The liberal daily Sme welcomes the extradition of suspected Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk to Germany as well as his pending trial: "When the American authorities went to collect Demjanjuk in April his relatives protested against his threatened extradition. His son explained that his father suffered from leukaemia and his lawyer called deportation to Germany 'torture'. … But unlike his victims Demjanjuk was able to grow old. … That Demjanjuk himself almost became a victim of the Nazis does not justify that he voluntarily humiliated and tyrannised men, women and children and sent them to their death in the gas chambers. Unlike his victims he now has the chance to defend himself against the fact that he quite rightly is at the top of the list of most wanted war criminals. The trial against him and the witnesses' statements are the best answer to those who deny the Holocaust." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, Slovak)
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Germany
All available articles from » Miriam Zsilleová

Tony Paterson, Germany correspondent for the liberal daily The Independent, praises the German judicial system for bringing the case of the alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk to trial: "Germany's legal authorities can ... take credit for bringing Mr Demjanjuk to justice. They have failed to bring charges against many German Nazis in the past. But in the Demjanjuk case, they were the ones who were finally able to unearth evidence which may now lead to his conviction. Yet few German commentators were singing their praises yesterday. Perhaps not surprisingly most of the comment was provided by Germany's Central Council of Jews. Stephan Kramer, the organisation's general secretary, said that it was almost irrelevant whether Mr Demjanjuk was imprisoned for his crimes. 'What is important is that we will get a discussion about justice in post-war Germany and how the justice system has dealt with Nazi crimes,' he said. Many non-Jewish Germans would agree with him." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Germany
All available articles from » Tony Paterson

The trial of alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk in Munich is really about his crime, not his punishment, writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung: "The trial against John Demjanjuk will no doubt be the last Nazi war trial. These last trials were and are horrible not because the Nazi henchmen have become so horribly old, but because the German criminal justice system has taken so horribly long and been so horribly lenient. Are we to think that the trial against the old Demjanjuk is now an attempt to compensate for past lapses? If so, it won't succeed. The post-war justice system's failures can no longer be atoned for. But today's judiciary can at least establish Demjanjuk's guilt. That is the only thing this trial is about - ascertaining guilt for the murder of untold thousands of people." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Germany, » Ukraine, » U.S.
All available articles from » Heribert Prantl

Among other crimes, the alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk is said to bear partial responsibility for the death of around 27,000 Dutch Jews. The trial against him is also important for the victims' families, writes Johannes Houwink ten Cate, professor at the University of Amsterdam's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, in the daily Trouw: "Whether he is condemned or not, the trial should ascertain whether Demjanjuk was in the Sobibór extermination camp, and what responsibilities he had. It will also provide greater awareness for the mass murders in Sobibór, which is important because many people ... think that all of the Jews from the occupied Dutch territories were murdered in Auschwitz. The trial (and the German criminal law system) is finally giving members of the victims' immediate families the possibility of appearing as co-plaintiffs beside the federal prosecutors with roughly the same rights. Already more than twelve immediate family members have come forward worldwide. They're after justice, not revenge. If these relatives of the victims want the trial to go ahead and wish to appear as co-plaintiffs, who can deny them that right?" (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Germany, » Netherlands
All available articles from » Johannes Houwink ten Cate

The Irish Times comments on the visit of the Pope in the Middle East: "As a German churchman and theologian who was forcibly recruited into Hitler Youth during his teenage years there was disappointment among many Israelis that he did not use this occasion to apologise for the Holocaust and for the papacy's role in it. They found his reference to the disaster too abstract and ill-focused. And yet he and his predecessor Pope John Paul II have dealt with this question comprehensively on previous occasions; they should not be expected to retrace that ground again and again. Pope Benedict's five-day visit to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth which continues today should be judged as a whole and from a long-term perspective." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Religion, » Israel

Alleged right-wing extremists recently disrupted a commemoration ceremony at the former Ebensee concentration camp in Austria. And only a few days ago a Jewish family was openly turned away from a hotel in the Austrian resort of Serfaus for anti-Semitic reasons. The daily Der Standard comments. "Every incident is taken on its own, apparently none of them is regarded in connection with the others. This is the real failure: that despite an emphasis on [the relevant] history at schools, 'oral history' from witnesses of the events and other initiatives, the Austrians have still not been cured of their mainstream anti-Semitism. In this respect the hotel owner in Serfaus and the teenagers in Ebensee do indeed have a lot in common - not only in the depictions in foreign newspapers. The relativisers in Austria must finally recognise this." (13/05/2009)

» more information (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Weltanschauung, » Remembrance culture, » Austria
All available articles from » Petra Stuiber

