"Clouds are gathering over Turkey's march to the EU", writes the daily. "The report [of the European Parliament] does indeed underline the progress, but also reveals 'persistent breaches' in the fields of religious freedom, freedom of speech, union rights and the police. It reaches much further than the European Commission's reports and goes as far as condemning the murder of Father Andréa Santoro, an Italian catholic priest assassinated last February. European deputies are also pleading for journalists, such as Hrant Dink and Perihan Magden, who are being sued for anti-constitutional remarks and for having defended conscientious objection. They are also hastening Turkey's 'normalization' of relations with Cyprus, allowing its boats to shore in Turkish ports and by giving Cyprus the benefit of the customs union. Finally, just as they had done in 2005, the European deputies are asking Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, as a prerequisite of its inclusion in the UE." (06/09/2006)

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Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger can't envisage how "the story of Turkey's great wish to join the EU could have a happy ending." He says the Turkish government has lost its desire for reform and the people in EU countries are against Turkey joining the EU in any case. "But this would be like a gigantic insult. Why is there no attempt to find interim solutions, as already proposed in the German discussion paper arguing for a new kind of European politics in relation to our neighbour countries? The European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has now condemned the developments in Turkey vociferously and conspicuously enough – and has posed questions that should have been brought up before the start of the membership negotiations. Coming up retrospectively with new entry criteria is an admission of previous political cowardice and is simply dishonest. But by the same token it is appalling that a would-be member country refuses to recognise a full member, Cyprus. At some point people will have to confront the problem that Turkey as a full member is a utopian dream – and a bad one." (06/09/2006)

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Undeterred by the European Parliament report, Michael Moravec remains convinced that the country belongs to Europe. "There's no justification for elitist distaste about the situation with comments like 'that kind of country has no place in the EU.' If people really care about the women forced into marriage, the writers in prison and the Kurdish minority, they should use the pressure of the EU admission negotiations to effect changes – even if it takes a long time. What will happen if Turkey turns eastward and radical Islamists take power? We can imagine what this would mean for women's rights and freedom of opinion. And in economic terms, there is absolutely no argument against Turkey joining the EU. It's a country with nearly 80 million people and a population with an average age the EU can only dream of. Turkey offers a market and a good location for production, and plenty of workers for the time when labour power will be a scarce commodity in the EU." (06/09/2006)

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The Franco-Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun returns to the confessions of the German author Günther Grass, who revealed last month that he was enlisted in the Waffen SS at the age of 17. "Sometimes a migraine results from a psychological vexation. This has just happened to Günther Grass who had an obscured memory engraved in the depths of his brain. It had remained hidden for 60 years, re-emerging when the author was writing his memoirs. Normally the most frequent danger that comes with age is Alzheimers. With the German author, it is more a case of anti-Alzheimer. His memory over-flowed and memories came out of their hiding places without asking for permission. Unless he coldly decided to tell what he had always meticulously repressed and wiped off his youth." (06/09/2006)

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French political scientist Samï Naïr, specialist of the Mediterranean world, pays homage to the Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize for literature who died on August 30th, at the age of 94. "To get an idea of his writing, imagine a mixture of Balzac and Clarin, of Zola and Dickens. With, in the back-ground, the universe of 'A Thousand and One Nights', the epic force of the Old Testament, the New Testament's love of one's neighbour, inserted and surpassed into his Koranic faith - a human, tolerant Koran, open to the arts and sciences. ... Mahfouz was the great Egyptian writer of the 20th century. Tolerant Egypt will mourn him as its lost conscience, its bard, and its most profound cultural guide, most profound, because most authentic. With Oum Kalsoum, the divine singer, he represented a certain idea of the Arab world, warm, welcoming and still haunted by the times of the great epics." (05/09/2006)

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The daily arraigns Brussels for its inertia facing the massive arrival sub-Saharan immigrants on the Spanish coasts. "The European Union has a duty to intervene in this daily tragedy that is unfolding on its frontiers. ... The southern border of Spain is the most 'non-egalitarian' in the world: It is the one that that rubs together, allowing for the Mediterranean, two groups of countries that are the most separated by material riches in the world. For this very reason, there is little chance that the flow of migrations should dry up on its own or with the magic of some hypothetical maritime 'Maginot line' [a line of demarcation that proved ineffectual during WWII], that we would leave for Spain or Italy to establish along their coasts. To organise a real political dialogue with the countries at the origin of this immigration, help them to organise the development of their economies is, as every one knows, the only way of treating this issue. Every one knows, apart from, it would seem, the European Union." (06/09/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Migration, » Europe

