"Vladimir Putin provoked surprise yesterday by threatening to renounce the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty ... ", explains the daily. "Using a tone reminiscent of the cold war, the Russian president not only accused certain European countries of never ratifying this treaty, but of rearming themselves on 'the borders' of Russia. This is a direct allusion to the project of an antimissile shield that the Unites States are planning to set-up in the Czech Republic and Poland. Ever since Washington announced this project aimed at protecting Europe from missile attacks from Iran or North Korea, the Russian leadership has displayed deep disagreement. Putin considers that it is in fact a weapon aimed to stop Russia from emerging and is accusing the United States and NATO of interfering in the country's internal affairs. Yesterday Putin even compared this initiative with colonialism." (27/04/2007)

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According to Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, the Kremlin is exploiting the American missile defence programme "for propaganda purposes because it wants to drive a wedge between the NATO allies, and between Europe and America. Because it wants revenge for NATO's expansion to the east, and because it doesn't want Georgia and Ukraine, whose 'orange' attempts at democracy are a trauma for Moscow, to join NATO. This is why Putin is adopting the tone of the past in the hope it will act as a deterrent. The West should neither let itself be intimidated nor let Russia dictate what it does or doesn't do. It should not let itself be criticised by a man who has more than just phantom pains when he remembers the times of the Soviet empire. Under his rule, Russia is to return to its former power and glory and be respected - and feared? Well, he certainly makes no bones about it, especially not within Russia." (27/04/2007)

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Not only has Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened with Russia's withdrawal from the CFE Treaty if the West doesn't react to his criticism of the planned missile defence shield in Eastern Europe, he has also accused the West of trying to manipulate Russia with its "democratic ideology". "The message behind Putin's speech is: Moscow has the right to interfere in the affairs of Poland, the Czech Republic and even Estonia," journalist Gábor Miklós comments. "It's not so much the renewed debate about armoured vehicles that's worrying, but the fact that the word democracy is being treated as if it were a dirty word. The neighbouring states of a nuclear power can only feel safe if that state has a clear domestic policy and when citizens' initiatives or foreign contacts are not regarded as sinful. So the question is: is it possible to conduct sensible negotiations on issues of military security and energy prices, economic issues and democratic practices all at the same time?" (27/04/2007)

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The French philosopher André Glucksmann is aggravated by what he considers a lack of reaction from European capitals to the repression of demonstrations against Vladimir Putin organised on April 14th, 2007. "Paris, Rome, London and Berlin are looking away and doing sums: Putin, his petrol, his gas, his weapons of mass destruction and those he sells all over the planet bear more weight than a few thousand demonstrators beat-up, dispelled and arrested by ten-fold repressive forces. ... It is time for the EU to proclaim that the passion for freedom has been fundamental part of the European spirit ever since Greek antiquity. This passion presided over its creation. It is the driving idea that led the anti-totalitarian revolts of Berlin (1953), the Polish uprising (1956), the Budapest insurrection (1956) and what followed in Prague and Warsaw, right up to the fall of the Berlin wall." (27/04/2007)

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Against the background of the election campaign for Bulgaria's MEPs, in which the music of folk-pop singers is playing a leading role, Emil Koshlukov takes a closer look at Bulgaria's political and economic elites. "True democracy doesn't work here in Bulgaria - it's only a democracy on paper. Since the first years after the fall of communism, the Latin American model has taken root here. Those who were able to get their hands on money back then now make up the economic elite. This elite survived the years of turmoil, preserved its wealth and now has the country under its thumb in the midst of free democracy. State capitalism has become oligarchism. The economy and the state are on the same side... Bulgaria's political elite has disguised itself. Politicians are pinning their hopes on Aziz [a shrill, extremely popular pop-folk singer], who is nothing more than a travesty - a creation of the media. This leads to the conclusion that our politicians have more talent than education. They are a travesty of what politicians should be - they talk like Aziz sings." (27/04/2007)

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In the run-up to the Islam Conference scheduled to take place next week in Berlin, the question of who should represent Islam in Germany has triggered a fierce debate. Turkish-born writer Feridun Zaimoglu wants to give up his place at the conference to a "young, self-assured neo-Muslim female who is a second or third-generation immigrant and who self-confidently professes her belief in the Muslim faith. In an interview with Anna Reimann, he explains why. "I'm not a secular Muslim and nor am I an orthodox one. I'm an author. I would like to take part, but I believe it makes more sense if a young woman takes my place at the Islam Conference... I have ... criticised the fact that in their critiques the "female critics of Islam' always blame Islam for all the problems. In my opinion this is an incomprehensible, rather clumsy view of the world... Let there be an end to all the recriminations. People shouldn't act as if the Islam debate were an apocalyptic battle between good and evil, the goal of which is to destroy the bad orthodoxies because they stand for 'non-integration'." (27/04/2007)

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The columnist Ben Macintyre takes a fresh look at Picassos's work 'Guernica' on the 70th anniversary of the bombing. "Franco's Fascist allies in Germany and Italy had deliberately targeted a defenceless civilian population … . Picasso painted Guernica in a state of shock and wonder. ... From a distance of 70 years, however, the scenes that inspired Picasso seem grimly familiar. After Guernica came the London Blitz, Dresden, Hiroshima, Hanoi and Baghdad. The bombing of civilians is an accepted, indeed a central element of warfare, despite the euphemisms of 'strategic bombing' and 'collateral damage'. ... The painting has lost none of it power to embarrass the military caste. A tapestry copy of Guernica hangs in the UN building, outside the Security Council meeting room. In 2003, when General Colin Powell came to the UN to make the case for war, the image was discreetly swathed in a blue shroud." (27/04/2007)

