participation as soon as possible, if necessary without the help of the President, the Prime Minister and his government. But it would be easier, quicker and more effective if they were to help, especially in view of the fact that their government programmes declare their commitment to maintaining friendly relations with Hungary and conducting a balanced nationality policy." (30/08/2006)

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The number of racist attacks against members of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia is rising. But according to Sandor Revesz, few people are openly xenophobic or violent. However, he points out that nationalism – a breeding ground for extremism – is very widespread: "Only a few Slovak football fans hold up banners saying 'Death to all Hungarians!' but many think it's not normal that there are Slovak citizens who are not Slovaks. Only a few Hungarian football fans hold up banners saying 'Hungarians in Slovakia, hold in there!', but many perceive it as strange that areas which are mostly inhabited by Hungarians do not belong to Hungary. There is an enormous gap between the individual bloodthirsty, chauvinistic monsters and the mass of quietly grumbling, passive nationalists. But there are many touchpoints between the two,... and they have the same roots." (30/08/2006)

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On Monday the Polish daily "Zycie Warszawy" published an article accusing Jacek Kuron – a former leading dissident and "Solidarnosc" activist – of having negotiated with the communist secret police. These "revelations" by a young historian at Poland's Institute of National Remembrance are being touted in newspapers as further evidence of a revisionist policy which, with allegations of collaboration with the secret police, calls into doubt the achievements of important figures of the recent past. Lech Walesa comments on the accusations in an interview with Maciej Sandecki: "Kuron was acting under my orders. Around 20 people were involved in the talks back then, including Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Back then we would have negotiated with the devil himself if we had thought it would help us in our fight for freedom. Only someone who never knew the system would describe the documents which have now come to light as 'sensational'. He should go to Cuba or North Korea and try to oust the communists there. Then he would see what you're up against." (29/08/2006)

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Since being nominated Prime Minister at the beginning of July, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, twin brother of the Polish President, has had a rather turbulent relationship with the EU. He was interviewed by Jurek Kuczkiewicz on the eve of his departure for Brussels where he is carrying out his first visit abroad this Wednesday August 11th. Jaroslaw Kaczynski brings up Poland's current bad image. "I think that if there are misunderstandings, they should be cleared up. (...) There is indeed a problem, but I don't know if this is a subject to be discussed with representatives of the European Union. The subject of Poland's image is a subject taken up by the press and the press in our country is free. I hope that those in charge of the EU are well informed of Polish issues, in which case there is no need to discuss this with them." (30/08/2006)

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"Greece's education system has been in crisis, much in the manner of the naked emperor: Everyone could see the crisis was coming, but no one pointed a finger," complains Nikos Xydakis in the Greek daily. "The education system has since the 1990s, if not earlier, been stripped of all sense of vision and direction. The only consistent program has been the one setting up departments which offer exotic specializations with no career prospects. Poor, inconsistent and flawed, our education policy has been reduced to a lifeless mish-mash consisting of political self-interest and public expectation - served with a weak and directionless production base. The failure of our education policy is a political failure to lead the country into the future and, above all, a failure to grasp the significance of knowledge capital today." (30/08/2006)

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Roland Rudd, chairman of Business for New Europe Group (BNE), a pressure group calling for further integration, urges the government to continue its open door policy when Bulgaria and Romania are due to enter the EU in 2007:"It is true that one cannot wholy concentrate on the benefits of migration without recognising that there are costs. Yet economic history and the example of history should be our guide in this debate. Advocates of immigration should take comfort in the overwhelming majority of the research, which illustrates net benefits. One study suggests that a 1 per cent population increase through migration triggers a 1.5 per cent increase in GDP (...) In contrast to the ugly caricature depicted by some quarters, few claim welfare benefits, with only 1.3 per cent applying for income support and job-seekers allowance." (30/08/2006)

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Western European countries estimate that around four million Romanians currently work – legally or illegally – in the EU, many of them in Hungary. Like several other EU states, Hungary is now considering introducing provisional regulations for Romanian workers to prevent a massive influx. Zoltan Szabo Tibori comments: "Romanian workers are qualified and willing to do much more overtime than other Europeans. They are even more hard-working than the Polish, and top the list in this respect. Most Western European countries fear that once Romania has joined, even more Romanian workers will pour into Western Europe. However experts say these fears are unfounded, and that those who wanted to come to the West did so long ago." (29/08/2006)

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Pierre Haski tries to clarify what is meant by the expression 'Web 2.0' in an editorial. "'2.0' is THE current buzzword, even if the concept has as many definitions as internet users, which means an awful lot. (...) We are living in a time of total interactivity, collaborative systems and community sites generated by users. This is the real Internet revolution, which isn't just a simple pipe-line for facilitating the transmission of data, but also a new way of exchanging, sharing and living in society. (...) The Web 2.0 marks the end of the stumbling first steps of the web, the beginning of a more finished, rounded universe. Even if technology is accelerating and generating new concepts so fast that there is already talk of ' Web 3.0'. Hang on tight, it has only just begun." (30/08/2006)

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Boria Hermoso delights in the Spanish release of the film 'Alatriste' on September 1st. The film is about the exploits of Diego Alatriste, the famous swash-buckler hero created by the Spanish writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte. "The talent inscribed in Pérez-Reverte's pages (Over 5 million issues sold around the world.) Agustin Diaz Yanes' direction and the cast (...), as well as the quantity of dollars spent and the advertising ingenuity, all mean that this film will become a turning-point in the way films are made in this country and, as a consequence, in the heart of the Spanish film industry, which has expressed reservations concerning the project." (30/08/2006)

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