The Danish police has arrested nine men who are accused of planning a terrorist attack. The suspects lived in Vollsmose – a notorious suburb of Odense with a migrant population of 80 per cent. Eight of the men arrested are of migrant origin, while the ninth is a Dane who converted to Islam. The Danish daily paper expresses shock. "Many people scoffed at the tone of the Danish debate on foreigners and described it as brutal and merciless with regard to the country's Muslim minority. The fact is that this debate shows that a kind of normal situation is emerging in which people don't make special allowances for somebody just because he or she has a foreign background. But we should certainly never accept the growing radicalisation that can be seen in some migrant circles… It is easy for people to say they have nothing to do with terrorism, but we also have to combat verbal extremism when it expresses hate of Western values, which can be interpreted all too easily as a direct or indirect call to engage in violence and terrorism." (06/09/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » Denmark

One of Mussolini's grandsons is asking for the body of the 'Duce' to be dug up in order to elucidate the circumstances of his death. According to History books, The Duce was captured and executed by Italian partisans on April 28th, 1945. The Italian journalist and writer Giorgio Bocca opposes this request. "The Duce's body was fascism, it would have been something quite different ... The request for the exhumation of a corpse useless and stupid. It does not matter if the Duce was shot in front of the railings of a villa on the Come lake or if he died naked in his bedroom where he had just spent his last night. This grandson of the Duce, Guido, having reached retirement age, still has not understood why Italians, us 'dirty partisan pigs', could have killed his grandfather who was the father of the nation, the most handsome, the most powerful and the most adored of the time of our youth." (06/09/2006)

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Political scientist and historian Frantisek Chovanec takes a critical look at the Slovakian National Party (SNS), the extreme right wing member in the governing coalition in Slovakia. "There are lots of reasons why we can't regard the SNS as a normal party that can make a contribution to the stability of the political system. The classical reasons include its attacks on minorities and the lack of a positive programme. But what matters most is that the party compromises national thought and patriotism, which it distorts in a vulgar and dangerous direction. The SNS stands symbolically for Slovakia's small size and historical complexes. ... The other parties that profess conservatism like the SNS have to convince SNS voters and sympathisers that genuine national interests can't be achieved with strong words and verbal attacks. They have to reaffirm the idea that Hungarian history is an inseparable part of our history and has had a thoroughly positive impact." (06/09/2006)

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With the approach of the next communal elections, the Vlaams Belam (extremist Flemish party) has chosen to present some 5,000 candidates in 250 communes. Thus it intends to reinforce itself for the legislative elections in 2007. "The Vlaams Belang wants to succeed in doubling its number of communal advisors by reaching a figure of 1,500 representatives", relates the daily. "The breaking of the safety rope [agreement of democratic parties preventing the forming of coalitions with non-democratic parties] is no longer an objective for the party". The extreme right-wing party is preparing itself for a 13th electoral victory in a row. On paper, nothing appears able to prevent it”. (06/09/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Belgium

"Vladimir Poutine, paid a visit to Athens yesterday, [Monday, September 4th]. Long enough to sign an historical agreement and to negotiate his participation in Greece's purchasing of weapons. The head of the Russian State has set up, with the Greeks and the Bulgarians, an oil pipe-line linking the Black Sea and the Aegean sea", explains Giannis Christodoulaki. According to him, Russia, which should possess the majority of the shares in the consortium charged with the building and management of this oil-line, also has other views on Greece. 'It wants to enter the arms race, like in the United States, France and Germany who covet the 3.2 billion euros that Greece must spend on arms. After the competition between Rafales fighter planes and Eurofighters, the Russians now wish to sell their Sukhois with Italian motors and their new missiles. Vladimir Poutine has made no secret of it by announcing that he wanted to be part of arms spending 'as well'." (04/09/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Greece, » Russia