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"On several occasions I have had to sign declarations stating that I never collaborated with the [communist] secret services", explains the Member of European Parliament Bronislaw Geremek in the opinion pages of the daily. "I also did so in 2004, when presenting myself in the European elections. But in March 2007, I was asked once again to sign such a declaration under penalty of being deprived of my MEP mandate. It is true that this is a humiliating and unfounded demand, but that is not the reason for my refusal to cooperate. Through this refusal I want to express my position regarding the new [lustration] law. I find it unacceptable in a democratic Europe. ... I would like my refusal to make the authorities consider and respond to the moral concerns of citizens. ... I am not pleading for my personal cause. I am pleading for a democratic and European Poland. " (27/04/2007)

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The daily is appalled that the Polish government wants to take away European Member of Parliament Bronislaw Geremek's mandate because he refuses to have his communist past scrutinised under the new 'lustration' law. The newspaper comments: "Geremek never made a secret of the fact that he was a member of the Communist Party as a young man. But the decisive factor is that he left the party in 1968 and joined the democratic opposition. It's only fair that supporters of the old communist regime be excluded from public office, and Poland's stance on this issue is a matter of debate. But this is no excuse for the current error of judgment. To voice the suspicion that Geremek is not a committed democrat is like accusing the Pope of being an atheist." (27/04/2007)

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The left-wing Danish Unity List has put forward Asmaa Abdol-Hamids, a Muslim who wears a headscarf, as candidate for member of the Danish parliament. This prompted Sören Krarup, an MP for the right-wing populist DVP, to compare the headscarves worn by Muslim women with the National Socialists' Swastika. The newspaper criticises Abdol Hamids saying she represents "totalitarian values". "It's no longer about the headscarf as a piece of clothing but about fundamental values such as freedom of expression and freedom of religion, gender equality and a legal system based on humanitarian values. These are not values the new member of the Unity List respects. Therefore it's not surprising that many wonder why the party put forward this woman as a candidate. Her opinions on homosexuality and registered partnerships, as well as her medieval concept of law, are hardly compatible with the extreme left spectrum which the Unity List represents." (27/04/2007)

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"Europe's leaders are united around two incompatible beliefs", notes the weekly. "The first is that their citizens want them to press ahead with reviving most or all of the constitution. The second is that it is wisest to avoid testing this thesis by asking those citizens directly in new referendums. ... As one top Eurocrat puts it, the thought of further referendums inspires 'absolute, sheer terror' in Brussels. This terror may explain why so many EU leaders are rooting for Nicolas Sarkozy to win the French presidential election. Forget ideology: what counts is his plan to ditch the constitution and rush an 'institutional treaty' through the French parliament without a referendum. ... In the name of decency, if nothing else, it would be nice if the union's leaders would admit that, when it comes to discovering what their citizens want, their hearing is no better than anybody else's." (26/04/2007)

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On April 26th, a Spanish hospital-ship carried away a group of illegal immigrants to Senegal. They were rescued on Monday from a vessel cast-away offshore on the West-African coast while trying to reach Europe. The daily calls for a more ambitious policy facing illegal immigration. "African immigration is growing so much, the European dream being so close by, that only a combined effort, at once on the political, diplomatic and economic front, along with a development strategy with sub-Saharan countries can help slow down the influx of illegal immigrants. Such a challenge cannot be taken up by a single country such as Spain. It demands a real commitment from the EU that should manage to use its influence on the neighbouring continent by following a common EU vision." (27/04/2007)

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For months, the Slovak government under Prime Minister Robert Fico has been complaining that too many media are critical of the government. They accuse the media of not being objective in its coverage. Fico now wants to pass a new press law which would permit the government to respond to all allegedly non-objective articles or programmes with a 'refutation'. Representatives of the media fear massive infringement of press freedom. Marian Lesko comments: "The Prime Minister has no right to package his personal opinions in the form of a law. His claim that the nation is not being provided with objective information is a subjective view - distorted by party and lobby interests. His view that half of the information journalists spread about the government is incorrect gives an idea of the dimensions which the 'refutations' could assume. The principle of editorial independence would be reduced to an empty phrase." (27/04/2007)

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"We get shouted at a bit; we get to sweat and are lambasted with a few harsh truths. In other words, the play 'La traversée de la mort' (Death's Crossing), presented by the Nouveaux Disparus acting troupe, is hardly relaxing", explains Laurent Ancion having seen the play that is currently being performed on a public square in the heart of Brussels. "Before going into the blue and white marquee, the audience must first split up between four small tents where a ferryman will tell them how to get to the Spanish coast. ... Our goal: to reach Europe, an eldorado. We then enter the marquee to find that we have been landed in prison. Five women, arrested when their little boat was found marooned, will reveal to us their quarrels, their sudden solidarity, their doubts. ... The issues, according to Jama Youssfi [author and director], are obviously social and political. 'I think that this show can help to inform people and raise consciousness of the catastrophe unfolding on Europe's doorstep' ... ." (27/04/2007)

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The controversial Soviet memorial which stands in Estonia's capital, Tallinn, the so-called bronze statue, was removed on the night of April 26th to a cemetery on the city outskirts. Shortly before its removal there was heavy rioting around the statue, with one person left dead and 40 injured. Russia had previously protested against the removal of the statue. The Estonian newspaper praises the security force's actions: "The operation was well-planned, but unfortunately despite the preparations a riot broke out. The demonstrators protested so violently that the police were forced to intervene. Although it's unclear whether the situation would have escalated, police intervention was necessary to maintain public order and safety. It's a pity that in the 21st century a statue can still cause bloodshed and martyrdom." (27/04/2007)

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