The conservative daily Magyar Hírlap compares Russia's act of cutting off gas supplies with the Middle Ages war tactic of encircling an enemy and letting them starve. "Encircled Europe is being subjected to a blockade. And the enemy is waiting for it to freeze. ... No one seriously believes that the current block on gas supplies is simply down to a gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine. ... No. The events now unfolding are motivated by various Russian interests. On the one hand it is a signal to Kiev and Europe that Ukraine has no place in the EU or Nato. On the other it is a signal to Europe that the comfort and prosperity of the West are fragile achievements." (08/01/2009)

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All available articles from » Zsolt Bayer

The daily Delo bemoans the lack of a common EU strategy in the gas dispute, particularly considering that there was already a crisis back in 2006: "The nervous reactions that the disruption in gas supplies through Ukraine's pipeline has triggered have highlighted the serious shortcomings in European energy policy. ... The degree to which the different EU members depend on extremely unreliable Russian gas varies greatly. ... While the former states of the Eastern Bloc in particular buy almost all their gas from Russia, in times of crisis the bigger member states can rely on their comfortingly large reserves." In March the EU is to adopt a detailed strategy on its energy mix. In the event of serious disruptions in gas supplies the European Commission has put together a whole range of emergency measures. "But by spring the energy shortages will have passed, which makes it highly likely that the implementation of these ambitious goals could once again be delayed - at least until the next 'gas war'." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Energy, » Russia, » Europe
All available articles from » Bozo Masanovic

Now that further European countries are being affected by the gas dispute the EU must present a united front vis-à-vis Russia, the conservative weekly Elsevier writes: "Russia is in point of fact just as dependent on Europe as Europe is on Russia. The country urgently needs the revenues from gas sales, for energy revenues account for over 60 percent of the Russian economy. ... Without these gas revenues the Russian authorities won't be able to sustain the economy, and this will undermine their power base. ... It's time for the European Union to formulate a common gas policy, set up an emergency reserve and seek alternatives to Russian gas. Such alternatives do exist. Taken together Canada and Norway export more gas than Russia. Europe must form a united front against Russia. Then Putin will soon comprehend that he needs to radically review his geopolitical position of power." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Energy, » Ukraine, » Russia, » Europe
All available articles from » Remko Nods

The Swiss daily Le Temps discusses Switzerland's role in the gas dispute: "Switzerland is suddenly the surprise player in this difficult crisis between Moscow, Kiev and the European Union. Will our country have a hand in solving the gas conflict that has Europe quaking? ... The first request has come from RosUkrEnergo [the gas supplier founded by Russian and Ukrainian shareholders]. ... It - and not Russia - is the one that supplies Ukraine with gas, and Kiev owes it - not Gazprom - the unpaid 3.2 billion dollars. ... A second request has been submitted by a Ukrainian diplomat to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy as well as to the Secretary of State for Economic Development to explain the situation of the Ukraine and demand Swiss intervention. ... Political factors also play a role. ... As opposed to most European countries, Switzerland depends very little on gas. In addition, the Russians and Ukrainians seem to want to avoid having the European Union ... play the role of referee in their conflict." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Energy, » Corporations, » Switzerland, » Ukraine, » Russia
All available articles from » Ron Hochuli, » Elizabeth Eckert

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis reshuffled his cabinet yesterday, with major changes in the finance portfolio. The daily Ta Nea, which is critical of the government, does not expect much from the move. "Karamanlis has just one goal: halting his party's bad showings in the opinion polls. The prime minister has attempted to correct the most glaring mistakes for which even his own party cadres blame him. ... Sacrificing the Minister of Economy and Finance Georgios Alogoskoufis is doubtless the biggest change in cabinet. It raises many questions however because Karamanlis was in perfect accord with Alogoskoufis' policies, and these will no doubt continue unchanged. ... And that ... is the biggest problem of the cabinet reshuffle: people were changed ... without the slightest indication that policies will change as well. ... This cabinet mix sends no political signal, and merely serves electoral objectives. So we can expect nothing new from the new government." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Greece
All available articles from » Antonis Karkagiannis

Upsala Nya Tidning comments on the ceasefire being sought in Gaza. "The ceasefire will not bring peace, as long as Israel is not ready to abide by the founding of a Palestinian state according to the guidelines set out by the Arab League and former US president Bill Clinton, and which Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also agreed to before his resignation. Israel has continuously answered attacks in such a way as to strengthen those of its enemies who oppose peace. ... Israel will never have other neighbours than the Palestinians. Whatever one thinks of Hamas, Israel's security is insolubly linked with the security of the Palestinians." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Middle East