Construction work announced three years ago has finally begun in Bucharest on a Holocaust memorial, despite public protest over the fact that 30 trees must be felled to make way for the structure. The daily Evenimentul Zilei writes: "The truth is that both the authorities and many Romanians don't want a memorial at all, something to remind them that our predecessors, simple people and soldiers, humiliated, tortured, deported and murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Romania has always wanted to have it both ways with regard to the Holocaust. There was the report of the Wiesel Commission which first gave birth to the idea of the Holocaust memorial. In addition Romania has passed a law banning Nazi symbols under pressure from the intenational community, which was worried about the growth of anti-Semitism and the cult surrounding [Ion] Antonescu - the man in charge of the deportations and pogroms." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Remembrance culture, » Romania
All available articles from » Ioana Lupea

The Italian author Roberto Saviano warns in the left-liberal daily La Repubblica about a generalised tendency to equate immigrants with criminals and points to the courage of Africans who dared to take action against the organised crime of the Mafia in Italy: "Those who say the landing of boats full of immigrants will bring a wave of crime, who claim that they incite violence and destruction, are perhaps forgetting two recent and very significant episodes in the history of our republic. The two most important, spontaneous uprisings against the Mafia in Italy were initiated not by Italians, but by Africans. … For the international observer these generalisations about the criminality of immigrants are truly difficult to explain. Particularly in a country like Italy which has exported the Mafia to every corner of this world." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » Migration, » Italy
All available articles from » Roberto Saviano

Although EU law does not apply in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) because the other EU member states have refused to recognise the TRNC most Turkish Cypriots also hold citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus, which became an EU member in 2004, and can therefore take part in the European elections. Sener Levent, who is running for the second time as an independent candidate, complains that there will be no Turkish Cypriots in the EU Parliament: "Neither the disinterest of the people nor the fact that everything is being left to fate are surprising. Neither the people in the North nor those in the South exert pressure on their leaders. … The fact that this time not a single Turkish Cypriot will be voted into the European Parliament is even more unfortunate for the Greek Cypriots than it is for Turkish Cypriots. Why? Because the realities of Cyprus as presented in the EU Parliament by a Greek Cypriot MEP cannot carry as much weight as the realities a Turkish Cypriot would present." (12/05/2009)

» full article (external link, Greek)
More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Cyprus, » Europe
All available articles from » Şener Levent

The director-general of Finnish Customs, Tapani Erling, has proposed taxing the use of motor vehicles rather than imports of the same. The daily Kainuun Sanomat welcomes this initiative: "The timing is not particularly optimal for major reforms like that Erling proposes to be implemented. It is a difficult task, particularly if neither state tax revenues nor the car market nor car drivers are to be temporarily adversely affected. Who wants to give up their own advantages? But in the long term Finland won't be able to avoid changing its current fiscal policy and adopting a more European approach. Therefore it would be best to begin with the preparations for the reform now. From the perspective of environmental protection and traffic safety it makes sense not to tax cars on purchase but to make citizens pay for using their cars." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, Finnish)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Tax Policy, » Finland

Antonio Gala expresses the hope in the Spanish daily El Mundo that after the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty there will be more proud Europeans: "May 9 was Europe Day. Nowadays there are days for everything that go by unnoticed. This one, however, should not. The EU was born as an idea aimed at banning weapons: an impossibility. And to try and control them by controlling coal and steel? An idea that France and Germany shared and with which visionary [Robert] Schuman hit the mark. The generals, dictators and damned communists are gone. But now what? Some see the Union as useful, some hate it, others exploit it and the rest ignore it. But does it inspire any passion, any hope for the future or a joint zeal that transcends borders, languages, universities and contradictions? Does it inspire any gratitude that goes beyond mobile phones, Erasmus, Bologna projects, cheap flights or the foundation of companies? … Hopefully the Treaty of Lisbon will serve to make people proud to be European, despite the Czech Republic." (13/05/2009)

» more information (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Social movements, » Europe
All available articles from » Antonio Gala

Christian Schmidt-Häuer expresses concern in the weekly paper Die Zeit about the political situation in Hungary: "Scatterbrains, skinheads and other violent criminals march on the political sidelines across Europe. In most countries, however, they are held under quarantine by citizens' initiatives and rules of law. Not in Hungary. Here there is no organised protest, no democratic consensus against them. The borders between extreme right-wing radicals and conservative majority are blurred in the quagmire of racist and nationalist sentiment. The populist opposition leader Viktor Orbán, who could secure a right-wing conservative two-thirds majority in the next elections, has in past years played the people off against the parliament, and toppled the social liberal coalition with help from the street. Not a few priests and clergymen have joined him. There is no law against hate speech, because in the new constitution after 1989 freedom of opinion is put above human dignity." (07/05/2009)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Minorities, » Social movements, » Hungary
All available articles from » Christian Schmidt-Häuer

