The Polish weekly Newsweek Polska has revealed that the renowned Polish writer and journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, who died last January, wrote reports for the Polish communist secret police in the 1960s and 1970s. However according to the files kept by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) Kapuscinski's activities for the secret service while working as a foreign correspondent never brought anyone to harm. "The collaboration of a journalist with the secret services - particularly those of an undemocratic state - can never be regarded as a virtue. In the People's Republic of Poland such collaboration, when not undertaken for ideological reasons, was the result of blackmail, weakness, ambition, conformism and historical and political fatalism. This was almost certainly the case with Kapuscinski... It's just a shame that in the ten years he lived in a free Poland he never made the decision to talk about it openly and explain his motives." (22/05/2007)

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All available articles from » Krzysztof Gottesman

Ramiro Villapadierna, the daily's Berlin correspondent, looks back on the life of Ryszard Kapuscinski and what he has been reproached. "The recently deceased journalist, who was also a brilliant writer, covered the most important conflicts as a correspondent for the national Polish press agency (PAP). He described immense poverty in Africa and Latin America as well as the workings of power ... . In exchange, it seems, the police asked him for information on North American individuals and companies as well as on Israeli and west-German espionage. Thus he apparently wrote a ten page report in Central America, 1970, on Cuba's foreign policy and a three page report on Mexico's, along with the portraits of three people he met. ... Certain local journalists feel that the leaking of this report, which comes from the Institute for the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) is aimed to make him loose all his prestige." (23/05/2007)

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Correspondent Ulrich M. Schmid was little impressed by Newsweek Polska's exposure of the recently deceased star reporter Ryszard Kapuscinski as an informant for the communist secret police. "'Newsweek' is following in the long-standing and futile tradition of Polish papers of confronting celebrities with their communist past. All the fuss is a storm in a teacup: the information that was passed on to the secret police was for the most part unimportant and harmed no one... In Kaupscinski's case there was also little of any interest. When he took up his post as Africa correspondent for the Polish state news agency the secret police assigned him the task of reporting on US activities on the Black continent. This type of double mandate was common in communist Poland: those who were allowed to travel widely had to declare their willingness to cooperate with the authorities." (23/05/2007)

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Arthur Becker puts the Kapuscinski debate in a wider context. "One has to be aware of the fact that Poland is currently experiencing a genuine constitutional revolution. The conservative governing PiS party recently lost an important battle over opening the secret police archives to the public. The constitutional court declared it unconstitutional to open all suspect secret service files to the public as the government had proposed... The danger of prominent figures of Poland's political and cultural life being exploited now lurks on every corner. In this respect Ryszard Kapuscinski's fate optimally serves certain interests. Kapuscinski's case could be described as a 'feast' for certain parties... Kapuscinski needed to travel because he needed to conduct his research. Evidently the price he had to pay for his passport was very high." (23/05/2007)

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In an interview conducted by Nathalie Crom, the French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, who often sets the action of his novels in colonial times, adds to the French debate around the remembrance of colonisation. "It seems healthy to me that we should at last be talking about France's colonial history and enough has yet to be said on the subject. Mortifying ourselves is out of the question, but we have to purge this old illness that still exists, that is racism, the sense of superiority. In the Antilles, you still hear white people refer to Blacks as overgrown, indolent and indecisive children. It's terrible. All exercising of memory is salutary. It isn't about resorting to laws and decrees in order to rewrite History. Nor is it about using big words and speaking of genocide. More simply, the colonisers have a responsibility towards these small countries, former colonies now deserted and thrown into neglect, practically living off international charity. France has to accompany into adulthood the countries that it held in a state of childhood for so long." (23/05/2007)

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For Russian journalist Fyodor Lukyanov the most recent meeting between Russian and EU politicians "marked the end of a mutual experiment". "Basically it raises the valid question: Why do we need integration projects with the European Union? China will never share 'common values' with the EU, yet Beijing is a major and much sought-after EU economic partner. The secret lies in our psychology. China couldn't care less what Europe or anybody else thinks about it... Although Moscow spurns values for the sake of pragmatics, it still demamds that Europe share its values. This is the essence of the conflict with the new EU member states regarding the interpretation of the past. Russia is appalled that others take a different view of historical events and deliver different moral judgements." (23/05/2007)

