After the accusations of electoral fraud in Afghanistan the daily Le Monde asks: "Are the Afghan presidential elections cursed? All too quickly hailed as an 'important step forward in the Afghan people's efforts to take control of their future' by US President Barack Obama, they are now threatening to result in an impasse. At worst they could mean a backslide for this country already exhausted by thirty years of war and crippled by divisions and internal struggles. At best, if one can use the term at all, they will only maintain the fragility of a political system which the West badly needs both to stabilise the country and to pave the way for an orderly withdrawal. ... The government's legitimacy will be limited, nevertheless it constitutes the basis without which any 'Afghanistanisation' strategy to resolve this conflict is doomed to failure." (16/09/2009)

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

The electoral fraud in Afghanistan raises the question of whether the international community can continue to work with President Hamid Karzai with a good conscience, the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: "Two questions arise: Is there an alternative to Karzai? The Afghans should really decide this for themselves, with as little interference as possible from abroad. But this poses the threat of violent conflicts, which in turn raises the second, fundamental question: Is it wise to rely on elections as the key instrument for legitimation in unstable states with a mode of government that doesn't correspond to Western ideas? Instead of plunging the country into the turbulence and conflicts of an election campaign it would have been better to strengthen the constitutional institutions and vigorously tackle corruption." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Günther Nonnenmacher

The gross electoral fraud in Afghanistan is making it increasingly difficult for states that have sent troops there to justify the move politically, writes the daily Die Presse: "Both Europe and the US are wondering if it's really worth sending more and more soldiers to fight and die for such a country with such an unscrupulous leader. [US President Barack] Obama is currently facing important decisions on whether to send reinforcements. There are growing indications that patience is running out in Congress, even among his party friends. And a majority of US citizens are also for bringing their boys home from Afghanistan today rather than tomorrow. It all smells very much like Vietnam, no matter how much Obama insists that the US 'won't make the same mistake twice'." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Burkhard Bischof

The Italian business paper Il Sole 24 Ore writes about the extent of the election fraud in Afghanistan: "If the estimates of European observers - who have no binding power - are officially confirmed by the authorities concerned it will mean that up to 25 percent of the votes counted were falsified. Outgoing President Hamid Karzai … who according to European observers was responsible for manipulating of over 1.1 million votes, stands to lose most, while 300,000 would be deducted from his rival Abdullah Abdullah and 100,000 from other candidates. If the suspicions of the European Union … are confirmed there would be a runoff election which the international community regards with growing unease." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Elections, » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Roberto Bongiorni

Lluís Bassets comments in the daily El País on the re-election of José Manuel Barroso as President of the European Commission. He points out that it slims down the chances of former Spanish head of government Felipe González as a potential candidate for the EU presidency: "Thanks to a new rule as yet unformulated, one of the three important European posts is to go to a woman and another to a politician from one of the countries that were included in the EU expansion from 15 to 27, or at least from 12 to 15 [states]. [On the other hand] a Scandinavian or Eastern European woman running for the post of foreign minister would be the perfect profile to leave a gap for the González card. In any case, Barroso's re-election makes the election of one of the most brilliant protagonists of European history - a [person] with the energy and political ideas to lead the Council of the Wise on the future of the EU - less likely." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » Lluís Bassets

In the conservative paper The Daily Telegraph Toby Harnden asks if public opinion has turned against US President Barack Obama and his skin colour only ten months after his election: "The short answer is no. Mr Obama is becoming a much less popular figure than he was when he entered office, partly because of the usual laws of political gravity, but also because of the unrealistic expectations he encouraged ... . To dismiss race as a factor in either last November's election or current political debate would be foolish. It was, of course, ludicrous to expect that the US would become a post-racial country overnight. History - and racial tension - did not stop with the election of Mr Obama. … More seriously, Mr Obama is the leader of a Democratic party that is now coming dangerously close to proclaiming that any fervent opposition to him must spring from a racist impulse. ... The president ... is in danger, however, of allowing race to be the principal political weapon used by Democrats against Republicans." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » U.S.
All available articles from » Toby Harden

