Due to the fight between Belarus and Russia over energy, the 'Druzhba' (friendship) pipeline yesterday stopped delivering Russian oil to Poland. "We import practically 100 percent of our oil and two thirds of our gas from Russia", notes Jan Pinski. This dependency on one source is doomed to end badly. The halt to oil delivery shows that the whims of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko or the bad mood of Vladimir Putin can really damage Poland's economy... The true situation of Poland is comparable with Russian roulette. The chances of surviving are good, but if you lose, you're dead." (09/01/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Germany, » Poland, » Russia, » Europe

"Russia alone could not guarantee energy security, even if it wanted to", says Russia correspondent Katja Tichomirowa. She suggests that dependence on unstable energy proviers works like a chain. "Russia, too, is a consumer. It obtains oil and gas from the former Soviet suppliers Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. No one can predict what will play out there in the coming months. The government of Kazakhstan has just withdrawn. Turkmen autocrat Niyazov was just laid to rest. The new Russian self-confidence feeds on raw materials. But it has been a while since Russia could deliver enough to live up to its delivery obligations, even if its own imports are only temporarily interrupted. As we have seen, Russia can only reach individual agreements with its neighbours regarding its pipeline. Russia is no guarantor of energy security." (09/01/2007)

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All available articles from » Katja Tichomirowa

Teodor Marjanovic considers the complaints from Eastern Europeans about their dependency on Russian energy to be less than productive. "The Americans could also moan about their dependency on foreign raw materials. They, too, would prefer to be independent of the Arabs or of populists like the Venezuelan Hugo Chavez. It is the irony of the modern age that the west has no oil - as opposed to what we consider to be the non-democratic part of the world. And that is really damned unfair. ... But instead of constantly seeking alternative sources of energy, it would make more sense to pressure the oil producing countries to be more trustworthy and reliable." (09/01/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Trade, » Corporations, » Russia, » Europe, » Eastern Europe
All available articles from » Teodor Marjanovic

Political scientist Alina Mungiu-Pippidi believes Romania must seek alternatives to Russian energy, in view of the recent fights between Russia and Belarus. And the alternatives lie in France and Finland, which are focused on atomic energy. "An energy policy based on the unstable Caucasus or which depends on gas from the Balkans and oil from Kazakhstan is, in my view, no true alternative. Energy costs as well as political risks are high, and the dependency of these states is enormous. A really good energy policy should be based on an efficient industry and on resources for which one has to cross entire continents. It should be based on sun, water, wind and wood... But atomic energy, too, has to be seriously considered. In this respect, we should be making our decision based on a 21st century - not a 20th century - understanding." (09/01/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Trade, » Corporations, » Russia, » Europe
All available articles from » Alina Mungiu-Pippidi

James Lovelock, the British scientist and ecological pioneer, author of the 'Gaïa theory', warns against global warming and calls for ecological parties to be reasonable. "Today humanity is faced with the toughest challenge it has ever known. The current acceleration of climate change is going to sweep away the comfortable environment we are used to ... . Even if we cannot go back to the splendid time of 1800, when there was only one billion of us, we can still do something to limit the consequences of global warming ... . Politically I am on the side of the Greens, but above all I am a scientist. This is why I always ask my ecologist friends to reconsider their blind confidence in sustainable development and renewable energy. Before anything else, the Greens should give up their obstinate opposition to nuclear energy". (09/01/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Global
All available articles from » James Lovelock

George Mink, a professor at the Polish branch of the College of Europe (Natolin), explains in an interview conducted by Jean-François Verdonnet how Poland is facing up to its past. "Those in power owe their election to the demand for resolute 'decommunisation'. Poland was the first country in Eastern Europe to detach itself from the Soviet block. At the time, the way out was negotiated in exchange for a policy of clemency towards all those who had served the Communist regime. However, the terms of the agreement have now been denounced by the majority. The long-deferred process of 'lustration' is now defended by leaders who also use it to position themselves on the political scene. This is running the risk indicated a little while ago by Jacek Kuron, the former leader of the democratic opposition who compared lustration to a 'grenade thrown into a cess pit, splattering all around for a long time'." (09/01/2007)

