The opponents of the European Court of Human Rights' crucifix ruling are using contradictory arguments, writes Fernanda Câncio in the daily Diário de Notícias: "The Vatican, using [the Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio] Bertone as a vehicle, complains that the Europe of the third millennium uses pumpkins to celebrate Halloween yet wants to remove its most cherished symbols. … Without commenting on the comparison between crucifixes and a vegetable used as a decoration … these arguments reveal profound contradictions. … It's very unserious … to maintain at the same time [as making this comparison] that removing the crucifixes is an attack on religious freedom. All the more so given that those who defend the presence of the crosses in state schools cannot be unaware … that they were placed there for a very clear reason, namely to bind the state to a religion. … And this is the very reason why the defenders of this situation want them there: because they lack confidence in their religion's power to attract followers and therefore want to impose it on others." (06/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Weltanschauung, » Italy, » Europe
All available articles from » Fernanda Câncio

The left-liberal daily El País disagrees with Italy's claim that crucifixes in schools are compatible with a secular state: "It hasn't helped the Italian government to play down the religious significance of the crucifix and stress in exchange its humanitarian symbolism in a bid to persuade the court of the compatibility of a secular state with the harmless presence of crosses in schools. For the court, the crucifix represents what the whole world and above all the Church sees in it: the symbol of the Catholic faith. Its presence in schools can hardly advance the goals of pluralist education, it violates the principle of confessional neutrality of the state and furthermore flies in the face of the religious and philosophical convictions of both parents and students." (06/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Weltanschauung, » Italy, » Europe

Crucifixes do not belong in classrooms because the image of a man being tortured is unsettling for children, writes the daily The Malta Independent: "Crucifixes ... are a hangover from pre-literate society when people needed such aids to devotion because they couldn't read and couldn't imagine anything which wasn't interpreted for them visually. They are, essentially, a portrayal of torture and murder and as such have no place in rooms where children are exposed to them. Most children are incapable of understanding abstract concepts and the idea of a symbol, and will see a crucifix with startling clarity for what it is: a bleeding and cruelly beaten man nailed to a piece of wood. It makes no difference to them that he is Christ. He is still a man, in the shape of a man." (06/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Religion, » Italy, » Malta
All available articles from » Daphne Caruana Galizia

Italy is rallying for a battle against all Europe even though the crucifix ruling was pronounced simply by a court, the liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera points out: "The fact that half of Italy is fulminating against the European community even though it has nothing to do with this matter seems to have been overlooked … . The crucifix judgement … appears to be the product of an extreme view on the rights of a minority and the sensibilities of a majority. The 47 judges should have thought about this before they reached their decision. But for precisely this reason we must understand, differentiate, and avoid making direct condemnations and false opponents. … The goal [of the criticism] should not be lost from sight by calling for a battle against Europe which would be a grave mistake, particularly at the present time. The European Community is trying to overcome a serious crisis and can begin a new phase once the Lisbon Treaty comes into effect: with fewer ambitions and greater objectivity."   (06/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Constitution, » Religion, » Europe
All available articles from » Paolo Lepri

The Romanian parliament is locked in a stalemate: Both the ruling Liberals (Democratic Liberal Party, PD-L) and the opposition insist on their own respective proposals for the composition of the government. It now falls to President Traian Băsescu, formerly PD-L party leader, to mediate between the parties, the daily Gândul writes: "But Traian Băsescu is continuing his battle and losing credibility in the eyes of the parties: And the political talks he is leading in Cotroceni [the presidential palace], in which he always pushes through his own version, are destroying all the bridges between him and the others. Thus he himself is the cause of the instability and can't end the political crisis. The political conflicts, too old and deep-rooted to be resolved, will continue even after the presidential election should Traian be re-elected. The constitutional amendments he is pushing for, his authoritarian behaviour and his habit of provoking scandals will ensure that political life here remains chaotic. … The political class in Romania is not mature enough to readjust its function mechanisms and avoid being derailed." (06/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Romania
All available articles from » Rodica Ciobanu

After the Czech president Václav Klaus signed the Treaty of Lisbon on Tuesday, the satirical weekly Bakchich turns a critical eye to the pending implementation of the European Reform Treaty: "Certain signs don't lie. The Treaty of Lisbon made the institution of a European president ... and a European minister of foreign affairs the symbol of a visible executive worthy of the Western democracies it embodies. The probable nomination of Belgian Prime Minister [Herman] Van Rompuy as head of the European Hydra shows that the member states prefer a moderator to a leader ... . Similarly the term 'foreign minister' has been dropped in favour of 'high representative', which is more consensual and stresses that member states continue to exercise decision-making sovereignty. That is, if the logic of nations and governments continues to impose itself as the norm of Europe's political construction." (06/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Europe
All available articles from » Louis Cabanes

The Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has described the growing international concern about the swine flu as "provocation by the pharmaceuticals", who hope to thus boost their profits. This is just a diversionary manoeuvre, the liberal daily Sme concludes: "You can understand Lukashenko's position: If the country is so strapped for cash that it can't even meet the basic health requirements of its own population, there is no choice but to negate the problem or at least try to divert attention from it. And then present your helplessness as a virtue. This is reminiscent of the argumentation of the health minister of former Romanian communist dictator [Nicolae] Ceauşescu. He once told the population with a straight face that there was no meat available in shops because meat was unhealthy and the government wanted to protect people this way." (06/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Health and Medicine, » Corporations, » Romania
All available articles from » Peter Morvay

