The Irish daily views the Bali conference in a positive light: "It is very rare indeed in this fractious world for a large number of countries to agree on anything. Yet in Bali 187 members of the United Nations - large and small, rich and poor - adopted a mandate for a new, more intensive round of negotiations, with a two-year deadline, to reach agreement on deep cuts in the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for causing global warning. ... One of the most heartening aspects of the Bali conference was the willingness of China - whose emissions, though enormous, are six times lower than the US on a per capita basis - to become actively engaged in the search for solutions. However, the most effective way to encourage China and other major developing countries such as India, Brazil and South Africa to find more environmentally sustainable growth paths is for developed countries, notably the US, to lead by example." (17/12/2007)

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Tomas Nemecek observes: "As opposed to what sceptics predicted, there was a breakthrough in Bali. True, we still don't have any binding maximum limitations. That will be the topic for Copenhagen in 2009. But for the first time, China and India committed themselves to reducing greenhouse gasses. And also for the first time – though not voluntarily - the USA has agreed as well. It was no accident that Senators Lieberman and Warner of the US Congress have just now brought out their climate-political roadmap of upper limits for greenhouse gas emissions, oriented towards European guidelines. Bali was a precursor to the readiness of the entire world to do something against global warming." (17/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Tomáš Němeček

Fabio Lo Verso takes stock of the Bali conference. "In the absence of sincere and conclusive adherence to Kyoto guidelines, China, Russia and India have at least learnt to speak an 'ecologically correct language'. This is the mark of consensus in Bali, a sort of a la carte compromise: each country will be able to adopt the scenario that most suits it providing it multiplies declarations and brandishes its faith in the climate change struggle. More ambitious decisions will be made later, in Copenhagen, in 2009 [Where and when a UN conference will be held and a new treaty on climate change is due to be adopted]. Thus Bali has deliberately distanced the rigidity of Kyoto to soften-up the positions of the more reluctant. By joining this movement at the last minute, Washington has taken an unexpected turn, six years after having tried to sink the Kyoto protocol." (17/12/2007)

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Patrick Lamm considers that "to have kept the United States in the negotiation process represents an encouraging result in itself. All eyes are turned to Washington and the election of a new president of the United States next year, who will hopefully be more flexible than George W. Bush. ... But in the meantime, something concrete needs to be put on the drawing board. This is what will be attempted right from this week by Europeans, who are on the frontline of this crusade. This Wednesday [December 19th] the European Commission is due to present its new norms for cars' carbon dioxide emissions. But there is little chance that a decision made on this occasion, for Europeans are themselves divided between the Germans who don't want to handicap their big saloon cars and the Latin countries (France and Italy) who are defending their smaller, less pollutant engines. The road to a rescued planet will be long." (17/12/2007)

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"International climate diplomacy" is the wrong weapon in the fight against global warming, says political scientist Ulrich Brand of the University of Vienna. Governments should rather focus on achievements in their own countries: "And the governments are afraid to tell it like it is, to their own citizens: The fact is, they must accept – and put into practice - a radical restructuring of the traffic system, away from the automobile. The consumption of meat and use of electronic appliances must be cut back dramatically. The increasingly absurd competition between many companies for access to resources, so as to produce more cheaply – thus causing more damage to the environment – must stop... Consider an auto-free Vienna inside the belt – it would mean a drastic reduction of traffic. We don't need the EU or the US government, which 'give in' under diplomatic pressure, without actually following through." (17/12/2007)

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The magistrate Marc Clément warns Europe against the woes of Belgium where political parties are shackled by linguistic boundaries. "Voters have to define themselves according to their French-speaking or Flemish identities and have no say on overall policies concerning Belgium as a whole... It is not surprising under these circumstances that the federal political project is falling apart. The European situation is barely more favourable. Every voter today votes for national parties. ... We are still far from a common vision of the future, from a programme that reaches beyond national interests. Practising politics in Europe is indeed the issue, but so too is avoiding the return of the exclusive confrontation of national, linguistic and regional interests." (17/12/2007)

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The Italian philosopher Paolo Flores d'Arcais, editor in chief of MicroMega, deplores the speech delivered by Pope Benedict XVI in his latest encyclical. "The crusade goes on. The encyclical entitled 'Spe Salvi' and sent out by Benedict XVI last November 30th, ratifies and radicalises the anathema of a Catholic Church set against a modernity guilty of disobeying God and consequently hurling itself into desperate nihilism. All has been said now. Even democracy is a lie if mankind's sovereignty is not subordinate to the imperative of 'natural law', which is to say, if freedom doesn't coincide with Church ukases, the only authorised interpreter of this natural law and the will of God. Democracy has to be Christian, if not it will be inhuman. The mystery has finally been solved. ... Evil comes from the enlightenment, the project that strives for mankind's autonomy." (17/12/2007)

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The daily considers the impact Kosovo's future may have on Cyprus, which "has made it clear it will back Belgrade all the way on the issue within the EU. Some may look back to Cyprus' traditional solidarity with Serbia, or point to Nicosia's desire to please Moscow out of spite against the 'Anglo-Americans'. But the fact is that the precedent set by international recognition of a unilateral declaration of independence in Kosovo could potentially have catastrophic implications for Cyprus. ... The dangers are obvious: international law – for decades the basic platform for the country's political struggle – is replaced by the ruthless interests of power politics. ... What are the dangers that Cyprus too may soon be seen as an unreliable partner to be sacrificed on the altar of expediency, especially if the Greek Cypriots are perceived to be the obstacle to a solution?" (17/12/2007)