Juan José Ibarretxe, president of Spain's Basque Country autonomous community, is on trial alongside other leading politicians of the Basque Socialists and leaders of the banned Batasuna Party. They are accused of having violated the ban on the Batasuna Party, the political wing of the ETA separatist group, when they met for peace talks in 2006. El País accuses the conservative People's Party (PP) party of obstructing political debate by initiating the court trial. "The spokesman for the PP faction in the Basque Country parliament said yesterday that the judges must now decide whether the law was broken or not, but that it was without doubt an 'obvious political mistake' to meet up with [Batasuna leader Arnaldo] Otegi and his companions. This may well be true ... but then it was also a mistake of the PP to bring the case to trial. ... In doing so it has not only poisoned relations between the parties at a time when unity is more vital than ever, but has also hindered political debate about the alleged mistake by making it the subject of a trial." (08/01/2009)

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

Rzeczpospolita newspaper speaks out in favour of building new nuclear power plants and criticises Polish environmentalists who it says are blocking the development of the country's energy policy: "The use of coal, which is our prime raw material, is becoming far too expensive. For we must all obey the rules the EU has imposed on us. ... For the country to cover its energy demands what we need now are nuclear power plants. Poland must spend a large proportion of the approximately 60 billion euros it receives from the EU budget on adapting to EU energy standards. The wind parks proposed by environmentalists are a joke. ... By contrast, considering our geographical dimensions nuclear power plants represent a genuine alternative. Eighteen years ago we stopped constructing our only nuclear power plant. .... The fact that we don't have a single nuclear power plant makes us a sad exception in Europe. The environmentalists are largely to blame for this." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Energy, » Poland, » Europe
All available articles from » Bronislaw Wildstein

The historian and commentator Timothy Garton Ash complains about the lack of a coherent European foreign policy in the face of two acute crises, the gas dispute and the Gaza conflict: "Weak, divided, incoherent, hypocritical and infuriating - that's how you hear the EU described privately in Beijing and Washington. The events of this first week of 2009 suggest that our critics are entirely right. ... So long as we, the people, in countries across the EU do not wake up and demand that our leaders get their collective act together in the interest of each and all, they will have no domestic political incentive for doing so. They may (or, in the case of British Conservatives, may not) intellectually accept the long-term case for a stronger, more coherent European voice in the world, but while they are politicians in office this insight will be trumped by considerations of short-term political advantage. It is up to us, the citizens of Europe, to change their calculation of advantage. That means we ourselves have to wake up to the dangerous world we're in: a world in which we now face a long struggle to maintain the relatively prosperous, free and civilised way of life we have built up over the last 50 years. Unless and until we Europeans do thus gather our strength, our American, Chinese and Russian 'friends' will be richly justified in their contempt." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » Timothy Garton Ash

The Czech Republic had ambitious plans for its EU Council presidency, but after just a few days crises are topping the agenda. Ronald Veermann writes in the tabloid De Telegraaf that this is one more indication of the weakness of the rotating EU presidency: "Most EU presidencies have to forget their high aims within a few days and simply improvise. Because instead of a well-oiled Union what we see more and more is simply crisis management. ... And things are no different with the Czechs. Gas and Gaza are the sole topics on the agenda, and they require a sensitive hand on the rudder. The logical step would be to speedily formulate a clear EU line. But in practice this is much harder with an unwieldy and politically discordant Union, as we are now seeing in the EU's reactions to Russia and Israel. The upshot is that all we are capable of is empty condemnations that only underscore Europe's image as a political lightweight. ... The Scandinavians may mark the end of this trend, for if everything goes well the Treaty of Lisbon will go into effect in 2010. Then the EU will finally have a fixed president for at least two years." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Czech Republic, » Europe
All available articles from » Ronald Veerman

