"Despite being virtually surrounded by government and other tax-financed control and funding authorities, a wandering circus of cycling drug consumers has been in business since the mid-1990s," comments an appalled Ulrich Clauß. "First one should mention the oath of manifestation in government-subsidised sports medicine, where nonetheless over the years organised crime was able take hold... Then there's the question of the role of a - previously state-owned - now partially state-owned telecommunications company, which likewise financed this drug circus for years on end... And thirdly there's the government's 'media partners'... The interplay of state institutions aimed at promoting drug-enhanced performances in sport is referred to as state doping. This is what happened in the case of the GDR, for example. So how are we to describe what has been going on over the past ten years in German professional cycling?" (25/05/2007)

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"Is the dream forever broken ?" wonders the editorialist Stéphane Thirion. "The confessions of the German team Telekom's former racers inevitably force everyone to doubt everything: exploits past, present and future. That a man such as Erik Zabel who is upright, exemplary and irreproachable with his discipline and regularity should confess ten years later to having opened his veins up to EPO, even for just a few days, is chilling. ... [another] sizeable consideration is whether today's cycling is now clean and whether it can be credible when today's professional cyclist pack features former racers, trainers, doctors and even sponsors of varying responsibility from a clearly complicated past. It is a good thing to come clean, even better to clean up the mess too, and better still to completely wipe away every last trace." (25/05/2007)

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"Austria is also a repeat offender - as far as doping is concerned," notes Markku Datler. He reports on the amazed reaction of the Austrians when they heard that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was fining Austria for failing to investigate cases of doping involving Austrian skiers, and points to the wisdom of Finland's approach: "It's not only in the Pisa studies that Finland has given a convincing performance. It has also set the best example of how to effectively 'erase' a case of doping. Following the scandal of the 2001 World Championship - the entire men's cross country skiing team was doped - all those implicated were fired and disappeared from the scene, not only on the government's behest. Today the affair is rarely mentioned and the sport has recovered. Germany's cycling stars are now taking it in turns to confess and earning respect and admiration for doing so. Not because they lied and cheated but because they're finally admitting their mistakes. The pressure, the burden of proof and the self-doubts have become too great - and they lost the last remnants of their credibility long ago. Austria is lagging behind in this respect, too." (25/05/2007)

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The historian and journalist Gérard Delaloye analyses the evolution of the former communist states of Eastern Europe. "We have not understood that the fall of police dictatorships and their very fast replacement by so called transitional regimes could only favour the appearance of a new ruling class ... . Closely coached by a plethora of western consultants, these new leaders have managed over this last decade to pick up economies that were in ruins and to reap solid benefits from them. But the economical successes have not been echoed in politics. For the most part, the regimes of the Eastern countries, whether or not they are part of NATO or the EU, have yet to reach a satisfactory level of democracy. Why? I think a neologism might help us grasp the phenomenon: the post-communist elites are, in the immense majority of cases, 'ademocratic', with the initial 'a' acting as a negation suffix, like in 'amoral', or 'atheist'." (24/05/2007)

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The Spanish writer Josep Ramoneda considers the legacy of May 1968, which was very present in the French presidential election campaign. "In his election campaign, Nicolas Sarkozy announced the burial of May 68. However, having become President of the Republic he hasn't taken the trouble to organise a funeral. ... Sarkozy committed two mistakes. The first is typically French: they forget that other events [Student revolts in Berkley, Berlin, ...] took place beyond France. The second is characteristic of the right which doesn't realise that capitalism, thanks to it's capacity for change (which was one of its advantages over communism) and the liberal right were the main beneficiaries of 68. ... So why has Sarkozy presented himself as 68's grave-digger ? ... Given the fact that his cultural terrain is the right, it was easy for him to go find the target of his moral rupture in the left's mythology. This was the purpose of May '68 in his electoral discours." (25/05/2007)