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All available articles from » Georges Mink

Sociologist Andras Gerö judges, Hungarians may be passionate patriots, but as soon as concrete political consequences loom, they quickly steer clear. "It was a pragmatic step when Hungary decided in a referendum against granting citizenship to several million Hungarians from neighbouring countries. Their naturalization would have been complicated and costly... Emotionally, they identify with Hungarians living outside the country: the hymn of the Szeklers (Hungarians in Transylvania) is sung at mass rallies in Budapest; the Transylvanian cult is widespread in Hungary. The crown is generally adulated as a symbol of greater Hungary. ... The country lives in the illusion of a bourgeois nationalism. When it comes to reality, they are very rational, but emotion is missing. And on the other hand: the illusions with which they identify emotionally receive no political support." (05/01/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Society, » Hungary

The far-right parties represented in the European Parliament are due to meet this Tuesday, January 9th, in an attempt to reach an agreement allowing the creation of a political group. Twenty Members of Parliament from five member states are necessary for this, a condition that the far-right may well meet thanks to the recent arrival of Bulgarian and Romanian MPs. "It might feel disturbing to have such forces united within the European Parliament, but in so far as they exist, it is not a bad thing for them to be represented", writes Valentí Puig. "It is one of the paradoxes of the EU: those who are going to be the allies of the Great Romania Party within the European Parliament were radically opposed to Romania's EU accession, for fear of a migratory avalanche that we are familiar with in Spain. By forming a group, these forces will be able to benefit from the economic support that they were deprived of as individuals. Old and new European ghosts are dancing around the fire like the witches in 'Macbeth'." (09/01/2007)

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All available articles from » Valentí Puig

The Portuguese Member of the European Parliament Ana Gomes who is a member of the European Parliament inquiry commission concerned with CIA 'extraordinary rendition', the detention and transferral of prisoners in Europe, has triggered a polemic by evoking the probable transferral of prisoners via the American military base in Lajes situated in the Azores. José Vitor Malheiros takes her defence. "Ana Gomes is being harshly criticised for sharing suspicions without backing them up with proof and being anti-American. The notion that one cannot suspect without any proof is a curious one - all the more so when we are talking about a Member of European Parliament who is a member of an inquiry commission. ... An MP can and should investigate within the sovereign establishment to which they belong and is free to express suspicions at will. This is what Parliamentary immunity is for. The fact that certain MPs choose not to and prefer to twiddle their thumbs should not lead us to forget what their mission is." (09/01/2007)

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All available articles from » José Vítor Malheiros

After three months of negotiations, Austria is to get a grand coalition of Social Democrats (SPÖ) with the People's Party (ÖVP). SPÖ head Alfred Gusenbauer will be the chancellor - and a weak one, believes Michael Völker. "The ÖVP lost the elections and won the negotiations... By the time it took control of the administration, SPÖ already had broken nearly all the promises and announcements made during the election campaign. Admittedly, those election promises were greatly exaggerated, because of the apparently hopeless starting position, and they never really seemed possible. But that practically none of this found its way into the joint government programme is a serious handicap. ... Gusenbauer is starting his chancellorship with the heavy burden of broken election promises, with a practically laughable list of ministers and a government programme that is a particularly hard sell to SPÖ supporters." (09/01/2007)

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All available articles from » Michael Völker

The State Prosecutor is checking investigations of conservative Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on suspicion of corruption. Until taking up his current position, Bildt was on the board of governors of the Russian energy firm Wostock Nafta and received stock options as compensation. Those stocks yielded a profit of about a half million euros. The newspaper does not understand what the fuss is about. "It has been asserted that Bildt should have refused such options, in order preserve his independence regarding his earlier clients. That is short-sighted. Stock profits do not change Carl Bildt's relationship to businesses and to international policy. He has built his contacts over years, and will continue to maintain them after his term as foreign minister. These contacts are known - as are those of a Social Democratic government to unions. If Bildt's contacts influence his decisions, let's prove it. If they unexpectedly turn out to be a problem, then the entire government will have to deal with it." (09/01/2007)