The Italian airline Alitalia is to sell part of its shares to the French-Dutch company Air France-KLM. In the aftermath of the deal Umberto Bossi, head of Lega Nord, is pushing for more intercontinental flights to fly out of Milan's Malpensa Airport. After the deal these flights are set to take off from Rome. The daily Corriere della Sera suspects a European parliamentary election ploy behind Bossi's protests. "Umberto Bossi's bitter cries conceal a clear goal: they are meant to counter the impression that the 'Northern League' has been defeated in the trial of strength over Alitalia's international alliances, and cast the Lega as the true defender of the North's interests. ... The deal with Air France is as good as done, especially since Silvio Berlusconi has repeated that Lufthansa has not come up with a proposal. But this is no concern of Bossi's. His sole objective is to present the Lega's voters with a small scalp [a compromise to save Malpensa Airport]. He wants to help out Lombardy, which is stricken by rising unemployment, and receive his reward for doing so in the EU elections." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Corporations, » Italy
All available articles from » Massimo Franco

The Romanian government has approved a law banning pensioned civil servants from supplementing their pensions by taking on a new post. The daily Adevărul takes a critical view of the law: "As usual, it's those with the smallest incomes who will be worst hit. ... It's teachers, doctors and actors who have decided to continue working after retirement. They filled vacant posts, created values and ensured the continued operation of institutions that would otherwise have had to close down. ... Naturally the government needs to stop cases of fraud in which important people retire only to have themselves reappointed ... thus cashing in on both a salary and ... a pension. But ... there is a ... difference between such cases and normal pensioners. Moreover this new regulation can lead to the resignation of heads of district assemblies, as was the case in the city of Iasi. This means that new local elections have to be held and more costs are incurred than what is saved by [applying the law to] all the pensioners in the district." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Romania
All available articles from » Ion M. Ionita

Maltese politician Owen Bonnici protests in the Times of Malta against the neglect of the Maltese language - at the national as well as at the EU level: "The government should be ashamed that after nearly five full years of European Union membership it is still allowing the Maltese language to be treated as a kind of third class language in the EU. ... For the benefit of foreigners who might be reading this article, Maltese is the epitome of inter-cultural dialogue in that it is structurally unique and rich, embracing two apparently distinct worlds: the Semitic and Latin worlds. Irrespective of the fact that it is spoken by fewer than half a million people worldwide, Maltese per se is every linguist's dream and music to the ears. ... We need a law that would create a regulatory authority promoting the use of Maltese and ensuring compliance with a basic set of rules, like obliging all organisations and quangos in the public sector providing services to the public to treat Maltese and English on an equal basis in everything they do." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Cultural Policy, » Malta
All available articles from » Owen Bonnici

The Financial Times Deutschland welcomes the decision of US online music shop iTunes to dispense with copy protection for its products. "Everyone can profit from a music business without restrictions: digital music shops and their customers, because the users no longer need be annoyed by restrictions on the use of products they have paid for. And music labels also stand to gain, even though they lose what is supposed to act as a firewall for their business. As long as only a small group of Internet fans purchase their music from the Net, music companies will have difficulties developing the legal download business into a mass market. Getting rid of these tiresome restrictions is therefore an important step towards making distribution through the Internet more attractive. If the music industry fails to achieve this it will have a hard time offsetting its shrinking revenues from CD sales through Internet revenues for the foreseeable future." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Online media, » Trade, » Consumers, » U.S., » Global

The Danish daily Dagbladet Information comments on the endless discussion over the future of state television broadcaster TV2. "If this never-ending saga ever has an end - whether happy or not - the entire privatisation of the channel seems the most sensible approach. Similar cases in Scandinavia have shown that this is not necessarily synonymous with lower quality television, and at the same time a clean cut would give the broadcaster a chance to take a long break under stable conditions. We'll have to wait until the final version of the rescue plan is presented to see whether this means viewers pay or (what is more likely) the channel has to continue getting by with a mishmash of state and private funding and the attendant power of politicians to influence existing forms of organisation." (08/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Audiovisual Media, » Denmark

On October 2 French President Nicolas Sarkozy initiated a debate on possible solutions to the crisis facing the press. The daily Le Monde comments on today's media crisis: "The year 2008 will be remembered as a year of fundamental change for the press, with a drop in sales, ... fewer readers and decreased advertising revenues. These signs portend a media crisis, which is only exacerbated by the current economic crisis. One model seems to be perishing while another - whose form is still unknown to us - is being born. The printed press and Internet are searching [but] no one has found the winning formula. This goes for Europe just as much as for the US. ... The confusion is all the greater as we are seeing the end of a business model. French publishers are observing with consternation what is happening in the US. ... The prestigious New York Times will have to seek external capital and mortgage its new headquarters in Manhattan. On January 5 the daily featured advertising on its front page for the first time." (06/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Print media, » Online media, » Media policy, » France, » U.S.
All available articles from » Pascale Santi