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"The Crown Prosecution Service concluded [Tuesday, May 22nd] that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the former KGB agent and multimillionaire Andrei Lugovoï for the murder of a fellow former agent, turned exile, Alexander Litvinenko," notes the daily. "Moscow yesterday questioned London's certainty. Pointing the finger of blame at the Kremlin, some said, simply added to an organised campaign to discredit Russia as a commercial partner in Europe. ... At best, Britain and Russia are losing faith in each other's legal systems. That is damaging relations between the two countries at a wider level. Yet Scotland Yard have been working with evidence, not conspiracy theories. The poison has been used in Russia in the past, and the Federal Security Service (FSB), the KGB's successor, does not forgive or forget people it regards as traitors. ... like the silvery dust of polonium-210, the affair is powerful enough to poison relations between Moscow and London." (23/05/2007)

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The Slovenian secret service has been in the headlines frequently of late. First it was for unauthorised bugging operations, then improper use of airline tickets and most recently its involvement in the dealings of a television broadcaster. Now there is an open discussion about whether the SOVA intelligence agency should be closed down for good. "'SOVA is on its last legs. Its reputation in the country has hit an all-time low.' This was Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek's response to SOVA's illegal dealings and irregularities, uncovered in the most recent report by the government's delegate to the agency... Its illegal financial activities are even more secret than the agency's core business, the secrets. The director of the agency claims to have had no knowledge of the goings-on - and he's the boss of an intelligence agency... It's now the government's task to restore law and order at SOVA. Otherwise we can do without this secretive secret service." (23/05/2007)

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Until now university education has generally been free for foreign students in Sweden, but according to the newspaper this should be changed as soon as possible. It calls on the conservative government to implement the proposal initiated by the previous Social Democratic government for the introduction of tuition fees for foreigners: "This doesn't necessarily mean the goal is to attract only a rich elite. More to the point is the fact that a price tag increases expectations and standards - to the benefit of all... And there probably wouldn't be so many foreign students who register and then never even bother to turn up in Sweden... Tuition fees would perhaps also contribute to improving resources at our universities. The money raised could be used to support Swedish students who are having to pay high fees at foreign universities." (23/05/2007)

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"If an example were needed to highlight how close ties are between Belgian and Luxemburg economies, the announcement [Tuesday, May 22nd] of Cofinimmo's takeover of Immo Croissance and the acquisition of Voxmobile by Mobistar are two more illustrations", considers the editorialist Laurent Moyse. "The renunciation of the monetary union between Luxemburg and Belgium with the introduction of the Euro hasn't altered the intensity of exchanges between these two neighbours. Thus Belgium remains the primary supplier of the Grand Duchy (about 40% of importations), while the latter exports a volume of almost 13% in return. Only Germany and France absorb more merchandise. ... These two operations ... are proof that the Luxemburg market, despite its limited size, is whetting certain appetites. After all, both the bank and the steel industry have already pointed the way." (23/05/2007)

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The former professional cyclist Bert Dietz has admitted to long-term use of performance-enhancing drugs while at the same time accusing the medics on the Telekom team of introducing him to EPO doping. Markus Völker draws a parallel between government-backed doping in the GDR and the German cycling team's doping scandal. In the GDR "plans were hatched under the supervision of Dr. Manfred Höppner for ways to dope athletes most effectively... The doctors of the era of mass doping with anabolic steroids have their successors: in the Telekom team these were Lothar Heinrich and Andreas Schmid. The team's medical support service quite officially provided its clientele with supplies through the Freiburg University Clinic. The EPO dealing wasn't organised through a sinister laboratory but in a prestigious state-funded research institute. The doctors maintained all the appearances of respectability while doing dirty business in professional cycling: doping. Dr. Höppner couldn't have done things better himself." (23/05/2007)

