The daily finds the results of the first round of the French elections reassuring because "supporters of the mainstream parties did not take first-round victory for granted - the complacency that contributed to the National Front's coup last time around. France treated this campaign with the seriousness it deserved. The turnout was the highest for a quarter of a century. As in the last major elections in Italy and Germany, voters well understood that their vote mattered, and they used it. Democracy, contrary to the doom-mongers, is alive and well. ... Voters in the end rejected the option that came closest to preservation of the status quo. After flirting with the soothing authority of the centrist candidate, François Bayrou, they consigned him to third place. ... They [Ségolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy] offer very different ideas of France. But they have in common a modern view of France and of the world. Of all the reassuring aspects of yesterday's election, this is the most reassuring of all." (23/04/2007)

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"France has saved the left", rejoices Laurent Joffrin, the daily's chief editor. "France has opted for clarity. A frank right will be facing a left that should bank on renewal. This salutary duel is that of all modern democracies. France invented the left-right configuration during the Revolution. True to itself, it has considered that good use can still be made of the old tool in a world where the two main bastions of a civilisation of human rights remain social issues and individual freedom. The vast civil mobilisation that arose in a nation said to be disabused and tired of the political class further adds to the blinding clarity of popular will. Beyond the painful memory of 2002 [The far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen obtained 16.8% of votes in the first round of the presidential elections], the French wanted to see two paths open up to them and be clearly inscribed on History's map." (23/04/2007)

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"No surprise candidate, no last minute turn of events came to unsettle a duel that rests on deep social and historical forces", notes the editorialist Sylvain Besson. "The less positive aspect of this vote is that France appears deeply divided. The high scores of Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal and the rejection of François Bayrou reflect subterranean fracture running between two Frances who hardly speak to one another and no longer understand one another. ... The opposition of societal projects ostensibly defended by the victors gives the impression that these two Frances no longer live in the same world. This promises an epic battle in the run-up and a few difficulties for the next president who will have the heavy task of advancing a country cut in half." (23/04/2007)

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Everything points to a classic duel between the left and the right in France, the newspaper writes. Whether Sarkozy or Royal ultimately takes the reigns, it signals the end of the Chirac era and a great opportunity for EU development: "Only once France has a new president can there be a breakthrough in the negotiations for an EU constitution. Both Sarkozy and Royal were on the 'yes' side in the referendum, and this hasn't changed. Sarkozy wants to see a rapid resolution of the issues surrounding the EU. In his opinion the first step would be an agreement on those points where there is already consensus between the EU states. Royal has spoken out in favour of a new referendum and believes small changes to the present document could change the minds of many French. Not only did the first round of the elections in France usher in a new era for the country yesterday, the door is now open for a new cooperation with the EU." (23/04/2007)

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Adam Szostkiewicz hopes Nicolas Sarkozy will win the French runoff election. "We can only envy the French. They have a choice: Sarko, Ségo, Bayrou and Le Pen. These are clear options and alternatives that are the essence of democracy. We envy them because both right- and left-wing candidates have made it to the second-round vote - not just right-wing candidates, as was the case with Kaczynski and Tusk. A clear-cut situation like this forces people to vote; it mobilises the electorate and thus serves the cause of democracy... If I were French I would vote for Sarkozy in the hope that he will create a new post-Chirac and post-de Gaulle right-wing that is capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century for France. This is also in Poland's interest. Our right-wing should follow their example and leave the spirits of the past in peace." (23/04/2007)

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The daily has published an article posted on the website of Project Syndicate in which the American political scientist Francis Fukuyama denies being the ideologist behind U.S. foreign policy. "'The End of History and the Last Man' [published in 1992] was never linked to a specifically American model of social or political organization. Following Alexandre Kojève, the Russian-French philosopher who inspired my original argument, I believe that the European Union more accurately reflects what the world will look like at the end of history than the contemporary United States. The EU's attempt to transcend sovereignty and traditional power politics by establishing a transnational rule of law is much more in line with a 'post-historical' world than the Americans' continuing belief in God, national sovereignty, and their military." (23/04/2007)

