Many Poles feel that the late Polish President Lech Kaczyński should not be buried in the Wawel in Krakow, writes the daily Die Presse: "The period of  dignified mourning and the will to refrain from capitalising politically on the death of a dozen Polish dignitaries has not lasted very long. ... This dispute really only concerns Poles. Nevertheless it is surprising that Stanisław Dziwisz, the archbishop of Kraków, evidently only consulted the families of the deceased before pressing ahead. Nevertheless the feelings of sympathy are commensurate with the nature of this tragedy. Is the archbishop unaware that during his life Lech Kaczyński was a relatively controversial politician with popularity ratings of just 20 percent shortly before his death? Does he really deserve to be buried beside [national hero] Tadeusz Kościuszko, Wladisław Sikorski [prime minister of the Polish exile government until 1943], Adam Mickiewicz [acclaimed poet] and Józef Piłsudski [first leader of independent Poland after 1918]?" (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Poland
All available articles from » Burkhard Bischof

A public row has broken out over whether President Lech Kaczyński should be buried in the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków or not. The liberal daily Sme doesn't believe it would be a good idea: "The problem is not that Kaczyński was a controversial and not all too successful president. ... The problem is that from both a political and historical perspective the Wawel is a burial place for rulers, not for democratic politicians. … Those who want to see Kaczyński buried in the Wawel are doing the president a disservice. If they think their idol belongs among such rulers and ultimately believe that the president saw himself in this light, they are proving right all those who say that Kaczyński and democracy never really went well together." (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Poland
All available articles from » Peter Morvay

The start of a Kaczyński cult should be avoided, writes Jacek Żakowski in the news magazine Polityka. But he calls on people to show respect for those supporters of Kaczyński who want to have him buried in the Wawel: "However I don't have the feeling that I as a Pole owe him so much. I owe other Poles more gratitude. I see no reason for starting a cult after Lech Kaczyński's tragic death. If you look at the last polls before the disaster struck you see that for most Poles there is no reason for this. But there are those among us who see things differently. And they are not a marginal group, small and insignificant. Millions of Poles saw and continue to see President Kaczyński as the saviour in our hour of need who did his country great services. ... They have lost their messiah ... and as long as they believe that the most fitting burial place for him is in the Wawel then let him be buried there." (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Remembrance culture, » Poland
All available articles from » Jacek Żakowski

The eruption of a volcano under the Eyjafjalla glacier in Iceland caused massive disruptions in air traffic in many parts of Europe on Thursday. This shows to what extent affluent societies are at the mercy of the elements, writes the daily El Correo: "The collapse of air traffic in Europe, with thousands of cancelled flights - including around 500 in Spain alone … shows once more how fragile our high-tech society is in the face of unforeseen emergency situations. … The European Commission warned yesterday that although airlines must respect the rights of their passengers, those rights will not include economic compensation. However this should not release the companies of their duty to provide all the assistance they can to passengers in such exceptional circumstances of unknown duration." (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Europe, » Iceland

For the first time in the UK the candidates for the office of British Prime Minister faced each other in a televised electoral debate. The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, won a clear victory over current Prime Minister Gordon Brown and conservative challenger David Cameron, the daily The Guardian believes: "Clegg, treated fairly by the system for once and not barracked by backbench bullies from the other parties, had most to gain and duly gained it. 'We need to be clear with you and straight with you' may sound like political blah but voters like honesty. This was a huge evening for the Liberal Democrats. Clegg was helped merely by being there. But he also had to prove he was worthy of his equality with Brown and Cameron. There's not much doubt that he succeeded." (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » United Kingdom
All available articles from » Martin Kettle

Inhabitants of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognised internationally, will elect a new president on Sunday. According to opinion polls the incumbent Mehmet Ali Talat will be ousted by the Turkish nationalist hardliner and former prime minister Derviş Eroğlu. For the conservative Greek Cypriot daily Simerini there is hardly any difference between the two candidates, as both take orders from Ankara: "The sole difference is the degree of dependence and obedience to Turkey. ... One big mistake of the Greek Cypriot leadership has been to approach ... Turkish-Cypriot leaders with our European standards. They must do so with Turkish standards, which in the North take on the form of two different 'Turkeys': the state within the state comprising the generals who support Eroğlu, and the official Turkey of the putatively Islamic-secular party of [Prime Minister] Erdoğan, which supports Talat. These two Turkeys co-exist in an uncompromising, reckless Turkdom that occupies our homeland and counters the interests of Hellenism in Cyprus and the Aegean with its expansionist goals." (15/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » Cyprus
All available articles from » Savvas Iakovidis

Italy's ruling party Popolo della Libertà (The People of Freedom) threatens to break up in two. The co-founder of the party, president of the chamber of deputies Gianfranco Fini, has menaced party leader Silvio Berlusconi with founding his own parliamentary faction. However the dispute ignores the interests of the voters, the liberal daily La Stampa writes: "It is a dramatic break full of bitterness in which shameless arguments are being used to hunt down the culprits. Following Fini's announcement that he would form his own party Berlusconi's loyal supporters warned every potential defector that in the likely case that the parliament was dissolved they would find themselves outside of it. ... If Fini does indeed manage to hustle together 50 MPs and 18 senators the government would be paralysed and Berlusconi's desire for new elections would grow stronger. The prime minister's big party building has a major crack in it. Without any regard for the voters who elected them to govern both parties are working on expanding the dispute." (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Italy
All available articles from » Marcello Sorgi