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The columnist Adrian Hamilton ponders what is at stake with the project of a mini European treaty and the way it is being established. "There is something indecent about the haste and single-mindedness with which the duopoly of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy are stitching up their mini-treaty. … One is still entitled to ask whether the latest manoeuvres in Brussels and Berlin are really a step forward towards a new future for the Union or a move back to the old world of deals behind closed doors and ruthless powermongering by the big countries at the expense of the smaller. … Enlargement also requires a different way of approaching problems and reaching common accord, and that is exactly what a Germany and France, intent on restoring the supremacy of the old inner core, seem determined to circumvent. The trouble with the mini-treaty is that, if it means something, it should not be voted in without referral to the wider electorate. But if it doesn't mean anything, why have it?" (24/05/2007)

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The Romanian head of state, Traian Basescu, plans to propose the introduction of a lustration law at a meeting with the parliamentary parties next Monday. Under the law, which is modelled on Poland's lustration law, the past of Romania's public figures would be checked for evidence of collaboration with the communist dictatorship. According to Mirela Corlatan such a law will meet with tough resistance: "Right now changing the laws governing access to the archives is more important than the lustration. If the archives are opened, the lustration will follow automatically. It's difficult to believe that Traian Basescu, who as recently as last January explained that lustration would only have made sense a year after the fall of communism, will resolutely push through his proposal for a lustration law, as he promised to do in his post-referendum euphoria. But if researchers are given access to the archives this would have the effect of revitalising the political class for future elections." (25/05/2007)

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Journalist Wojciech Mazowiecki is delighted that a new citizens' movement is forming against the populist conservative government in Poland. "Last week there were several initiatives with the common goal of strengthening civil society and opposing the current government... However it remains unclear whether the intellectual elites that have declared an open war against those in power will be able to forge a strong movement. Paradoxically, the main opposition party [the right-wing liberal Civic Platform PO] wants to have little to do with the new citizens' opposition movement - which is probably the strongest and most vocal since 1989... On the contrary, it's abandoned the political arena to the left and [former president] Aleksander Kwasniewski without even putting up a fight." (25/05/2007)

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Lukas Wallraff writes that for weeks now the upcoming G8 summit, which takes place from 6-8 June in Heiligendamm, has been the main focus of attention in Germany, but only because of the protests and the massive security measures it will entail. Wallraff points out that "the topics to be discussed at the summit are barely mentioned." He criticises the government statement on the G8 summit delivered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Budestag on May 24: "The Chancellor, who likes to portray herself as liberal, has failed to restrain the security fanatics. But this is not the only reason Merkel's speech was an unintentional call for demonstrations. She reaffirmed the convictions of all those who regard the G8 summit as nothing but an expensive circus. Progress on the subject of climate protection? According to Merkel, highly unlikely. Measures to stop ruthless hedge funds? Equally unlikely. Merkel sounded so pessimistic that hardly anyone would have been surprised if she'd announced that the summit was being cancelled." (25/05/2007)

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"The terrorist bombing in the centre of Ankara [Wednesday, May 23rd] has revived anxiety among the Greeks who, as any good neighbours would, are keeping a close eye on the development of events", explains the Greek daily. "Experienced diplomats consider the situation is most fraught and that certain people in power in Turkey are going to take advantage of their position to cause trouble in neighbourly relations. Athens has every reason to be worried, because Turkey has a strong tradition of exporting its interior crises with consequences being felt in Cyprus or the Aegean Sea. The Greek government has decided to support the current Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayipp Erdogan. Not because he has managed to bring any fundamental changes to Turkey's foreign policy, but because in this point in time, he represents a pro-European policy." (24/05/2007)

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On Wednesday, May 23rd, "The European Parliament obligated mobile phone companies to lower roaming fees on calls made or received abroad. The Dutch daily welcomes this decision as "an advantage for Europe and for consumers. It also seems that this regulation of the market is serving another purpose: European propaganda. However, phone companies are no doubt going to have to compensate for the limitation of fees for calls abroad by raising the costs of national calls. There are crazy prices on every market. We can expect the consumer to be aware of the price of his or her call. A free market is better served by critical consumers than by authoritarian public power." (25/05/2007)

