Edward Kennedy was not a saint, writes the left-liberal daily De Standaard. But he was a symbol for the socially-minded and progressive US politicians who refused to consider solidarity un-American: "With Kennedy Washington has lost one of its last great bridge builders, a politician ready to seek consensus in the political centre. Such willingness is rare in the US, where decision-making is often crippled by fierce polarisation. Issue-related discussions degenerate into rants. Reforms that are necessary for the well-being of millions are dashed by a njet from ideologists. This is now threatening the fate of healthcare reform, Kennedy's life work ... which he hoped a new Democratic president would consummate. Passing a law that would give all Americans access to affordable and quality healthcare would be the most fitting tribute to the late senator." (27/08/2009)

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All available articles from » Evita Neefs

The death of Edward Kennedy marks the end of an era, writes the online edition of the daily Jyllands-Posten. "The United States has lost a pivotal figure with the death of Senator Edward Kennedy. For the Democrats the loss of such an icon can prove grave indeed. It says much about the myth and drama in which the Kennedy family was shrouded that he was the only one of the four Kennedy brothers to die a natural death. ... Ted Kennedy leaves behind him a vacuum that the Democrats will be hard put to fill with such pathos. Commanding respect deep into the Republican ranks of the Senate, he was the Kennedy who proved over the course of a long lifetime what was dear to the hearts of the Kennedy family. An outsider unwilling to simply cash in on his brother's legacy, Edward Kennedy acquired such a reputation in American politics that an era in modern US history has ended with his death." (26/08/2009)

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"No other American family has taken on such an almost cult-like significance," writes the liberal daily Mladá Fronta Dnes on the death of Edward Kennedy. "The Bush family gave us two presidents, but who will remember them in 15 years? The Kennedy myth, by contrast, will never fade. It will be part of America, like the stars in the Stars and Stripes. ... People say that one advantage of the Kennedys was that they died young, that they gave us ideas and inspiration but didn't have to put them into practice. Edward showed that [his two brothers] John and Robert could have done just that. The dynasty has come to an end, but the mystique of the word Kennedy lives on." (27/08/2009)

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All available articles from » Milan Vodička

The Boston Globe journalist Kevin Cullen comments on Edward Kennedy's role in the peace process in Northern Ireland in the conservative daily Irish Independent: "In 1971, Kennedy gave a speech that marked him, indelibly for some, as an IRA apologist. He called for a British withdrawal from the North and suggested unionists who didn't like it could move. The speech was written by an ardent nationalist and signed off by a relatively inexperienced senator who knew little about the North. A year later, Kennedy met [Northern Irish peace architect] John Hume and his position changed utterly. Kennedy became an equally harsh critic of IRA violence and British policies that he believed only served to perpetuate the conflict. He also stood up for the Irish Government when British officials tried to ascribe subversive motives to some of Dublin's policy positions. ... Kennedy's personal journey ... mirrored the Irish-American experience, one that started in the early 1970s with hats being passed around the pubs of South Boston and Queens for the Provos and evolved to Kennedy taking a prominent role in persuading the IRA to disarm and disband." (27/08/2009)

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All available articles from » Kevin Cullen

The first acts of violence have erupted in the dispute over the refusal to allow Hungarian President Laszlo Sólyom to enter Slovakia last Friday. Unidentified persons threw Molotov cocktails at the Slovak embassy in Budapest on Wednesday. The liberal daily Sme comments on the calm reaction of the Hungarian and Slovak governments to the incident: "It would have been good if the response of the Slovak government to Sólyom's visit had been as calm as it has been to the fiery bottles at the Slovak embassy and if it had already been aware last Friday of what has now been written in a statement made by the Foreign Ministry, namely that 'Slovak-Hungarian relations are in a highly sensitive phase'. … It would also have been good if the Hungarian president had taken action against the activities of nationalist circles in his country with the same resolution with which he condemned yesterday's attack." (27/08/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » EU neighbourhood policy, » Hungary, » Slovakia
All available articles from » Peter Morvay