The EU must offer a future to all the countries of Europe including Russia, writes the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the left-liberal Frankfurter Rundschau: "The current model of EU relations with other European countries is based on absorbing as many of them as quickly as possible while leaving the relationship with Russia a "pending matter". ...Is this reluctance a sign of unwillingness to accept, and take part in, Russia's resurgence? ... Too many European politicians do not want a level playing field with Russia. They want one side to be a teacher or prosecutor and the other, Russia, to be a student or defendant. Russia will not accept this model. It wants to be understood; simply put, it wants to be treated as an equal partner. Rising to the historic challenges of security, economic recovery, the environment and migration requires a redesign of global and, most importantly, European political and economic relations." (06/11/2009)

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Many nations are endlessly haunted by their past. The French politician Dominique Moïsi reflects in the left-liberal weekly Heti Világgazdaság on how a nation's way of dealing with its history can condition its future development: "A nation's relationship with its past is crucial to its present and its future, to its ability to 'move on' with its life, or to learn from its past errors, not to repeat them. ... There is a major difference between the search for historical truth, which is an absolute must for a society at large and the search for the settling of scores and the punishment of those found and declared guilty. One must know the past, not to risk repeating it, but also in order to transcend it. But between a history that paralyzes a nation's ability to 'move on' collectively and an absolute unwillingness to face the past, which can lead to criticism of the present, there is ample room for maneuver. Healthy nations use that room to bury the pain of the past, if not the past itself." (05/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » History, » Remembrance culture, » Global
All available articles from » Dominique Moïsi

Sweden and Finland have now given their permission for the Russian-German Nord Stream natural gas pipeline to run through their territorial waters, thus enabling the project to go ahead. The Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter advises EU countries to present a united front in future: "The construction of the gas pipeline under the Baltic shows that Europe needs a common security policy. The current lack of agreement on relations with Russia is undermining its stability. … Russia is capitalising on the EU's current fragmentation because it means the Kremlin has no direct opponent. Naturally the EU member states must first agree on a joint stance in order to be a credible negotiating partner for Moscow. That stance need not be aggressive – but it should be resolute." (06/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Energy, » EU neighbourhood policy, » Germany, » Sweden, » Russia, » Europe

After General Motors' surprise announcement that it will not sell Opel, the gambling over how to rescue the company's European plants has started. Although national interests are at stake here Europe must not repeat the mistakes it made at the start of the crisis, writes the daily De Standaard: "Against all odds Europe now has a second chance. Until now the Union was ignominously absent, leaving its member states to outbid each other for the available jobs. This unglamorous chapter must not be repeated. Of course the boldfaced Americans are only interested in their own profits, but they've also given Europe a lesson. Restructuring the car sector continues to be an extremely painful matter. But success is only possible on the basis of industrially viable projects. Once Europe wakes up to this shock therapy, the Opel saga must not necessarily come to a bad end." (06/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Bart Sturtewagen

In Finland the newly-opened Aalto University, a merger between three universities located in the Finnish capital area to form an elite university, is to receive 56 million euros in government funding. Meanwhile the country's remaining universities have been left with only around 17 million euros to be divided among themselves. The daily Kaleva criticises this distribution of state funds: "Among those universities ranked as belonging to the world's best are four provincial universities in addition to the University of Helsinki [ranked 72nd]. … The Helsinki University of Technology [part of the new Aalto University] is completely missing from the ranking. One would expect national policy to promote those scientific institutions which have already proven their ability to hold their own in an international comparison. But the practice in Finland is very different. … It will be many years before the performance of Aalto University can be assessed, but in the meantime other universities will suffer from a lack of resources." (06/11/2009)

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The question of national identity is being heatedly discussed in France. An unnecessary and possibly dangerous waste of time, writes the left-liberal daily De Volkskrant: "Regional meetings in the coming months will doubtlessly be ... the scene of fervid conflict. Then when all is said and done the minister will draw his conclusions and further tighten the reins of the naturalisation programmes for immigrants in France. Because - let's be clear on this - that's what it's all about. As a result countless energy will be put into a debate that could have been avoided altogether. Because if there ever was a country with a strong identity, it's France. Its territory has remained basically unchanged for ages, and its language and culture are firmly entrenched. The central power was established long ago and bolstered by personalities such as Louis XIV, Napoleon and Charles de Gaulle. With this debate on national identity France runs the risk of talking itself into an identity crisis." (06/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Ariejan Korteweg

Taxpayers' money should not go to the Catholic Church, Salomé García writes in the leftist daily Público: "I ask myself why my government protects the Catholic father who demands religious instruction for his children at a state school but doesn't protect a parent who wants a religiously neutral classroom for his children, even if they go to a Catholic state school. Both institutions are funded by the citizens, with money from both non-religious people and Catholics. ... I ask myself why my government prefers to spend 25 million euros raised by secular taxes to fund the visit of Benedict XVI in 2011 instead of spending that money on a state education that is crying out loud for more funding to attain the European average. I ask myself how many demonstrations it will take ... for the government to finally react." (06/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Tax Policy, » Weltanschauung, » Spain
All available articles from » Salomé García