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

Problems of exclusion, poverty and lack of housing have recently burst onto the French electoral campaign, thanks to several organisations struggling on behalf of the homeless. Noting this, the editorialist Denis Sieffert recommends reading the collective work entitled 'Invisible France', a book that "gives faces and stories back to the excluded, the expulsed and the dropouts, not all of whom are homeless. Needless to say, this book sheds light on recent events, on the way we rediscover the obvious before turning away from it. It also sheds light on the attitudes of politicians, that sort of panic that they are overcome by when television cameras fleetingly reveal the invisible. ... Seeing invisible France is not only seeing the poor, but the system that creates them too." (05/01/2007)

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All available articles from » Denis Sieffert

"Has the ETA [Basque separatist movement] wanted to imitate the IRA [Irish Republican Army], who, at a time when the political process was stuck, committed a bomb attack in the heart of London on February 9th, 1994, in order to twist the arm of the British Government?", wonders the editorialist Thierry Labro after the lethal attack perpetrated in Madrid last December 30th. "The point of view of the terrorists has yet to be communicated, but one thing is sure: by being forced to announce the freezing of the process, the Spanish Prime Minister actually brought it to a definite stand-still that will be difficult to go back on. ... Mr. Zapatero has little time and even less room to organise a vast, informed action plan - a political one - in order to isolate the ETA and demonstrate that the terrorist's theses do not stand a chance of triumphing. It is precisely at this point that the IRA put down its arms and was dissolved. There is hope yet." (09/01/2007)

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All available articles from » Thierry Labro

The editorialist Vincent Jaury concentrates on the fact that the British writer David Lodge dedicates a chapter to the biographical genre in his book 'The Year of Henry James: The Story of a Novel'. "For him, a keen observer of the literary world, it is obvious that the biographical novel, a recent genre, is today thriving at the heart of novelists' work. Now, whenever they take reality apart, they often find a famous person. Nowadays the novel, a flexible genre, not conforming to any specific form, always analysing itself, reconsidering its given forms, seeking a new identity, has increasingly come to integrate biography. ... David Lodge concludes that the biographical novel is on its way to becoming a major genre. Whether or not he is right, Lodge should be given credit for daring in his book 'The Year of Henry James: The Story of a Novel' to consider contemporary literary production ... . This is something rare and worth under-lining from a university professor, whose colleagues are all too often attached to fixed standards, that is to say, classics, which is to say the past." (01/01/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Global

"Is the Louvre about to sell its soul, and the soul of France, too?", asks Lothar Müller. The Paris museum has a controversial plan to build a branch in Abu Dhabi. Müller suspects the Louvre plan is linked to the sale of 40 Airbus jets to the Emirates. But he sees the move as strengthening France in a "cultural world war": "Anyone who wants to borrow high-quality collections has to lend out high-quality material. Conservators - natural opponents of circulation - always have mistrusted such concepts. Their suspicions have grown, as they see art exchanged for money instead of for more art... The cash flows into the Louvre, for construction and preservation of assets. The dilemma of the statement, 'Our artworks must circulate in the world', cannot be handled in this way. The only justification for such a statement is self-defence; it is not justifiable as a museum's platform. Because great museums - and the Louvre above all - only become great by withholding their collections from circulation." (09/01/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Culture, » France
All available articles from » Lothar Müller

"At last!", explains the British daily. "An end to that age-old quandary: milk first or tea first? The answer could not be simpler: no milk at all! That is the conclusion of German research published in 'European Heart Journal'. It suggests that adding milk to black tea (does anyone but a fool add milk to green tea?) blocks the beverage's famed cardiovascular benefits by eroding the healthy effects of the flavonoids in tea ... But should these new findings dishearten the nearly 80 per cent of Britons who among them drink 165 million cups of tea each day? ... In his essay, A Nice Cup of Tea, George Orwell purred about how tea made you feel 'wiser, braver and more optimistic'. The first response to any crisis, whether in Downing Street or The Royle Family [A TV series], is to put the kettle on. Tony Blair is never without a mug (or indeed one full of tea) when striving to appear a man of the people before a TV camera." (09/01/2007)

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