Dorothea Hahn doesn't believe Sarkozy's tactics will work: "Five months after Sarkozy took office the first 'crack' has appeared. This crack, however, only affects the private life of the president and his wife, and it had been on the cards for months. There is something obscene about the fact that Sarkozy announced his separation from his wife on the very day he was confronted with the first serious protests against his policies. This is why the news from the Elysée seems more like a strategy for diverting attention from the strikes. The manoeuvre has failed. ... This victory shows that Sarkozy's method doesn't work. He wants to make deep inroads into the social network without negotiating beforehand." (19/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Dorothea Hahn

The daily points out that "Union leaders were quick to remind the president that the strike turnout was 6% more than they achieved in 1995, when a three-week walk-out by the vanguard of the industrial workforce compelled Jacques Chirac to abandon similar reforms. Mr Sarkozy is on his own in more ways than one, and it may be that he believes he can reap a temporary political advantage in appearing the victim of events. There was more than a hint of news management yesterday, as the personal drama of the couple's divorce stole the thunder of thousands of marchers through France's major cities. ... Mr Sarkozy has to tread carefully. He cannot cave in the first time the unions flex their muscles. He was elected to reform labour laws, after a decade of failed attempts to do so. But nor will Thatcheresque confrontation work either if he is to keep public opinion onside.” (19/10/2007)

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

For Jacques Juillard, "Since yesterday [Thursday October 18th], it is official: the Sarkozy magic has stopped working. ... That a strike triggered by such a debatable objective, as unpopular as the defence of special pensions schemes, has been unanimously voted by trade unions, followed by the large majority of those concerned and caused such little protest from travellers is the sure sign that the Sarkozy rocket is entering the lower layers of the atmosphere. Why this change of climate? For an obvious reason: the leadership has just moved on from gratifying reforms (inheritance, overtime, a tax shield) to penalising reforms (special pensions schemes, franchising medication, cracking down on immigrants). The first set of reforms mainly favoured the well-off layers of society; the second hit the working-class layers, in such a way that the real nature of the Sarkozy regime, its class nature as we used to say, is being revealed in the bright, broad daylight". (19/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Jacques Julliard

The editorialist of the conservative daily predicts "a dark autumn for Nicolas Sarkozy. The honeymoon he had been having with his country since being elected had to come to an end sooner or later. ...France resists change. It is easy to proclaim the necessity of reform, but we know how much the French like rhetoric. Action is harder than words. And thus everyone is gritting their teeth. Especially when it comes to resuscitating a country suffocating under the weight of its public service. ... Whole slices of the economy are used to sticking to low levels of productivity and a considerable part of the population is attached to their comfy little lifestyles worthy of civil servants'. ... For the time being, Sarkozy appears determined to go ahead with his reforms. ... Everything depends on knowing whether he will be capable of keeping his bearings through this difficult test he is faced with." (19/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Social movements, » France

The tram is back! Tramways are multiplying in Europe and especially in France, where they had been wiped out a few years ago. The columnist Claude Javeau is delighted. "The tram is, without a doubt, of all earthly vehicles, the most poetic. We cannot imagine Tennessee Williams writing 'A Bus Named Desire'. ... [The return of the tram] shows that progress is not always linear. The tram had disappeared, the tram has returned: granted, it doesn't look quite the same, and doesn't smell, as it did in the good old double-axle vehicle days, of sour tomato soup (I found the same smell in the old Parisian metro), but it is still the same kind of machine. ... In the same vein, we have to salute the survival of vinyl records and the decks they spin on." (19/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Public Culture, » Europe
All available articles from » Claude Javeau

Václav Havel defends Jan Kaplicky's futuristic design for a new national library, which has met with staunch opposition from Prague's conservative politicians. "I was delighted that Prague, which has so few beautiful or modern buildings, would finally have an interesting structure that would make architectural history. ... But my delight was premature. Mediocrity and triteness have once again won the day. ... Prague and all our other cities are spreading out like cancers in all directions and destroying large tracts of Czech countryside. ... If you leave Prague you can travel for miles without coming across a single town, street, village or woods - just supermarkets, hypermarkets, car dealerships, administration buildings, warehouses, huge car parks and other anonymous buildings. In sum: mindless nothingness. ... The library debacle is just one small example, but it's typical of these times and particularly of the Czech brand of capitalism." (19/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Architecture / Cities, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Vaclav Havel

The EU heads of state and government have agreed to adopt the new Reform Treaty, which Martin Winter describes as "tolerably good". "In future there will be more democracy in the EU. The rights and the decision-making influence of the European Parliament will be strengthened and there is a move towards increased civic participation. The possibilities of a country blocking EU initiatives with a veto will be limited because in future majority votes will play a greater role. This is crucial, because once individual countries can no longer block European development, the slowest will no longer set the pace of development. ... It's also a good thing that those who want to move faster in certain areas will be allowed to do so under certain conditions. This could certainly serve to accelerate further European integration." (19/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Constitution, » Europe
All available articles from » Martin Winter