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On Tuesday, May 22nd, the staff of the French daily 'Le Monde' opposed the renewal of Jean-Marie Colombani's contract as head of the paper and the press group that he created. Domenico Quirico, Paris correspondent for the daily, considers the sanctioning vote. "This was in fact the other presidential election. Because 'Le Monde' is by definition Frances flagship paper, the one that counts, on sale everyday as the counterweight of the other power, [of government]. ... For years, Jean Marie Colombani personified 'Le Monde', with his style, his efficiency, his shortcomings, his contradictions and above all his difficult quest for a new line ... . 'Le Monde' remains influential and revered. In thirteen years the group's turnover went up from 90 to 600 million euros. But that was no doubt not enough. Beyond simple arithmetic is the more complex question: what will Le Monde become under the reign of Sarkozy?" (23/05/2007)

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Fernand Denis, special correspondent for Cannes, has been bowled over by 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' by Julian Schnabel. The film is based on the book by Jean-Dominique Bauby, a journalist paralysed by a vascular accident who used his left eyelid to communicate and dictate. "Julian Schnabel portrays the author and his work, paradoxically effacing the extraordinary dimension, without sensationalising the exploit, without glorifying the author's strength of character. It is something else that interests him. What is a human ? This immobile man with only his left eye still able to move. Is this still a man or, as some consider, a vegetable ? ... A man is a point of view. Schnabel shows the point of view of man in a diving bell, trapped in solitude, engaged in a sincere dialogue with himself." (23/05/2007)

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The columnist Brian Boyd comments on a 'hilarious hit for RTÉ television' [Irish national television] that develops an idea tried and tested on You Tube. "The show is called Soupy Norman and uses the popular [Polish] soap opera 'First Love'. ... Murphy and Doherty [Irish comedians] somehow got their hands on First Love and decided it would be the ideal vehicle with which to create a new comedy show. All they've done is removed the audio from the Polish soap and replaced it with Irish actors dubbing it into English. ... The programme is already been talked about among Ireland's sizeable Polish community. The www.vaveeva.com site - which is for foreign people living in Ireland - has given Soupy Norman a healthy plug and stated: 'You can not miss it.' Both Murphy and Doherty are anxious that it is taken up by the Polish community here who can enjoy it both as a nostalgic look at one of their country's most popular soaps and also as a new Irish comedy. ... This could be the beginning of a beautiful Polish-Irish soap opera exchange" relationship." (21/05/2007)

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The columnist Richard Morrison ponders the British tradition of picnics. "That we are a nation of eccentrics has never been seriously doubted, either by foreigners or natives. But there's something about the word 'picnic' that brings out a specially looney streak in the British temperament – something that goes well beyond eccentricity. We are talking serious insanity here, tinged with pride, stoicism, a stubborn refusal to bow to the inevitable – and all those other qualities that may seem mightily impressive ... but look pretty daft when applied to the task of fixing a spoonful of clotted cream to the top of a scone in a stiff breeze and light drizzle while perching in a dinner jacket on a collapsible canvas stool. These thoughts crossed my mind last Saturday when I attended the opening evening of the Glyndebourne [open-air] opera season. ... Of course, it is a British citizen's inalienable right – and indeed duty, before global warming turns the Home Counties into Tunisia – to shiver round a picnic at any time and in any place. It's just that at Glyndebourne the corporate suits take their picnics very seriously indeed." (23/05/2007)

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Martin Weiss points out that two years ago EU commissioner Günter Verheugen announced an initiative to weed out the EU's superfluous standards and regulations. "On Monday Verheugen presented the first results. They are supposed to show that 'we turn words into deeds and are working hard on all fronts to get rid of unnecessary regulations'. How many regulations have been struck down in this two-year war on all fronts? Two. One of them regulated the quality of timber and the other the size of packaging for foodstuffs. Unfortunately, among all the well-paid experts there was not one who advised the commissioner to keep quiet and let his initiative fall into oblivion instead of unnecessarily provoking the public." (23/05/2007)

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