During his European tour aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met up with the US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, in London. The left-liberal daily Der Tagesspiegel writes: "His friends, political friends, say Netanyahu is no longer what his opponents still claim he is; they say he is more mature, more serious, more strategically oriented than he was during his first attempt as prime minister. … But only 'style and substance' can help to correct his old image for good. Substance is decisive. This means: he must meet the US and its allies in Europe halfway. True, this trip is proof of this, but it's not enough just to have been here. Netanyahu will receive more backing if he makes it clear that he is pushing through what is needed: no more settlements! A clear statement in this case too. True, people are fond of repeating the words of [former British prime minister] Lord Palmerston, who said that states have no friends, they only have interests. But first of all that saying is ancient and secondly it's easier to get along with friends. Particularly in the Middle East." (27/08/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » United Kingdom, » Europe, » Israel
All available articles from » Stephan-Andreas Casdorff

The Pirate Party was registered in Finland on August 19. Either the new party is badly mistaken about the mechanisms of the information society or it intentionally misrepresents them, writes Risto Pennanen in his column for the online business newspaper Taloussanomat: "The Pirate Party has all the makings of a traditional party. For example it is perfectly capable of justifying its own egotistic goals without saying how things really are. For my part I fail to see how it is supposed to improve the information society when for example Finnish filmmakers earn no money because everyone downloads their films. ... In denying property rights and remuneration to creators the Pirates are guilty of diminishing the value of intellectual work. They defend the right to reproducing content as consumer protection. By the same logic I should be able to get a free steak at the supermarket provided I don't use it for commercial purposes." (26/08/2009)

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All available articles from » Risto Pennanen

The news portal Delfi takes Lithuanian politicians to task for their failed attempt to represent Lithuania as a particularly brave country: "True, we broke up the Soviet Union, but nowadays the only thing we can be proud of is that we have a nuclear power plant, and even that is to be closed down at the end of the year. So what will we call ourselves then? All over the world people are talking about environmental and climate protection and renewable energies and saving energy. In other words: it's all about a green life and loving our plantet. A couple of months ago work on the construction of the first offshore wind parks off the Lithuanian coast began. This is a real opportunity for the future. Instead of calling ourselves 'brave Lithuania' or 'nuclear Lithuania' we should call ourselves 'green Lithuania' and try to win the world's respect that way." (27/08/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Energy, » Economic Policy, » Lithuania
All available articles from » Anatolijus Lapinskas

The conservative daily Rzeczpospolita complains that the US is not sending a high-level representative to the celebrations commemorating the outbreak of World War II: "[The Polish] general Daniel Ambroziński left his life in Afghanistan when he fought alongside the American allies. ... Together with the US army we participated in the invasion of Iraq. And although it put a huge strain on our relations with Germany and France, and despite the criticism of the European media and the loss of lives we remained active as long as possible on the Euphrates. How many more American operations must we take part in for someone from the White House to bring themselves to travel to Gdansk on September 1? ... What can we do in the next five days to make [US President] Barack Obama and [US Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton understand how badly this is affecting their image in Polish eyes?" (27/08/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Poland
All available articles from » Marek Magierowski

Writing for the daily Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze Voldemars Hermanis discusses the phobic attitude towards Russia which is widespread in former Soviet republics: "Independently of the regimes in power in each country, the former Soviet republics still form a joint cultural, scientific and leisure time community with ties that reach beyond national borders. … In this context Russia is in a unique geopolitical position thanks to the vast energy resources at its disposal, and around 25 million Russians live in former Soviet republics. But President Dmitry Medvedev recently presented a draft law to the Duma which would allow the army to be deployed to protect these people in other countries. This is not the way to build trust, nor is the constant covering up of the Stalinist past or the protests against comparisons between the crimes of communism and those of National Socialism. The fear of being embraced too strongly by their big brother is what feeds the Russia-phobia in the post-Soviet area. Yet Russia's trump cards are not its military bases nor a history dictated by Moscow. It would be much more respected by its neighbours if it concentrated on its true wealth without isolationism or megalomania." (27/08/2009)