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Every April 23rd, Catalonia celebrates Sant Jordi (Saint Georges): women receive flowers while men are given books. The Spanish journalist Antoni Puigverd seizes this opportunity to denounce the commercial diktat ruling over literature. "The submission of the original value (the book as cultural message) to the single dominant value (market worship) is a contemporary characteristic. ... It can be said that the arguments for profit-making have always been determining, but never as blatantly as today. ... In recent times, market pressure has been so strong that it has completely swept away the notion of a cultural counterweight. Market laws impose a competitive dynamic on books that is stronger than for any other industrial product. On a commercial level, books are a fragile product, because you don't need to read to stay alive. As a consequence, publishers who previously lived for their passion now have to bow before economic pressure or else disappear." (23/04/2007)

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Romanian President Traian Basescu doesn't intend to resign, as he had previously announced he would do. Following his suspension by the Romanian parliament on April 19, a referendum in four weeks' time will decide whether the president must go or not. "April 19th is not only significant because it could make Basescu the first president of an EU member state to be suspended, but also because powerful elites, namely the unholy trinity of party interests, the economy and the media, have gone to great trouble to make him keep his mouth shut. In spite of his mercurial character, over the past year Basescu has become the only hope of reform Romanians have. The EU should carefully consider whether the reforms have a chance in a country where the elites wield so much power. It will be a while before Romania returns to normality after this parliamentary putsch." (23/04/2007)

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Karl-Peter Schwarz describes the suspension of Romanian President Traian Basescu as a "cold-blooded and concealed parliamentary putsch" aimed at reversing judiciary reforms. "Paradoxically, it was the hostile mood that took hold of expansion-weary Europe in the final phase of Romania's accession process that gave the reforms their greatest boost. The European Commission was forced to take a hard line and support the president and his justice minister, who were consequently able to push through anti-corruption measures that are tougher than those of any other EU country... However, the lesson to be learned from the experiences there can be applied to any candidate country for EU membership. Reforms that don't come about without pressure from the EU can be reversed as soon as the pressure is relaxed. The protective clauses which were incorporated into the accession agreements of Romania and Bulgaria are not effective enough as deterrents." (23/04/2007)

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The case of Siegfried Buback, the German chief federal prosecutor who was murdered by the Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorist group 30 years ago, may now be reopened. New information has emerged which suggests that it was not Christian Klar, who is still in prison but has applied for clemency, who shot Buback but Stefan Wisniewski, who was released in 1999. Birgit Baumann comments: "Now that it looks as if the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has been in possession of the same information since the 1980s, the confrontation with the 30 years of the 'German Autumn' should not be limited to commemorative ceremonies. Both leading politicians and the investigating authorities should do all they can to ensure that the truth behind the Buback case comes to light, because murder doesn't fall under the statute of limitations, especially when a human tragedy has such far-reaching political implications. The RAF was ruthless in its methods, but the German state hit back hard and perhaps made some serious mistakes. Those who insist (quite rightly) that the RAF people contribute to uncovering the truth should set a good example." (23/04/2007)

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On Thursday, April 19th, European ministers of Justice reached a compromise on a legislation aimed to fight racism and xenophobia by means of common penal sanctions. The Spanish daily is delighted with this initiative. "The moral cowardice noted in the face of Nazism and fascism when the first symptoms started to be felt marked the beginning of the path of subjection that ended up leading to the horrors of totalitarianism. We cannot commit the error of mixing up tolerance with passivity. Especially in the field of attitudes and expressions that can favour the trivialisation of xenophobia and, along with it, the inciting of racial, ethnic and religious hate and violence. ... Thus Europe is trying to go on being an open and plural society. Being intolerant towards the intolerant should become an indispensable, healthy practice if Europeans want to stay true to themselves." (23/04/2007)