On his annual visit to Minsk on September 9, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez suggested to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that their two countries should unite to become a single republic. The left-leaning daily Népszava comments: "If this were April we could pass it off as a joke. ... It very much seems that the Venezuelan president has learned nothing from the mistakes, blunders and tactical faux-pas committed by the politicians of socialist countries. Chávez tends to fall prey to the same extreme behaviour that was the undoing of his political and ideological predecessors. Much has changed in Eastern Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union. What has not changed is the following: you can't construct a new, left-wing world on the basis of a failed schema." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » History, » Latin Amerika
All available articles from » Péter Barabás

In a presentation given by Václav Klaus at the invitation of a south German regional paper, the transcript of which the conservative daily Lidové Noviny publishes, the Czech president denies the existence of a European idea: "No one doubts that in the course of time a European civilisation with Judaeo-Christian roots and a concept of human freedom has formed which differs from other parts of the world. … In the past decades we have witnessed on our continent a political attempt to mould a false construct called the EU. In my opinion this attempt is at variance with the original principle, or in other words the European 'idea' of freedom. Europe is not a nation, there is no European people. Europe is not a homogenous ethnic group. It is nothing other than a continental community. … I am happy to be able to live in Europe and belong to it. For me Europe provides the intellectual and cultural framework for my life. But that's all. It does not have a common idea and it won't ever have one. Nor does it need one." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Integration, » Philosophy, » Europe
All available articles from » Václav Klaus

Writing for the national Catholic daily Nasz Dziennik, Piotr Szubarczyk recalls the Soviet troops' invasion of Poland 70 years ago: "The Soviet Union attacked the Rzeczpospolita Polska [Republic of Poland] without warning. This meant aggression, occupation and genocide. A Soviet propaganda poster from September 1939 depicts a Red Army soldier striking down the White Eagle - the symbol of 'bourgeois' Poland. This hate-propagating poster revealed the true intentions of the Soviet Union regarding the Rzeczpospolita Polska and the true targets of the aggression that began on that Sunday to be commemorated, September 17. Both Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union wanted to destroy the order that had emerged after the First World War - as a result among other things of the Treaty of Versailles." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Remembrance culture, » Poland
All available articles from » Piotr Szubarczyk

Angry farmers protested against low milk prices in a number of European countries on Wednesday. Above all they criticise the EU's plans to scrap milk quotas. The daily România Liberă writes: "For several hours streams of milk flew through a field chosen by protestors in Belgium. … The motives for this protest are well-known: European milk producers are on the brink of ruin because the selling price on the wholesale market often doesn't even cover the cost of production. … For the average consumer, unaware of the farmers' plight, this ritualistic destruction of milk is blasphemous. … These people who poured three million litres of milk onto the field yesterday are farmers for whom 'not throwing away food' is a tradition because it is 'sinful'. … So we can imagine how desperate they must be to commit such a sin." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Agriculture, » Economic Policy, » Germany, » Belgium, » Romania
All available articles from » Dan Alexe

The conservative daily La Razón suspects the German rescue of Opel, which will probably lead to the closure of the Figueruelas plant in Spain, is an act of revenge by the German chancellor on Spain: "It looks like [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel was just waiting until now to settle a score with the Spanish government for episodes in the past. Perhaps the failed attempt of German energy company E.ON to take over Spain's Endesa [in 2007] has something to do with the dark clouds that are now gathering over the factory in Aragon. If this is the case, however, it would be a mistake to mix two entirely different episodes with such diverging public implications. In this case the only connection between them would be the same mistake: interventionism on the part of governments which disrupts free competition and distorts the market." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Germany, » Spain

