Pascal Martin inquires into Berlusconi's political longevity. "A man who is so unattached to the good of the state, so quick to tend to his personal interests, has succeeded in convincing the largest number of electors. Why? Silvio Berlusconi is a populist and populists don't do well in power. But there is nothing 'Il Cavaliere' seems incapable of achieving. Maybe because he and his electorate are 100 miles from the idea of what we do here with the state and those in its service. A large proportion of Italians simply don't believe. In a society where individualism is king, Silvio Berlusconi incarnates the 'sly': he who can, better than anyone else, manage to wriggle out of the affair. Or the affairs. Capable of marking political points, he is above all else, the genius of communication. In Italy, where communication is consumed without moderation, he gets people drunk like so much alcohol." (15/04/2008)

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According to Michael Braun, Berlusconi's return to power was on the cards back in April 2006, when he lost the elections to Romano Prodi. "Romano Prodi did the rest of the work with his coalition. With its 13 or so ruling parties, the centre-left troop conveyed a pathetic impression - so people on the right soon forgot that during his five years in power Berlusconi did nothing to address the structural problems of a country whose economy has been stagnating for years. Prodi was the fiscal Dracula who raised taxes to get the budget back on course and fulfil the EU stability criteria. Berlusconi on the other hand - well, wasn't he the one who issued one tax amnesty after another during his term in office? ... For the first time - and this is a revolution by Italian standards - only four factions will sit in the country's parliament. So the times when 23 to 30 parties defined Rome's politics have come to an end." (15/04/2008)

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"Seen from abroad, the choice seems incomprehensible," writes Olivier Chavaz. "Berlusconi is a man of the past. His two stints in power brought absolutely nothing to the country. On the contrary, they contributed to driving the economic crisis a bit further in and in discrediting Italy on the international scene after so many bungles and ineptitudes. ... Today, Italian politics is on the road to 'Americanisation.' This evolution is deliberate. The right and the centre-left have together decided to end the rainbow coalitions as the sources of fragility. But neither of the poles has a real project. What good then comes from consenting to a bipartisan system that is nothing more than a concentration of power?" (15/04/2008)

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Piotr Kowalczuk is delighted that Italy appears to be on the way to becoming a two-party system. "The costs of politics are the highest in Europe, because the permanent crisis has been prolonged for fourteen years now by the same arrogant and corrupt political caste that can only agree when it comes to fixing its own stately salaries. ... If the Italian state wants to find its way out of the crisis it must subject itself to a painful major overhaul. State structures must be strengthened and the costs of politics reduced. The creation of two moderate and significant blocks provides a unique chance to remove the extremists that have specialised in political blackmail from the parliament. There is also the chance that after the next elections a two-party system will emerge in Italy." (15/04/2008)

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Umberto Bossi's North League made a spectacular advance in the Italian elections and will be a key partner for the new government. Journalist Gad Lerner reflects on this separatist and Europhobic victory. "The League's proletariat will celebrate 2008 as the year during which it definitively evicted the left from the world it was born in 150 years ago: the industrial north, its plains and valleys. Bossi has succeeded in conserving, even though he is sick and out of the media's attention, a mythical aura as founder of his people... . The League, doubling its support in Lombardy and Veneto, is the only party that develops around the theme of defending a territory. A territory famous for its unity, but also which needs protection when tentacles of globalisation threaten." (15/04/2008)

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Christoph Prantner fears there won't be any changes for the better in Italy: "According to the OECD, Italy's economy will barely grow at all this year, the country's share in world trade has dwindled, its productivity has declined and wages are stagnating. Many Italians are so poor they can no longer even afford to eat pasta every day. A precarious generation of young has grown up that doesn't want to start families because they fear they won't be able to support them. Berlusconi grew up and made his mark in this sclerotic system. Even the most hopeless optimists don't believe that of all people this man, who after all contributed considerably to creating many of the problems, will be able to solve them." (15/04/2008)

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British historian Dennis Deletant, who after writing critical works on communism in Romania was declared a persona non grata by Nicolae Ceausescu in 1988, talks in an interview with Cristian Patrasconiu about the communist secret service. "In a way one could say that Securitate has won in Romania, as in Poland and Bulgaria. When we compare those who have come out on top economically, there's little difference with Poland. In both countries people had access to leading positions in the economy, and they took advantage of this in 1989. The West, too, has benefited from these relations. The West has not expressly called for 'lustration'. There are ties between the secret services of the West and those of the East that developed in the 1980s and are still maintained today. It would no doubt be uncomfortable for the West if the files brought more 'truth' to light." (15/04/2008)

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The protests that met the Olympic flame on its rally around the world underline the flame's modern significance, writes columnist Nikos Konstandaras. The flame and its tour "are a strange mix of antique hocus-pocus, contemporary nonsense and real emotions. ... In essence, the flame is a concept in which a pop interpretation of what constitutes antiquity is yoked to the need to sell the Games to an international audience in the best possible way. But that which gives true value to the ceremony is the expectation of the public and the people's sense that there truly is a connection between today's Olympics and those of antiquity. ... The passion with which the organizers and state officials try to protect it, and the intensity with which demonstrators have tried to disrupt its course indicate that the symbol of the Olympic Flame has become global and is very much alive." (15/04/2008)