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All available articles from » Voldemars Hermanis

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has demanded that banks impose tougher controls on bonus payments to bankers and grant more loans in a bid to boost the economy. The conservative daily Le Figaro praises this strategy: "Earn less and lend more! This clear advice coming from a very angry Nicolas Sarkozy is unambiguous. … His demands regarding bankers' bonuses and the granting of loans to households should be implemented immediately and will be closely monitored. There will be harsh punishment for any deviation. … The dressing down he gave the banks has unquestionably strengthened the leading role the head of state has assumed in his crusade for a more moral financial capitalism. As far as bonuses are concerned everyone knows … that the whole issue will be decided at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh next month." (26/08/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » France
All available articles from » Gaëtan de Capèle

The liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera asks whether distorted portrayals of the mafia in films are hindering the fight against organised crime, saying there must be other ways of portraying it: "[There must be] something other than the mafia as an 'ugly and evil' bunch who speak poor Italian and come from an economic and social quagmire. Battled by noble heroes who are willing to sacrifice all they have. Is that the reality of it? No, according to examining magistrate [Roberto] Scarpinato, who presents evidence from many trials he has conducted: the history of the mafia is a patchwork of crimes and murders that were commissioned in a 'bourgeois environment by people like you and me who attended the same schools as we did, socialise in the same circles and believe in the same God, … it is a terrible and unresolved family affair in the context of a national leading class …, one of the most pre-modernist, violent and greedy in the history of the West'. Consequently it's difficult to understand the silence and carelessness of many screenwriters and directors, with which they sometimes slide into a cultural bond of secrecy." (27/08/2009)

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All available articles from » Paolo Mereghetti

The presumed authors of a year-long series of attacks on Roma in Hungary have been arrested. The left-liberal daily Népszabadság comments on the deep-seated fears among the ethnic minority: "Only now have the latent feelings of panic come to the fore. ... Although the police has stressed repeatedly of late that the culprits have been arrested and that there is sufficient evidence to convict them, dubious rumours are circulating according to which those who murdered the Roma are still free and could strike again at any time. ... The confusion in the heads of the Roma and their delayed panic reaction result from a mixture of anger, humiliation, vengefulness, fear and powerlessness, accentuated by the fact that the danger still exists. Because paramilitary groups in the country are still filled with hatred for the gypsies. Pity for the treacherously murdered Roma has not been able to dispel the atmosphere of hatred. For the time being there is truly no guarantee that the racist violence in Hungary is at an end." (27/08/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Integration, » Minorities, » Hungary
All available articles from » Gábor Czene

Eight years after the founding of free online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, the fifth international users' conference Wikimania began yesterday in Buenos Aires. Among other themes the introduction of a body for controlling the correctness of content is under discussion. The liberal daily La Vanguardia welcomes this initiative: "It's a paradox: the growth of this exceptionally liberal enterprise is leading to a greater degree of control. But ultimately this decision deserves our applause. When a tool like this acquires a key position in the dissemination of knowledge there is no alternative but to ensure that the content is as trustworthy as possible. Because freedom is above all an exercise in responsibility. And if not all Wikipedia editors are capable of acting responsibly someone else will have to do it for them. This is what its operators hope to achieve through stronger supervision. And they also want to show that Wikipedia has come of age." (27/08/2009)

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If populist opinion plays such a strong role in political debate it's largely because of the Internet, writes communications expert Monica Swanson in the daily Trouw. The voices of the vast majority, however, are not heard at all, Swanson comments: "Granted, in the Netherlands there is still no majority willing in an emergency to eliminate an entire population group. Nevertheless it is to be feared that the upstanding, calm majority is no longer heard in the debate (on Islam and migrants). The Internet is an easily accessible mass media and as time goes on everyone has learned how to access it. But it's important to understand that while everyone can access it, that doesn't mean that everyone does. ... That makes it the territory of cave dwellers with far-fetched views. ... Information no longer plays a key role in today's media structure. All that counts is who has the loudest voice, and the populists know that full well." (27/08/2009)

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All available articles from » Monica Swanson