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At a film premiere which took place this week in Stockholm, a reporter used a water pistol disguised as a microphone to spray the Swedish head of government Fredrik Reinfeldt with water. The incident triggered a wave of shock in Sweden and calls for the government to be better protected against the media. Göran Greider sees the incident as an indication of the decay of the media environment: "A society in which those in power can't be the subject of jokes is scary. It's a sign of paralysis. And when greedy production companies will do anything to give their viewer ratings a quick boost ... this is also evidence of a society that suffers from mental paralysis. It's also an expression of a media world in which politicians appear in only three roles: as good fairies, as big shots mired in scandals or as the victims of humiliation TV." (24/05/2007)

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Dr Savvas Levtchitch, Professor of Civil Engineering, is highly critical of the planned redesign of the Cypriot capital's Eleftheria Square. "This project looks as if brought from another planet and forcibly superimposed on a historic place which is going to be listed as the UNESCO heritage site. A famous architect Zaha Hadid [Iraqi-born British] ... has shown an inexplicable contempt for Nicosia. She did not visit the place and her vision of the square is based on the Google satellite image. This is a provocative arrogance and a cause of being totally out of touch with conditions at the particular site. Such a revolutionary project cannot be built in the centre of an old town with a very distinctive character. ... Irrespective on the adoption or dismissal of this project, the town-planning regulations for the walled city of Nicosia must be changed conceptually. The existing ones have proved to be a complete disaster." (25/05/2007)

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Vilnius will be European Capital of Culture in 2009. Andrius Bielskis sees this is a cause for celebration for all Lithuanians and in particular the residents of the Lithuanian capital. But at the same time he points out that Vilnius doesn't really convey the impression of being particularly cultivated or open to foreigners. "Vilnius comes over not only as provincial, but also as a xenophobic backwater where people couldn't care less about the European Commission's equal rights initiatives... This includes the rights of homosexuals, who are the subject of heavy discrimination in Lithuania. The atmosphere here can definitely be described as homophobic. The hysteria is also evident in the media's reaction to the accusations, in it's failure to stress that it's important to reject all forms of discrimination, including racial, sexual and religious discrimination." (25/05/2007)

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All available articles from » Andrius Bielskis

At the beginning of June the internationally renowned cameraman Slawomir Idziak will open Poland's first virtual film studio. He used the English Internet portal Stray Cinema as a model. Marta Strzelecka describes the concept: "Film Spring Open Virtual Studio (www.filmspringopen.eu - goes online on June 1) takes the workshops he's been doing for three years now one step further. Cameramen, directors, actors and screenwriters from several European countries will take part in the project. Before they meet up on the film set they use the Internet to work together on the script. The main principle is that there is no director dictatorship during the work on the script. Each should have the right to criticise things and even propose radical changes. The different roles are allocated only when they meet on the set." (25/05/2007)

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All available articles from » Marta Strzelecka

"A report yesterday by the London Authority gave warning that the capital's seven million trees face 'a chainsaw massacre', with some 40,000 full-grown trees cut down by councils in London over the past five years", complains the columnist Ben Macintyre. "Our attitude towards urban trees is weirdly ambivalent. We claim to love them, but barely notice as they vanish, while demanding that the council hack them down without mercy if they impinge on our daily lives or, worse, our house prices. William Blake had it right: 'The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way.' We are both tree-huggers and tree-muggers. City trees are accused, often wrongly, of causing subsidence; the pigeons in their branches bespatter our cars; their leaves cause mud and blockages; we fear their rotten limbs might fall on us; their foliage obscures the CCTV cameras that must now follow us everywhere." (25/05/2007)

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All available articles from » Ben Macintyre