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The EU justice ministers have agreed on the basic framework for a pan-European law against racism which will make inciting racial hatred and denying genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity punishable by law. Askolds Rodins points out that the crimes committed by the Stalin regime are not included in the list. "The reason for this is that there has yet to be an international legal ruling on these crimes. But at least the European Commission has given the go-ahead for a hearing about what the Red Army really got up to during the Stalin era in the so-called 'liberated territories'. Over the past twenty years much has been said and written in Latvia about how 'the world doesn't understand us' and how 'poorly we have explained our history'. Now we can see that we're not alone in this respect, because this also applies to Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. We now have the opportunity to bring international justice to focus on one of the most bloody totalitarian regimes in history." (23/04/2007)

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The Portuguese sociologist André Freire is opposed to Turkey's EU accession. "One of the arguments in favour of Turkey's accession is the irreversibility of the process. And yet the Turkish accession presupposes the respect of four conditions established in 1987 by the European Parliament, which are far from being met, quite on the contrary: the recognition of the Armenian genocide and of the Cypriot Republic as well as the retreat of the Turkish army from the island, the respect human rights and the recognition of non-Sunnite Muslim minorities. The establishment of closer ties between the EU and Turkey is fundamental in order to fight Islamist fundamentalism. The full integration of Turkey, of no interest for the EU or for the country itself, engendering the risk of bringing fundamentalism right into Europe, could weaken and endanger the Union. Talk of a 'privileged partnership' would be far preferable." (23/04/2007)

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"The proposed constitutional treaty, which will be renegotiated at the Berlin summit in June, would centralise power even further, taking it from elected national parliaments and giving it to the nonelected bureaucracies", writes the columnist William Rees-Mogg. "Tony Blair now argues that Britain would not need to have a referendum, because the revised version would not involve constitutional changes. He cannot possibly know that, at least until negotiations have been completed in Berlin. ... What is the real argument against a referendum ? It is simple and compelling. The advocates of a constitutional treaty believe that they would lose a referendum. They think the British voters would vote 'No', and they are not prepared to risk it. ... The EU bureaucracy has become a burden for the European nations. The constitutional treaty would only make that worse. The British have been promised a referendum. The electorate should hold Labour to that promise, or make it pay a heavy price in votes." (23/04/2007)

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The Swedish daily harshly criticises the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad for using the Baltic Sea as a sewer - with catastrophic environmental consequences. For ten years now the Swedes have been pushing for the construction of a sewage-treatment plant in the region, but until now the plans have been foiled by rudimentary building regulations and Russian bureaucracy, the newspaper points out. "The country is making a lot of money with the sale of oil and gas and is blatantly using it as a political instrument. Russia is acting as if it had no responsibilities whatsoever in this matter, and it's also blocking emergency measures. This is arrogant and overbearing and should be brought to people's attention so that Russia is forced to pay the political price for its shameful behaviour." (23/04/2007)

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The daily is alarmed by the French government's preparation of a decree for the application of the 'bill on confidentiality in digital economy'. This would oblige servers to keep the personal data of Internet users (passwords, pseudonyms, bank card numbers and contributions to forums or blogs) for a year in order for intelligence services to be able to consult them. "In terms of confidentiality, this is about a threat to freedom. ... The struggle against terrorism and crime in general - an imperative of course - does not justify turning French society into a surveillance society. Public freedoms are of a piece. The same rules apply to digital freedom, however new and confusing it may be. It prohibits the transformation of website editors into 'informers' and those who frequent them into Orwellian subjects." (21/04/2007)

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The lyrical Cubist pictures by Czech painter Bohumil Samuel Kecir, who according to a report by Czech correspondent Hans-Jörg Schmidt never existed, are popular in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. "The painter's resumé, which was probably invented, sounds good and even identity-shaping in a country like the Czech Republic, which is having a hard time with its national roots. Kecir was allegedly born in 1904 in Moravia to a Jewish mother... During the Nazi occupation of Bohemia and Moravia the Gestapo is supposed to have arrested him and sent him to a concentration camp. Not only was Kecir traumatised by his experiences there but after the war the anti-art Communists allegedly locked him away in an asylum in Brno... A tragedy of these dimensions wins the hearts of even Western art collectors. There aren't many who can claim a forgotten Czech for their own, and a Cubist at that." (23/04/2007)

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