President Nicolas Sarkozy would be to blame for a potential defeat of the conservative government camp in France's regional elections, the left-liberal Frankfurter Rundschau writes: "The head of state cast himself to voters as someone whose will could move mountains, as 'super Sarko'. 'I am the state', was his arrogant message. And now that the French state, already staggering under the weight of over inflated expectations, is not providing the required protection in the crisis, his 'I am the state' has turned into a boomerang. ... First he announced he would rescue companies threatened by closure, which then closed anyway. Then he announced falling unemployment figures only to be contradicted by the statistics. ... With all the toing and froing quite a few French have lost their faith in the president and what was once his trademark: strong leadership." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » France
All available articles from » Axel Veiel

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will be punished in the regional elections, liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera predicts, saying that dissatisfaction in the French parliament also indicates this: "For Nicolas Sarkozy this will be the most difficult weekend since he took office. ... But the French aren't waiting for Sunday's results to express their disappointment with the president. A disappointment that has been spreading even in the ranks of the parliamentary majority for some time now, where the star of the gentler yet stricter Prime Minister François Fillon is beginning to rise. Here it's mainly about image, quite apart from the fact that the great procession of reforms that Sarkozy had so loudly announced has come to a standstill under the weight of the economic crisis and the corporate resistance of French society." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » France
All available articles from » Massimo Nava

The French Right has disappointed its electorate, writes the online paper Mediapart with an eye to the poor opinion poll results for the governing UMP: "After half of the legislature period the machinery of Sarkozy's presidency, this blend of willful omnipresence and factual omnipotence, has ground to a halt. The mechanism has jammed, and the mechanic himself seems unsure or overstrained. ... The period that will come to an end in March 2010 with two sets of regional elections is making clear how out of touch the government is with its own electorate. The right-wing is baffled and has stopped hiding it. François Fillion, the humiliated and mistreated prime minister, is now being treated as a possible presidential candiate. ... And although they may profit in the regional elections, the Left is in no way responsible for the Right's growing unpopularity." (11/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » France
All available articles from » Edwy Plenel

The EU Parliament on Wednesday passed a resolution dealing with how to conduct talks on the US's planned European missile defence shield. One French MEP argued to no avail that the text should include the phrase 'in dialogue with Russia', a suggestion the daily România Liberă lambastes: "In many ways it was an unacceptable, even absurd suggestion. The anti-missile shield is a defence system, consequently Romania is not at all obliged to consult Russia on the subject. ... The installation of a missile defence shield on Romanian soil is a strictly Romanian-American affair. The EU Parliament has nothing to say in the matter, let alone Russia. It's perfectly reasonable for Romania and other EU states to exchange views on the question, but here too it's senseless to include Russia. That would be no different from allowing Russia to sneak in a back door of the European Parliament to take part in security meetings where it has no business to be." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » EU neighbourhood policy, » Russia, » Europe, » U.S., » Romania
All available articles from » Cristian Campeanu

For the second time in fifteen days the Greeks have brought their country to a standstill with a general strike. And on Thursday there were violent clashes between the police and demonstrators. Yet the government should not be deterred from its chosen course, the German tabloid Bild writes: "It must not stray from the rigorous austerity measures it has belatedly imposed on the country. The fact is: the future of Greece will be decided neither on the international financial markets nor in the backrooms of the EU, but in the country itself, and no International Fund, never mind a European Monetary Fund, can change this. All that Greece's partners can do is provide a little assistance, and that's the way it should be. The Greeks won't gain any credit by letting someone else drag them out of the swamp. The only way for them to restore their credibility is for them to drain it themselves! The new government has understood this. It doesn't expect a cent from us! But if the people on the street get their way, if the government doesn't impose its will on the stubborn section of the population, Greece is doomed." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Greece
All available articles from » Nikolaus Blome

Catherine Ashton, the EU's new high representative for foreign affairs, has requested a private jet to ease her travel obligations. Her submission has been backed by a Spanish diplomat who compares Ashton with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Try again, writes the liberal daily Sme: "Clinton became head of US diplomacy because she is an able, influential woman appointed by President Obama. Ashton, by contrast, was chosen for her job precisely because she's weak. And she is to remain weak, and not interfere with the work of the politicians who chose her. The institution she represents doesn't command even the slightest respect abroad, so it makes no difference whatsoever if she jets around the world or stays put at home. As opposed to Clinton, no one cares at all what she has to say." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Peter Morvay

Italy's parliament passed another law on Wednesday aimed at preventing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from having to appear in court. Berlusconi is thus once again bending the laws of the constitutional state. This is also apparent in the attempt to get the governing People of Freedom party (PdL) on the lists for the regional elections despite errors committed by the party in the registration procedure: "The dilettantism of the PdL leadership as well as the recent corruption scandals in which above all the government has been implicated [are] an example of the Berlusconi regime's contempt for the constitutional state: laws and regulations are not taken seriously and manipulated to its own advantage. With the 'Legittimo impedimento' [legitimate impediment] that adds up to over twenty 'ad personam' laws which 'il Cavaliere' has now had his loyal parliamentary majority pass in the course of his political career. His shameless abuse of power may still have the power to shock us but it has long ceased to surprise us." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Italy
All available articles from » Meret Baumann