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On sunday, December 16th, Britain signed away the last of four Iraqi provinces that it has struggled to secure since 2003. The daily comments. "The Foreign Secretary [David Miliband] represented the British government. Iraq's National Security Adviser thanked British forces and hailed a 'victory for Iraq'. ... For all the fine words and formality, however, there was no concealing the uncomfortable and many-layered truth. This was not a victory, certainly not for the British, but not for the Iraqis either. ... Nor were the British actually leaving. They were merely moving from a combat to an 'overwatch' function, which means that they will continue to train Iraqi forces and can be called upon to assist them, if needed. ... It is a bleak legacy that this wholly unnecessary conflict leaves behind, and one that will not be erased for a very long time." (17/12/2007)

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According to a survey commissioned by the newspaper, fifteen years after their separation from the Czech Republic, the majority of Slovaks would like to see a return to united Czechoslovakia. On one hand, this is due to a mystical glorification of the good old days, writes Peter Morvay: "But at the same time, the survey also reveals that the political will for the division of Czechoslovakia was actually absent at the time - at least if you consider the will of the majority of Slovaks and not that of the politicians, some of whom still rule over us today. The division of the Czechoslovakian state serves as a warning against the abuse of position by the political elite. They acted for their own benefit, and without consideration for the people." (17/12/2007)

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It has been just about a year since Bulgaria joined the EU. And surveys show that in this period, the number of those who view Europe with optimism has dropped by half. Swetoslaw Tersiew asks: "Why do we distance ourselves from Europe, the more we integrate in it? There can only be one explanation: As we get closer, we recognise our similarities and how far apart we are. It was clear that the euphoria over accession would ultimately give way to a depression, because the illusion of suddenly being a European would dissolve... In truth, the disappointment of the Bulgarians in domestic politicians has been transferred to the European politicians. During negotiations for accession, we thought that those in power in Bulgaria would follow the European course. But after accession, the toughest warnings of weakness in the fight against criminality and corruption were replaced by compliments." (17/12/2007)

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Bogdan Olteanu, head of the Romanian Chamber of Representatives, and the Agrarian Party have written an open letter accusing writers Mircea Cartarescu and Horia Roman Patapievici of 'dictatorial thinking.' Andreea Pora explains: "Patapievici wrote in an editorial that the Agrarian Party is one of the biggest disappointments, and writer Mircea Cartarescu called Chamber President Bogdan Olteanu an 'absolutely embarrassing person' – an opinion shared by 99 percent of the population. With their open letter, [Olteanau and the Agrarian Party] are trying to deprive these two intellectuals of their moral right to be the louder ones. They are trying to stigmatise their critics, not only in the eyes of the public but also among their peers. They stir up fear in the hopes that people will turn away from them in disgust… but these kinds of campaigns always backfire, as the past 18 years have shown." (17/12/2007)

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A museum about the history of the Solidarność political union has opened on the former Lenin Wharf in Gdansk, where this anti-communist freedom movement was born in 1980. Curator Grzegorz Klaman of the Gdansk Foundation Wyspa Progress explains: "Solidarność could become a model for those fighting for freedom; a model that other states can use in their struggles against totalitarianism... We need this museum to present concrete information about the Solidarność superproduct, right here where it all happened: among the bricks, the steel, the climate, the spirit and atmosphere of the wharf. All these elements are is consolidated into an artefact, which becomes a symbol of the Solidarność brand." (15/12/2007)

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Regina Mönch likes the winning proposal for a Berlin Wall memorial on Bernauer Street, designed by Berlin architects Winkelmüller, Sinai, Faust and Fuchs. "Bernauer Street is really authentic, unlike other sites in the city which was cut off and walled-in for 28 years. The street is loaded with emblematic life stories like none other. All the world knows the case of the soldier, Schumann, who leapt to freedom over the freshly installed thickets of barbed-wire; the images of people tumbling from the windows of apartments on the eastern side of Bernauer Street into the waiting safety blankets of the West Berlin Fire Department; and maybe also the image of the dynamited Versöhnungskirche, the Church of Reconciliation, as it sank into a dusty cloud." The memorial will now turn almost the entire street into a place of remembrance, "to keep alive the memory of the topography of the wall-era, when Bernauer Street – uninhabitable and robbed of its identity - was the no-man's land of world history." (17/12/2007)

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Alizée Poulicek, the new Miss Belgium, was elected on Saturday, December 15th, with more than a spot of bother, explains Myriam Leroy. The candidate was booed in public for failing to understand a question that she was asked in Dutch. "And now Miss Belgium, the latest ambitious televised event to be made by members of both the French-speaking and Flemish communities, is wallowing in intolerance. A word of advice to future candidates for Peugeot convertibles and a matching crown: be 'tweetalig' [bilingual] otherwise, you will poop the party. We are her to elect bottoms, boobs, eyes, a smile and a posture, but also, in Belgium, keen attentiveness in language lessons. ... Little matter Alizée's spontaneity, little matter her enthralling life story and the fact that she masters English and Czech. 'Helaas spreekt Alizée nauwelijks Nederlands' [Alas Alizée hardly speaks Dutch], regrets the Flemish papers [The day after the nomination]." (17/12/2007)

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Martin Winter is outraged by the EU's plans to establish a "Council of the Wise," based on a suggestion by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "Instead of tossing Sarkozy's suggestion in the trash where it belongs, the 27 member states are now creating a 'Think Tank Horizon 2020-2030.' The ridiculous name reflects the senselessness of the project. Europe does not need sages to tell them what challenges lie ahead. No retired statesmen and women, or top business managers, are needed to find a new European idea. Global challenges and European visions were openly and fully discussed, after Joschka Fischer's Humboldt speech in 2000 and during the convention for designing a constitution. What Europe really needs is politicians who answer essential European questions themselves, not diverting them into working groups. Politicians who are ready to take risks for this, and to withstand the pressure of conflicts. But there are just not enough politicians of such mettle." (14/12/2007)

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