Sweden has been shocked by a spying scandal in the election campaign. For months the opposition People's Party had access to the governing Social Democrats' internal network, and used this to get important information about their rival's election campaign strategy. Today the general secretary of the People's Party, Johan Jakobsson, announced his resignation. The Stockholm daily paper, which has been urging a change of government for weeks, expresses disappointment. "There was a time when Swedish politics was about research, broadband and export opportunities. Now the election campaign is being dominated by yet another data security scandal that is turning the debate on the future into a side issue. Voters are getting no answers as to how Sweden is supposed to match up in the global economy and become one of the world's most attractive countries for investment and talent. It is a matter of doubt whether these topics will come back on the agenda before election day." (06/09/2006)

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"The prime minister's long-held hope, repeated in his 'Times' interview last week, that he would be able to remain in office until a moment of his own choosing next year, but without saying anything explicit about his intentions, is now simply unsustainable. A cascade of developments yesterday subverted Mr Blair's already weakened position still further." The daily goes on to list these developments : the leak of "the memorandum prepared by an aide earlier this year planning the PM's Pavarotti-style farewell tour. ... Labour MPs from the 2001 and 2005 intakes are beginning to tell Mr Blair to quit. … David Miliband, had to go on the 'Today' programme yesterday and invoke the 'conventional wisdom' that Mr Blair will now be gone in 12 months. ... The spiral of events is poised to destroy not just the prime minister but the longer-term credibility of the Labour government he will leave behind." (06/09/2006)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » United Kingdom

Interviewed by Luc Caregari, Hugo de Greef, general secretary of the European Festivals Association (EFA), looks back at the founding of this organisation in 1952, in Switzerland. "One of the first aims was to show one culture that of another, to establish the first ties after a barbaric period when no one thought about a European culture any longer. And then, during the Cold War, our mission expanded. We have always had members from Russia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Romania, countries situated behind the iron curtain, which thanks to our organisation could still keep in touch and exchange culture with those on the other side. And even after the collapse of the wall, we did not change our policy. During the war in the Balkans, the EFA continued to support its members over there. But the last step was taken in 2002, by our move to Belgium. This brings us closer to European cultural policy." (01/09/2006)

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In an interview with Bronislaw Tumilowicz, the graphic artist Waldemar Swierzy, co-founder of the Polish School of Poster Design, complains, "The Polish poster is dead. The culprits are advertising, commerce and new technologies. This applies not only to posters but also generally to the entire field of art for everyday use. Today every PC owner is convinced that he can do anything, for example graphic design, logos, ads and posters. But the results are worthless - they don't make an impact when you look at them. There are old posters people still remember today because they were so suggestive. But we hardly carry away anything from the visual advertising we see today." (04/09/2006)

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All available articles from » Waldemar Swierzy

Coca-Cola was pretty hard to get in socialist Yugoslavia. The alternative from 1953 was 'Cockta' from Slovenia, a soft drink copy of Coke without the usual caffeine or phosphorus. After Slovenia became independent in 1991, people generally forgot the brown soft drink. But now it's enjoying a comeback. Barbara Rezek is delighted. "Cockta and Coca-Cola have almost the same market share in Slovenia. The new Cockta owner developed a fresh image in 2000 that harks back to the old brand and evokes a touch of nostalgia. ... Cockta is still popular. Its market share has now risen to 11 per cent and it's steadily catching up with the market leader, Coca-Cola. Cockta also has a bright future in the other parts of ex-Yugoslavia. In the past year Serbia alone imported more than ten million litres of the drink." (06/09/2006)

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Claudia Fromme considers the Germans' favourite snack, the döner kebab, which is suffering a crisis because of a current meat scandal. "According to the 'Handbook for Germany' published by the German government's Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, the Germans and the Turks love döners equally. The Germans consume almost 83 million kilogrammes of doner meat annually, making it a 'typical German snack'. And if you're still not convinced, consult Florian Langenscheidt. His collection of 250 things sacred to the German nation includes, 'Döner in flat bread. It is truly very German, as you can't find the variations with bread, salad and yoghurt sauce anywhere in Turkey. The home of the German doner is the district of Kreuzberg in Berlin. Legend has it that in 1971, 16-year-old Mehmet Aygün invented something totally crazy in Hasir, a Kreuzberg restaurant. He put the doner meat in a pastry case, added salad and poured yoghurt sauce over it to liven up the taste.” (06/09/2006)

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