Priit Hõbemägi complains in the weekly Eesti Ekspress that too many Estonians live for the day without long-term perspectives or plans: "For a long time now we've lived from one day to the next, and a week is already an epoch. In historic terms this change is particularly striking. How long it took in former times to save enough money to buy one's freedom from a landowner or the Czar's army! But even in Soviet times you had to think on the long term. With a salary of 140 roubles it took years before you could set aside the 5,000 you needed to buy a car. ... The economic boom changed all that because it taught us that you needn't slave and save for years to afford a house or a flat, a trip around the world or a luxurious car. All of that could be had right away because the banks were generous with their loans. The gratification was instant and the repayment began at some point a couple of years later. An aphorism runs 'live each day as if it were your last'. But there's got to be a corrective for the sort of recklessness you see when so many people live as if there were no tomorrow." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » History, » Consumers, » Banks, » Inflation, » Estonia
All available articles from » Priit Hõbemägi

On Thursday Lithuania celebrated the 20th anniversary of its restored independence. In his blog on news portal Delfi Leonidas Donskis compares the new Lithuania with the old one: "There's no doubt about it: today's Lithuania has outstripped the pre-war Lithuania in many respects, be it democracy, international recognition, the standard of science and the media, industry or population figures. But pre-war Lithuania had an advantage over us: its joy in inventions and creativity, its idealism, its enthusiasm and its belief that sooner or later industrious, educated and creative Lithuanians would bring their country up to Western Europe's living and knowledge standards. It has been seven years now since we experienced such joy. ... In 2003 Russia systematically interfered in our presidential election campaign, bought politicians and media, and infiltrated the country with Kremlin propaganda." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » Media policy, » History, » Lithuania, » Russia
All available articles from » Leonidas Donskis

Portugal's prime minister José Sócrates has been accused of having lied when he presented the country's new stability and growth programme. Writing in the daily Correio da Manhã João Pereira Coutinho says this is the stuff of movies and Sócrates deserves an Oscar for his performance: "The film by director [Finance Minister] Teixeira dos Santos is a heroic saga about a government that ... tears up its election manifesto after just five months and at the same time guarantees the Portuguese that taxes won't be raised. In movies this last feat is always achieved thanks to major special effects. In Portugal all it took was a very special actor: someone who stands before the cameras and confirms that only the rich will pay more (although they make up just one percent of the population) and that the middle classes won't be bled dry in the course of all this tax relief. Sócrates' colleague [actress] Inês de Medeiros is right: It's not a bad thing when Sócrates lies. The bad thing, I would add, is not to applaud the talent of a man who has elevated this art to an unprecedented level." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Tax Policy, » Portugal
All available articles from » João Pereira Coutinho

The positive statistics used by politicians only distort the truth because despite economic growth many Poles still live in poverty, writes Jan Domaniewski in the tabloid Fakt: "A little while ago I was quite shocked to hear a well-known economist on the radio who was convinced that 'it's normal for more and more classes to form after the system change, but that society as a whole is growing wealthier.' In other words: 'Don't worry too much about how to make ends meet when the millionaire down the street buys another yacht. On the average we're both better off.' That's exactly how some politicians see the people, because they're unable to address each individual case although it occurs millions of times." (12/03/2010)

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All available articles from » Jan Domaniewski

Students disrupted the EU education ministers' celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Bologna system on Thursday. The daily Die Presse says the harmonised European education system with its Bachelor degrees has its failings, but also its advantages: "The new 'bachelor' degree became a problem because the labour market has not accepted it, even though universities actually crammed too much material into them. As a consequence students justifiably feel they have lost their freedom with school-like courses of study. And worse still: international mobility has actually declined. ... But the Bologna Process shouldn't be pronounced defunct yet: the Bachelor degree can be improved in design, thus raising the national quotas for graduates - a goal that is common to all. And it's okay if not as many degrees as previously lead to a doctorate. Austria has long been internationally ridiculed for its addiction to academic titles. The new architecture for university studies can be saved and not everything about it is bad." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Science / Research, » Austria, » Europe
All available articles from » Martina Salomon

After an extramarital affair came to light, the Czech human rights minister Michael Kocáb has offered his resignation without seeking to publicly justify his actions. For the left-leaning daily Právo this is precisely the wrong thing to do: "The minister is a Protestant and guided by his Church's moral code. A Catholic would quip that Kocáb doesn't have a balanced attitude to sin. The minister made a surprise public announcement on how long he has lived with his wife already without having intimate relations with her. But of what interest, if you please, is that to the public? Similarly the fact that his spokeswoman is now his girlfriend is of no import whatsoever. ... Kocáb has not failed morally, but politically and culturally. Giving the public access to his intimate private life only takes us further in the direction of the un-European double moral standards typical of the United States." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Public Culture, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Petr Uhl

In the discussion about same-sex marriage the daily Kristeligt Dagblad says politicians should refrain from obliging the Danish National Church to perform marriage rites between homosexual partners: "Politicians shouldn't play at being theologians. The Danish National Church should decide for itself what rituals take place within the church. For obvious reasons such a decision will revolve around other factors than equal treatment. ... There's much at stake here, including the historical understanding of wedlock as the fundament of the family, which remains the smallest and most important social unit. The politicians who are making the Church a battleground for party politics should not simply ignore this." (11/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Minorities, » Denmark

The recent biography of the world-famous Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński casts doubts on the authenticity of many of his reportages. British historian Timothy Garton Ash comments in the left-liberal daily El País: "All journalists and eveyone who aspires to authoring reportages should learn from this controversy that the path of 'creative non-fiction' is dangerous indeed. ... I see two ways forward. One, humorously suggested by Domoslawski himself in a post-publication interview, is that in bookshops there should be a shelf between fiction and non-fiction, with a new category marked simply 'Kapuściński'. The other is to learn from Kapuściński's marvellous work, but also from his transgressions - and hence to bear truer witness." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Print media, » History, » Poland
All available articles from » Timothy Garton Ash