Employees at the Slovenian household appliance manufacturer Gorenje ceased production on Tuesday in protest at their low salaries, and because they are paid for 32 hours a week although they work 36. The daily Dnevnik shows understanding for the workers: "Events at the exemplary Slovenian company Gorenje show that something is entirely wrong in Slovenia, a supposed welfare state in which salaries at the biggest factories aren't even sufficient for survival. What's happening now at Gorenje could also have taken place long ago at the Slovenian businesses Swaty [grinding wheel producer] and Intereurope [transport] ... or at one of the media companies. If the managers who sip cocktails in their villas in times of crisis really believe that the workforce - which already underwent a crisis at the start of the 1990s - will also stand aside and let them walk all over them, then they're worth less than the cufflinks on their shirts." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Slovenia
All available articles from » Primoz Cirman

At the beginning of the week Swedish unions in the Stockholm suburb of Vaxholm blocked farmers from employing Latvian farmworkers in protest at their poor working conditions. The daily Götegorgs-Posten writes that far less attention is paid to Thai berry pickers, who work every year in northern Sweden for very low wages: "If the unions gave the berry pickers even a fraction of the attention they give to Vaxholm, it could lead to creating decent working conditions and above all equitable pay. That would considerably lower the berry picking companies' profit margins. They would then be less keen on flying Thai employees all the way over here. But on the other hand it would make berry picking more attractive to youths in the suburbs and cities. The Swedish economy needs measures to put young people to work. Why not berry picking in the summer up in the north?" (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Trade unions, » Sweden
All available articles from » Abraham Staifo

British Justice Secretary Jack Straw last week issued a pardon to a fan of Liverpool FC who was found guilty of attempted murder in Bulgaria four years ago. The daily Dnevnik comments: "Whether [football fan] Michael Shields is guilty is difficult to say. In the current situation his pardoning by Jack Straw is effectively the one-off implementation of a judiciary protective clause. Even if he tries to present it differently: a politician like Straw is aware of the consequences of his actions and is trying to act diplomatically and avoid offending the Bulgarian court by talking of 'new evidence' that was unknown to the Bulgarian court and which is now in his hands. However he did not conceal the fact that he released Shields because he considers him innocent. Although the pardon comes across as a routine legal act from the point of view of the Bulgarian institutions it is the non-recognition of a Bulgarian verdict." (17/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » United Kingdom, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Boiko Pentchev

The daily Simerini complains that all too often the Cypriot media are blamed for the ongoing Cyprus problem: "Everyone attacks the media in a bid to shuck their own responsibility. ... It's not the Turkish intolerance or the Turkish occupation, the bungled behaviour on the part of the Greek Cypriots or the pro-Turkish attitude of the UN that are responsible for the lack of success or difficulties encountered in negotiations, but only the media, which are [supposedly] opposed to a solution. We accept these attacks coming from home and abroad as so many indications that we are doing things right. The mass media bear the huge responsibility in this difficult phase ... of showing the people the right way forward. This responsible attitude was also what saved the Republic of Cyprus in 2004, when the catastrophe was being prepared [with the referendum on the reunification of the island and its rejection by the Greek Cypriots]." (16/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Media policy, » Cyprus
All available articles from » Kostakis Antoniou

According to a current media study and data from the Finnish statistics office, the number of newspaper readers has not decreased in Finland despite the economic crisis, although the number of internet connections has gone down somewhat. The daily Karjalainen comments: "Internet fever has abated at least for the moment, while the printed word has consolidated its position. The Finns are a nation of readers, and the tradition of reading and subscribing to papers is not so easy to undermine. We are moving farther and farther away from the vision that papers will die out in 20 years at the very latest. Such visions come primarily from the United States, where the newspapers are suffering painfully from the economic crisis. Anyone who says that the Internet is replacing the newspapers sees things from a too one-sided perspective. The truth is that the papers and the Internet complement each other, and are used together for different purposes." (16/09/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Print media, » Media policy, » Media economy, » Finland
All available articles from » Sari Vanninen