Celebrations are being held all over Denmark today to mark the 70th birthday of Queen Margrethe of Denmark. The social-democratic oriented daily Politiken pays tribute to the Queen but questions the role of the monarchy: "A monarch who fulfils her role to the satisfaction of the great majority of her subjects is not in herself a justification for the monarchy as an institution. It is essential that the Queen and her family do their job well, but it is no reason for Denmark to remain a monarchy. In a democratic society such an arrangement requires justification, just as the principle applies that no person or institution is above criticism. One example is the budget of the royal family. It is high time the plethora of allowances, tax exemptions, private privileges and indirect support were made transparent. It would also make sense if the coming constitutional reform eliminated the theoretical risk of future monarchies interfering in the formation of our governments." (16/04/2010)

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

French elites accuse Germany of turning its back on European solidarity and fixing its gaze on Russia. Hans-Hermann Nikolei explains these concerns in the daily Die Welt: "Once again the Germans are looking eastward, abandoning the social-welfare 'Rhine capitalism' and gambling egotistically with Europe. The dispute over the German export surplus and Eurozone aid for Greece has rekindled old fears in France. ... Angela Merkel's hesitancy to bail out the imporverished Greeks with a few billion euros has come as a big shock to the French elites. Many now fear that Germany will forget about European solidarity and leave France in the lurch. ... It must be said however that the man on the street in France takes a calmer view of Germany than his intellectual 'mentors'. According to a survey by the Opinion Way institute, 78 percent of French people and 84 percent of Germans are proud to be European. And 79 percent of both countries believe that the German-French tandem will remain the powerhouse of Europe until 2020." (15/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU neighbourhood policy, » Germany, » France

In view of the crisis in Greece France's elites have accused Germany of acting without sufficient regard for French interests. Jean Bizet, chairman of the Committee for European Affairs in the French Senate, writes in the daily Le Monde that the two countries need not be on par to enjoy a healthy relationship: "The first mistake was that people too often spoke of a 'German-French couple' or tandem, while in fact the two states have developed differently and are really cousins. ... The reunification and the EU enlargement have re-configured Europe and given Germany a central role on all levels. But is it at all appropriate to speak of an imbalance? Why do people look for a balance in European construction, why a balance between Germany and France? Why not between Germany and Poland, between the North and the South, the West and the East, the old members and the new? The crucial thing isn't the balance between to the two countries ... but their will to act together. Their relationship has changed. ... The two cousins are bound by a perpetual lack of unity." (13/04/2010)

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All available articles from » Jean Bizet

Following the example of airline staff, dockworkers and bus and long-distance lorry drivers before them employees in the retail staff employed in the retail trade are now going on strike today, Friday. Writing in the blog of the daily Lapin Kansa Saara Mäntylä notes a new strike trend in Finland at present: "Going on strike has already become a trend. If others go on strike then we can do it too. It doesn't matter if a few people staying at home makes it difficult for others to get to work or jeopardises public safety. ... That's how it is with strikes. You have to stay at home even when things are at their most critical at work. But naturally everyone's shouting about their salaries now - after all, we're in a recession. … If we don't want to object that it's foolish to defend one's own interests in a recession, … then at least we should admit that we're simply annoyed because we couldn't get our favourite bread at the shop or because our bus has been cancelled today." (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Trade unions, » Labour, » Finland

EU President Herman Van Rompuy made a big media splash on Thursday when he published his first volume of poetry in traditional Japanese Haiku verse. But people are more interested in the man than in his poetry, writes the daily De Morgen: "The President of the EU, the man who has done little to solve the Greek crisis, the fellow President Obama accorded a handshake but no meeting. Now he's the talk of the entire European press. ... It's a bitter fact that Europe's papers are so excited about this book ... while another former Belgian prime minister [Guy Verhofstadt] who also hoped for a key job in Europe had no such luck although he wrote a real book with real ideas about Europe. ... Haiku Herman, by contrast, is a reflective, likeable gentleman, and a poet to boot. The Anglo-Saxon press can't get enough of such things. That's how people in Europe like to see the Belgians: innocuous and ingenuous." (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Literature, » Belgium, » Europe
All available articles from » Walter Pauli

In Lithuania, members of the Polish minority are obliged by law to adjust their names to the Lithuanian way of spelling and for example use v instead of w. The news portal Delfi criticises this practice: "The Poles should have the right to write their names in their usual way in official documents. Why must people's names be adapted to Lithuanian against people's will? In the Smetona era [before the Second World War] efforts to preserve the Lithuanian language were just as strong but the Poles were allowed to write their names the Polish way, even though relations between Lithuanians and Poles were tense and unfriendly at the time, unlike today. ... The Polish community is not a foreign body and many Poles have been living here for centuries. We should get used to the idea that it will be just as difficult to Lithuanianise them as it was for the Soviets to Russify the Lituanians." (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Cultural Policy, » Integration, » Minorities, » Languages, » Poland, » Lithuania
All available articles from » Kęstutis Girnius

Roma activists have argued that illustrator Josef Lada's talking cat Mikeš, one of the most popular figures in Czech children's literature, should be banned as teaching material in Czech schools. The reason: the cat makes disparaging remarks about Gypsies. Tens of thousands of Czechs have opposed the idea in the online network Facebook. The liberal daily Mladá fronta Dnes comments: "There are reasons for banning every book, consequently they should all be banned. Mikeš must be banned, and so should Harry Potter. Balzac too, who wrote: 'Show a Pole a precipice, and he will leap headlong over it.' With regards to recent events such a remark must certainly be condemned. Of course one could answer that Balzac couldn't foretell what would happen. Nevertheless his words are absolutely inexcusable." (16/04/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Minorities, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Martin Komárek