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In a commentary, Adam Michnik notes that in one respect the brothers Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczyński were surprisingly successful: populism will remain strong in Poland. "Populism stands in sharp contrast to parliamentary democracy; it derides pluralism and minority rights. Initially, it expresses an aversion to the conservative democracy of the elite and a commitment to 'true democracy', under which the country can be 'ruled by a cook'. Then it establishes a state controlled by a leader and in which the people are controlled by someone who possesses the competence of a cook. So why does democracy allow populists to win democratic elections? Because democrats know that democracy implies a contradiction: democracy resolutely tolerates its opponents until they resort to violence. ... One can put it this way: God gives us a chance with democracy." (11/04/2008)

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In an interview conducted by Elisabeth Lévy, French philosopher Jean-François Mattéi reflects on what makes up European identity. "All civilisation is defined by a vision of the world. The Indians, the Aztecs saw the world, but not in the same way that the Europeans did. European civilisation puts vision in a privileged position; that which the Greeks called 'theoria'. It's with this theoretical vision that Europe was able to extend its hold over the world, and with this vision was born the works that assured its supremacy. ... The European vision has always aimed at an identity, a scientific identity with the idea of 'the real', an ethical and practical identity via 'the good', an aesthetic identity with 'the beautiful'. For me, there isn't only a specificity, but a superiority to European culture. Other cultures have signs, images, words, but Europeans invented the concept." (10/04/2008)

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The daily comments that the appointment of Carme Chacón, who took up her function as minister of Defense on April 14th, is unprecedented in Spanish politics. "It is clear that [Prime Minister] Zapatero succeeded with this decision to surprise public opinion which never thought this portfolio would be given to a 37 year old pregnant woman who calls herself 'red-green'. ... He's made Chacón's appointment an exercise in political marketing. Both of them succeeded in making into the Guinness, the book of world records that brings together the greatest feats and the most ridiculous acts. Chacón is the first defense minister in the world to be named while seven months pregnant. The future will tell us if this is progress or folly." (15/04/2008)

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"Mr [Brian] Cowen will become Taoiseach in a matter of weeks. A few weeks later, Mr [Peter] Robinson is equally certain to assume the role of First Minister of Northern Ireland," writes the daily after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) elected their new leader on April 14. "Yesterday it seemed the most natural thing in the world that they should talk immediately after Mr Robinson's elevation [the two men met in Belfast]. ... But time was when it would have been unthinkable. We have moved on from confrontation and conflict to the kind of relationship that should always have existed between the Republic and Northern Ireland. And in time to come it may, and probably will, become standard practice for a Taoiseach-designate and a First Minister-designate to make a meeting like yesterday's their first priority. Nothing could be more benign, and nothing could signify better the desire on both sides to tear down barriers instead of raising them." (15/04/2008)

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Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu has resigned following the death of a Romanian citizen in a Polish prison. The man went on hunger strike, however the Romanian and Polish authorities failed to react. Eliza Francu comments on the post of the Romanian foreign minister: "The next leading diplomat will inherit not only a great deal of political pressure and pressure from the media, but also an immense bureaucratic machinery which so far has never functioned as it's supposed to. ... Now the prime minister is calling for Western-style diplomacy in which an immense amount of energy is invested in helping citizens in distress. This is embarrassing because the ministry has much more serious problems to deal with. ... [The embassies in] Italy and Spain are working with reduced staffs endowed with inadequate budgets that face the task of solving the problems of a million Romanians living in these states." (15/04/2008)

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Dariusz Ćwiklak complains that Polish authorities provide forms that only function using the software of the American firm Microsoft. "What would happen if the government passed a decree under which only Fiats and Citroëns were allowed to circulate on Poland's roads? We are allowing the State to force us to use Microsoft's operating system. ... Users of other systems are treated like a necessary evil or simply ignored. Representatives of the authorities have either never heard of Mac OS X or Linux or respond to the mention of these names with a condescending: 'Can't you use Windows?' Of course I can, but I don't want to. ... In its constitution the Polish state guarantees its citizens freedom of conscience and political freedom. Why not the freedom to choose which computer and which operating system to use?" (12/04/2008)

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Roman Hollenstein accuses international star architects of having been incredibly naïve to erect monuments to the power of the Chinese government, as Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have done with their Beijing Olympic Stadium. "Instead of profiting from the Olympic Games, their brand could suffer now that it's clear that the Chinese government was only paying lip service with its promises to improve the human rights situation. At the same time Herzog & de Meuron must realise that they have allowed themselves to become the accomplices of an unscrupulous regime. To an even greater extent than Koolhaas' CCTV highrise, Beijing's new airport by Norman Foster or the blue bubble-shaped swimming pool building by Sydney's PTW Architects, the evocative Olympia Stadium - like the elegantly styled Olympic torch - could become a symbol of a China that oppresses dissidents, civil rights activists and minorities as well as an entire people in Tibet." (14/04/2008)

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