Following the breakdown of the coalition government in the Netherlands the liberal daily La Vanguardia speculates on the political impact this could have for other countries: "So far it looks like the Dutch example hasn't affected the other European allies. Opposition to the Afghanistan war in Germany and France is not strong enough to trigger a domino effect in the short term. For now Obama can still rely on Berlin and Paris, and of course London too. However a defeat of the allies in the Helmand offensive or the withdrawal of the Pakistani army could complicate the situation in the Asian region." (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Germany, » France, » Netherlands, » U.S., » Afghanistan

In the dispute over the Afghanistan mission the Christian Democrats (CDA) and the social democratic Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) have merely been looking to their own interests, the daily Trouw writes, commenting that this suits the right-wing populist Freedom Party (PVV) just fine as it could become the second power in the Dutch parliament: "The attitude of the traditionally internationalist PvdA is bitterly disappointing. It seems the party has been frightened by the opinion polls and modelled itself too closely on the right and left wing populists who aren't willing to lift a finger to fight violent extremism in the world. And its failure plays right into the hands of the populists. The message of congratulations from PVV leader [Geert] Wilders to [Social Democrat Wouter] Bos speaks volumes. ... As a new CDP-PvdA coalition is pretty much out of the question, a cabinet including the PVV is growing ever more likely. For many that is a frightening prospect. So far the leaders of the PvdA and CDA have failed to make it clear that they understand the consequences such an outcome would have." (22/02/2010)

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

The collapse of the government of Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende comes at the worst possible moment in the economic crisis, writes business paper De Tijd: "Savings of between 35 and 40 billion euros are needed to meet the budget deficit reduction targets the Netherlands promised the EU. The fall of the government, the coming elections and the ensuing coalition talks will effectively mean that the necessary measures won't be taken before the summer holidays, at the earliest. This is not good news for the Dutch economy, which after all is waiting impatiently for a strong recovery programme. The oxygen the Dutch economy needs will no doubt be a long time in coming." (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Netherlands
All available articles from » Lieve Dierckx

Ukrainian presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko has withdrawn her application for a review of the results of the Ukrainian presidential elections on the grounds of presumed electoral fraud. Writing in the online edition of the news magazine Wprost Katarzyna Kwiatkowska is not surprised: "What had to happen has happened. Yulia Tymoshenko has admitted her defeat. ... The reason was no doubt that there is no clear proof that Yanukovych's staff committed electoral fraud, and also that there was no political support for the move. ... What kind of president will Viktor Yanukovych be? The teeth of Ukrainian nationalists may be chattering for fear of a Russification. ... Nevertheless the rest of society is putting scant hope in the desired stabilisation. I get the impression the majority of Ukrainians couldn't care less who's president, as long as the leaderlessness is at an end." (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » Ukraine
All available articles from » Katarzyna Kwiatkowska

Hamas functionary Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed by a hit squad on Friday in Dubai. According to the investigators at least eleven people suspected of involvement in the crime used fake passports from several European countries. This has given Europe's visa exemption in the Emirates a bad name, writes Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt in his blog: "The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates ... called me in connection with the murder. It was carried out with the help of fake passports from EU countries and therefore casts a dark shadow over the visa exemption that EU citizens have in his country. We agreed on how important it is for everyone to work together with the Emirate authorities to find out what happened. That it is unacceptable for EU passports to be faked and abused in this way will no doubt be one of the subjects discussed [at today's meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels]." (21/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Europe, » Middle East

The hopes which arose two years ago for a political solution to the Cyprus conflict have dissipated. Yet failure to achieve a solution will have negative consequences for all sides, writes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung: "For Turkey the solution of the Cyprus problem is a prerequisite for EU accession, even if at present this is still only a distant prospect. The small member state Cyprus is already in a position to veto every step large Turkey makes. For the opponents of the latter's EU accession the unresolved Cyprus conflict is a welcome excuse to leave the Muslim country standing out in the cold. Such an attitude is short-sighted. Should the reunification project fail the northern part of Cyprus, which is already dependent on Ankara, would effectively become a Turkish province and a military outpost - just as the generals in Ankara want. But for the Greek Cypriots this is a horrendous scenario." (21/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Cyprus, » Turkey
All available articles from » Cyrill Stieger

If the European Monetary Union remains without a common political project, the dream of Europe will soon come to an end, writes Gianni Riotta in the Italian business paper Il Sole 24 Ore: "The motto of the European governments in the crisis: each man for himself; the way the Lisbon Treaty has been dismissed as nothing but bureaucratic paperwork; the mediocre standards thanks to which Van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton were elected to lead the EU - all this leads to doubts that the desire for a common leadership still exists. Many deceive themselves that the euro can be saved without an effort, but they are wrong. The euro will only bear fruits if it is bolstered by a political project. ... The explosion of the crisis may be prevented thanks to a collage of Athenian austerity measures and reluctant aid from Europe. ... In the end the decision lies with Europe's heart, its people, its public opinion, as in any living democracy. If there is no longer a common dream, if there are no more common interests, if the euro doesn't achieve the goal we have dreamed of with small or even tiny steps, the stars on our flag will soon look down on a sad diaspora or a wretched status quo." (21/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » Gianni Riotta