In the right-wing conservative newspaper Magyar Hírlap Ágnes Gereben expresses her disgust at an article written by Christian Schmidt-Häuer in the German weekly Die Zeit that reports on the advance of Hungarian right-wing radicalism: "Christian Schmidt-Häuer's intellectual capacities weren't just enough for a book; the mendacious glorification of the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and of the state socialism revitalised by reforms. … Now he has written something else: … The leftist press in Hungary is disseminating his dirty article as the opinion of the 'West'. Schmidt-Häuer is a nobody. There are quite a few of his sort running around west of the Leitha [river]: losers who … the KGB or the state security services of one of the former socialist countries caught committing an offence at some point. Every now and then they are blackmailed into using targeted disinformation to discredit inconvenient politicians, parties and countries." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Print media, » Weltanschauung, » Germany, » Hungary
All available articles from » Ágnes Gereben

The French parliament passed the so-called Hadopi law on Tuesday with 296 votes to 233. The law is meant to put an end to illegal downloading of Internet files. The daily Le Monde takes a close look at the pros and the cons behind the new legislation: "This controversy has been raging for months, dividing artists and creators, embarrassing the political parties and disgusting (or amusing) Internet users. Whereas its supporters consider the law wise, even exemplary, its detractors consider it absurd and already obsolete. ... On the one hand we have the protection and survival of copyrights. ... Protecting creative work has been a fundamental principle in our society for several centuries, and this salutary principle must be defended at all costs. ... On the other hand ... is a new and invasive world, one which emerged around ten years ago, whose very philosophy ... reposes on the idea of free and universal access to contents. ... The arbitration and regulation proposed by the Hadopi law are thus legitimate in intention. But unfortunately the law risks becoming outdated as soon as it is applied." (12/05/2009)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Online media, » France

In the daily newspaper Information Erik Boel, chairman of the Danish European Movement, accuses Denmark's public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) of failing to give the European elections adequate coverage: "It's scandalous that the DR has decided to give the European elections so little coverage. On the whole, the European Parliament as an institution barely receives any coverage. … And we also lack reporting on other EU countries. True, the DR has presented the Danish candidates, but not the European political parties of which the Danish politicians are members and which they represent. After all, the Danes don't all sit together in a Danish faction in the parliament - it seems the DR has failed to notice that this is a European election we're talking about. … Ultimately it comes down to a battle for democracy and for our influence on Europe's development. If we remain in ignorance because of lacking media coverage our democratic rights will [also] be undermined." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, Danish)
More from the press review on the subject » Audiovisual Media, » Denmark, » Europe
All available articles from » Erik Boel

In these times marked by swine flu, the parliament of the German state of Saarland has recommended people refrain from kissing visitors. The writer Ivan Kraus goes a step further in the conservative paper Lidové Noviny and calls for a general "kissing ban" for politicians: "I remember the days when communist functionaries kissed each other at international meetings, which I found repugnant even at the time. Alexander Dubček [leader of Prague Spring] and [Soviet leader] Leonid Breznev even exchanged brotherly kisses when they met. There's something very strange about kissing someone who overruns you with tanks, all the more so as it was really the kiss of death. But kisses are also all the rage in the West. ... Meetings between heads of state remind you of kissing songs on May 1. The only people who don't kiss each other are Nato generals. Obviously they're clear on the fact that such images wouldn't exactly inspire their troops to fight. Really, it should be enough just to shake hands, even for politicians." (13/05/2009)

» more information (external link, Czech)
More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Health and Medicine, » Global
All available articles from » Ivan Kraus

The popular Polish daily Fakt has harsh words for the Polish Interior Ministry (MSWiA), which gives advice to women wanting to work as prostitutes in a brochure on working conditions in the West: "Polish women are not whores! This is a calumny for millions of Polish women who are trying to support their families with hard work abroad. But the authorities at the MSWiA lump these women together with young girls working as escorts and prostitutes! Beside pointers for waitresses, in a little publication prepared for women wanting to work in the West there are tips for prostitutes! ... The publication would be fine if it wasn't for one chapter: 'Work in the sex business and other high-risk careers'. This is written as if work as a prostitute were something completely normal." (13/05/2009)

» full article (external link, Polish)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Poland, » Europe
All available articles from » Maja Fendrich