Poles living abroad could play a more vital role than ever in the parliamentary elections on Sunday, notes former Polish Foreign Minister Władysław Bartoszewski. "For years it was clear that the conservative groups of 'old' emigrants, for example those in Chicago, would support the right-wing parties while most Poles in the former Soviet republics tended to vote for the post-communists. ... This time the votes of Poles abroad will have a greater impact because there's a large new group: those who have left the country in search of a better life in Great Britain, Ireland, the Scandinavian countries or Germany. ... It's easy to predict their voting preferences. Most of them have opted for a life in a liberal European economic system. Therefore they will speak out in favour of the kind of vision of a developed Poland which the [opposition] Civic Platform represents." (19/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Poland, » Europe
All available articles from » Wladyslaw Bartoszewski

Slovenia will elect a new president on Sunday. There are six candidates and a runoff vote on November 11 is expected. Former Prime Minister Lojze Peterle is touted as favourite, followed by the two left-wing candidates, former UN diplomat Danilo Türk and Mitja Gaspari, a former head of the central bank. The xenophobic Zmaga Jelincic, who hopes to make it into the runoff, is said to have little chance of doing so. Mirjan Lesjak comments: "This year's presidential election campaign was inordinately long. The six candidates are to blame. Not one of them qualified for the position of president of the republic by possessing qualities such as composure and patience, commitment to dialogue, mutual respect or a man-of-the-world air. ... We shouldn't depend too much on the promises made by these candidates to increase salaries or pensions, build new roads or cut taxes. Such things will be decided [at the parliamentary elections] next year." (19/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Miran Lesjak

Vladimir Kosin of the Russian embassy in Helsinski has warned Finland to seriously reconsider plans to acquire NATO membership, because this would be interpreted as a step against Russia. According to Björn Mansson, this is Kosin's reaction to the remarks made by Finland's Defence Minister Jyri Jukka Häkämies, who has described Russia as the greatest challenge for Finland in foreign policy. Mansson adds: "Obviously Kosin didn't think about the consequences of his comments. When he proposed a strategic partnership with Russia as an alternative to NATO membership he should have realised how counterproductive his remarks were. Older Finns can still remember when in 1978 President Kekkonen turned down a similar proposal made by the Soviet defence minister, Dmitri Ustinov. ... Our foreign minister did well to let Kosin's remarks go without comment, because although Russia is sceptical in its attitude towards Finnish NATO membership, it's not as tactless as Kosin." (19/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Finland, » Russia
All available articles from » Björn Mansson

In an interview with István Tanács, Hungarian economist Péter Balázs answers the question of what chances the West Balkan states have of becoming EU members as follows: "Each individual member must meet the membership criteria, but Serbia could make a great leap forward if it constructed a joint programme for the West Balkans. Serbia is quite low down on the list for membership talks: first come Croatia, Turkey and Macedonia. ... It's as if Serbia had gone to the wrong checkout; the queue it's in isn't moving because of Turkey. The only way to get ahead of other candidates would be a spectacular joint West Balkan initiative led by Serbia and including Slovenia and Croatia." (19/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Serbia
All available articles from » István Tanács

Facing global warming, Pierre Veya deplores the "Big lobbies loss of honour" in the car and petrol industries. "These two industries form such powerful oligopolies that they have been able to impose leniency norms [regarding the struggle against pollution], leaning on their assets and their undeniable contribution to the 'American Dream'. ... What will increasingly appear as strategic errors have been rendered possible by a political benevolence that has adopted the industrial discourse haloed with prestige as heroes of the nation. Leadership tend to fall into a classic political trap, succumbing to the weight carried by lobbies. Angela Merkel, for example, when the European Union decided to toughen antipollution norms, did not defend general interests, but the market shares of car manufacturers." (19/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Germany, » Global
All available articles from » Pierre Veya

Ben Macintyre tells us that "The old Kenny Rogers [US country singer] hit, 'The Gambler', has become the unofficial anthem of the rugby World Cup: 'You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, Know when to walk away and know when to run'. ... The Gambler is, of course, corny, sentimental and faintly embarrassing, but also, like much American country music (or country and western, as it used to be called), it is uplifting in an uncomplicated, entertaining and immediately memorable way. Rogers's ballad tells the story of a young man down on his luck, 'out of aces' and reduced to his last swallow of whiskey, who finds inspiration in the advice of a dying gambler. It is about picking yourself up when you have been hammered, and the importance of changing tactics. No wonder the England team have adopted it, as abject defeat has been transformed into the prospect of World Cup victory." (19/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Sport, » United Kingdom
All available articles from » Ben Macintyre

Dimitri Rigopoulos comments on the death on October 16th of the 26-year-old pop star Tose Proeski from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). "He was a folk hero, a source of pride to the citizens of this young Balkan nation. And this is partly because Proeski was also widely popular in all the other countries of the former Yugoslavia. ... The government declared [October 17th, the day of his funeral], a day of national mourning. … The extent of the shock waves felt by the news media and the manner in which it was handled, reflects an entire society. The young singer, and now his memory, represents the worries, dreams and illusions of the entire nation. … Yes, a state as young as this, established just in 1991, has earned the right to have 26-year-old heroes and to mourn the death of a young man." (18/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Music, » Central Europe
All available articles from » Dimitri Rigopoulos