The number of labour disputes in Europe have François Ernenwein, chief editor of the daily La Croix, in doubt over how much social justice there is in Europe: "There is no social Europe. But the social question is haunting Europe. How can one - without deliberately turning a blind eye - not see that the continent has been caught broadside by the shock wave of the financial and economic crisis of 2008? Even if many economic indicators for 2010 seem encouraging, employment indicators are not. Call it the delayed effect. Meanwhile from Berlin to Paris and from Athens to Lisbon conflicts are emerging over wages and jobs. Germany has once more tabled the question of minimum wages and Lufthansa is menaced by a strike. In France the tension was palpable after the announcement of the closure of Total's Dunkirk refinery at the end of last week. ... The word regulation that we hear from all corners in these times of crisis, has taken the global marketplace by storm." (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Germany, » France, » Europe
All available articles from » François Ernenwein

Pilots of the German airline company Lufthansa have been on strike since midnight, demanding among other things that the company pay its subsidiary companies according to German collective bargaining law. The pilots have every right to strike, writes the daily Der Tagesspiegel: "They don't want to suffer as a result of the difficulties market leader Lufthansa is facing from competition and the consequences of its own expansion. The airline has grown aggressively, taking over foreign competitors and founding subsidiaries - and now has to sort things out and get its costs under control. At the same time it has lost customers to the low-cost competition, including important business travellers who were unable or unwilling to pay first or business class prices in times of crisis. The promise made to the pilots at the start of the 1990s that with some exceptions subsidiary companies would be paid according to Lufthansa's standards has now put the company in a very tight spot. This agreement, for which the pilots had to accept hefty pay cuts at the time, is now being put to the test in times of stiff competition." (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Trade unions, » Germany
All available articles from » Henrik Mortsiefer

The Czech government intends to set limits on managers' salaries today, following which the bosses of all state companies will receive new contracts by the end of May. The business daily Hospodářské Noviny is ambivalent: "It is certainly a good thing that as the majority shareholder the state is finally starting to get interested in how good the managers of these companies are, and how much money they make. But the devil lies in the detail. It's ridiculous to try to come up with a salary table for top managers. Much more important would be to set up a legal framework that would prevent the bosses from abusing their position. ... In fact it's quite simple to regulate payment: the salary should correspond to the manager's performance. Anything else is political populism." (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Czech Republic, » Global
All available articles from » Julie Hrstková

The big European film festivals are increasingly the stage for political gestures, as amply demonstrated by this year's Berlinale, writes the daily Delo: "Giving the Silver Bear for best director to Roman Polanski on Saturday evening was a political gesture, and even more a collegial gesture. From a film perspective Polanski's film The Ghost Writer doesn't justify such a prize in the least. And anyway it's pretty odd to award the prize for best director to this 76-year-old who has proven his worth hundreds of times. But if it's hard to imagine that the great Polanski, who because of his house arrest in Switzerland was unable to make an appearance, would come away empty-handed, it's even harder to imagine that the jury of one of the biggest European film festivals could let a chance go by to cock a snook at the US judiciary." (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Film, » Germany
All available articles from » Peter Kolsek

The record company EMI is thinking about selling its Abbey Road Studios, which were made famous by the Beatles. Plans to turn the "sacred" studios into a museum are an indication of the progressive decline of music culture and a warning to us all, writes The Daily Telegraph: "Yet it fills one with sadness that so great a recording studio may soon be frozen in time as a museum. What will happen to our fine living composers - and we do have one or two – when they wish to be recorded? ... This is beyond the power of governments to put right, I fear. We must rely on the co-operative efforts of our people to maintain something approaching a flourishing musical life." (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Music, » Corporations, » Remembrance culture, » United Kingdom, » Global
All available articles from » Simon Heffer

In its weekend supplement the right-wing conservative paper Magyar Nemzet writes on the subject of the Czech Republic's liberal drug policy: "Since the beginning of 2010 the Czech Republic can boast of having the most liberal drug laws in Europe. No other European country tolerates the possession of such large amounts of drugs. On Czech territory everyone is allowed to carry 1.5 grammes of heroine, 1 gramme of cocaine and 15 grammes of marijuana. … Moreover the Czechs can grow their own cannabis - naturally in limited amounts. ... The liberalisation of the Czech drug policy has even surprised the West. ... In the context of this liberal drug policy it is hardly surprising that the Czech Republic excels in a European comparison when it comes to drug consumption. The country occupies a leading position for almost all drugs. And when it comes to marijuana consumption it is vying with the UK and France for the top position." (20/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » France, » United Kingdom, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Tibor Pósa

In recent times a large number of cases of sexual abuse of children at Catholic institutions have come to light in several countries. The daily Der Standard disputes, however, the claim that child abuse is associated with homosexuality: "A further frequent argument for the potential reasons for the noticeable links between the Catholic Church and sexual child abuse isn't long in coming. ... This is another prejudice to the effect that homosexual contact serves quasi as a replacement for lacking heterosexual relations, and it is thus something that can be changed if only the necessary will and environmental incentives are at hand. But what is homosexuality? According to Wikipedia it is 'an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions primarily to people of the same sex'. And what has this got to do with child abuse?" (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Europe
All available articles from » Norbert Pauser

A majority of new schools in Ireland continue to be under Catholic administration, despite Irish society's increasingly secular orientation and the growing calls for non-religious education. The daily The Irish Times calls for schools to reflect the secular nature of society: "It is unfortunate that neither State nor church has been willing to face this reality by preparing for an inevitable challenge to our present arrangements, for the resolution of the problems any such change will pose will not be easy. ... Either way it is now clearly time for both Church and State to start preparing for the future changes in our primary school system that will be required by the rapidly changing religious orientation of our population." (22/02/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Social movements, » Ireland
All available articles from » Garrett FitzGerald