Israel threatens to lose all credibility with its stubborn attitude in the conflict over its bloody military operation in the Mediterranean, writes the daily Die Presse: "With its current policy Israel is diverting attention from the threats posed by the radical Hamas movement and Hamas' even more powerful ally Iran, against which it must protect itself. Benjamin Netanyahu's government is engaged in a hair-raising public relations campaign that merely reinforces its enemies' views. And now Turkey, formerly committed to maintaining good relations with Jerusalem, has also joined the enemy ranks. Israel's chief concern should now be not only to carry out a thorough enquiry into the death of the nine activists, but also to prevent such things from happening in future. What's at stake is nothing less than the country's credibility in one of the most thorny international conflicts." (04/06/2010)

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All available articles from » Wolfgang Böhm

With its refusal to admit an independent enquiry into the military attack in the Mediterranean Israel is provoking its allies, the left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung warns: "The country got away with this on a previous occasion - after the Gaza War 18 months ago when the army was accused of war crimes. But this time the situation is different: The opponent wasn't terrorist Hamas but - even if there were agitators on board - a flotilla of political activists from many different countries. The assault took place in international waters and nine Turkish citizens were probably killed. So it would be absurd to leave the investigation of this case to those who are now being held responsible by several sides for the deaths and injuries. If Israel has nothing to hide, as the governments and military have been claiming for days, then it shouldn't have a problem with an international commission of enquiry. ... By refusing and declaring everyone else is biased it only casts suspicion on itself. ... And the tougher Israel's stance, the greater the pressure will be and the more it stands to lose in the end." (04/06/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Crises / War, » Turkey, » Israel
All available articles from » Peter Münch

The UN Human Rights Council wants to have Israel's attack on an aid flotilla investigated by an independent commission. However not Israel but Europe is the real loser after the Council's vote, writes Andrea Bonanni in his Blog Europe for the left-liberal La Repubblica: "Eight countries from the European Community currently sit on the UN Human Rights Council. Some voted for the proposal [Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia] and others (France, Belgium and the UK) abstained. Only Italy, the Netherlands voted against it, together with the US. According to the EU Treaty member states must deliberate and coordinate their responses in all international institutions, especially the United Nations. Clearly this was not the case. Irrespective of the views of individual European governments on the Middle East, was it really impossible to agree on an abstention if need be, instead of drawing attention yet again to our disunity? After this vote EU foreign minister Catherine Ashton can just as well dispense with her Middle East missions and cut her travel costs." (04/06/2010)

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All available articles from » Andrea Bonanni

After the surprise resignation of Horst Köhler the German ruling coalition has agreed on Christian Wulff as candidate for the office of German President. The decision in favour of the premier of the state of Lower Saxony shows that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has lost her ability to get her own way, the leftist tageszeitung writes: "He is a colourless regional politician who always seems very nice on television. There is no recollection of him ever having launched a debate. … Merkel obviously wasn't able to push through her candidate Ursula von der Leyen [current labour minister], who would have been a good choice. This is, however, a spectacular development in itself. It shows how unstable this government has become. For whatever you may think about Merkel's hesitant, cautious leadership style you could always be sure of one thing: she has an extremely effective feeling for power and knows, like Helmut Kohl, how to get what she wants in the end. But that, too, doesn't seem to work any more." (04/06/2010)

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All available articles from » Stefan Reinecke

Hungary commemorates today the signing of the Treaty of Trianon through which the country lost two thirds of its territory and a third of its population 90 years ago. In the southern Slovakian town of Komárno the anniversary may trigger clashes between nationalists from both the Hungarian and Slovakian sides. The conservative daily Lidové noviny voices concern: "'The worse, the better', seems to be the motto of the Slovakian and Hungarian governments, which are still busy stoking up nationalist feelings - as if [the prime ministers] Robert Fico and Viktor Orbán actually wanted to see blood flow later. Bratislava is commemorating the anniversary of Trianon with public celebrations. All we need now is for the Slovakian parliament to declare the day a new Slovakian national holiday. …The Slovakian voters have an advantage over the Hungarians, who have perhaps already realised that electing Orbán wasn't a good decision: They still have the opportunity to deny [the leader of the National Party Ján] Slota their votes. The elections take place in a week's time." (04/06/2010)

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All available articles from » Luboš Palata

This year's Baltic Development Forum summit was held in Lithuania on June 1-2. The daily Respublika criticises the absence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "If the forum had been held in Berlin we would have all hurried to be present: When Europe's whistle blows no one stays at home and nothing can stop us, not even a cloud of volcanic ash. … Naturally there's a reason why the German chancellor didn't attend. She stayed at home because Germany is looking for a new president. But would it have been such a political catastrophe for Berlin if the head of government had spend just half a day in Vilnius? Of course not. The main reason Angela Merkel didn't come was because Vladimir Putin wasn't there either, and without Putin Vilnius held no interest for her, and nor is she interested in Lithuania."  (04/06/2010)

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A referendum will be held in Slovenia on Sunday on the arbitration agreement for solving its border dispute with Croatia. Joze Poglajen welcomes the agreement in the online issue of the daily Dnevnik, but criticises the idea of a referendum: "On Sunday we will have to decide first whether we vote at all, and if so what option to tick. The first decision is the most difficult because this referendum was imposed on us by the ruling political elite. They are shifting the responsibility onto the people who voted them into office and letting them decide the matter in their name. I can find no other explanation for why Prime Minister Borut Pahor started flirting with the idea of a referendum as soon as his signature had dried on the arbitration agreement. ... If the referendum is unavoidable then we'll have to go and vote. ... A fixed border with Croatia will open doors for our dynamic  businesses and banks not only in Croatia, but also further to the south." (04/06/2010)

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Brussels is trying to convey a false picture of rotten and corrupted states in southern Europe, writes Roussos Vranas in the daily Ta Nea: "From Bettino Craxi's Italy to François Mitterrand's France and Helmut Kohl's Germany there are numerous historical examples of how evil money can harm even the best democracy. Even countries that seem more virtuous than our own like Germany and the UK are shaken by political and economic scandals. ... In the system in which we now live it's clear that it's not those in government who control the economy but the economy that controls the government. Commenting on the parliamentary elections in more innocent times than today - a century ago - the English politician Lord Acton said that the MPs are bought and sold first. No doubt he did an injustice to those who chose the thorny path of resistance. But few of us could say today whether they are in the minority or the majority." (03/06/2010)

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All available articles from » Roussos Vranas

At the beginning of the year the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' symbolic Doomsday Clock was turned back by a minute and now stands at six minutes to midnight. Kari Huta writes in the daily Helsingin Sanomat about the nuclear threat and the attempts to counter it: "Even that one-minute extra time is an important turn of events. The last time the hands that indicate the danger of nuclear war were turned back was 19 years ago. Since then they have moved relentlessly towards midnight. ... The great achievement was that at the conference at the end of May 186 countries unanimously accepted a final statement on the principles of nuclear security. The text is full of gaps the size of a battery of missiles but thanks to the document the threat of the spread of nuclear weapons is not growing right now and could even be reduced. ... When you read the agreement you wonder what sense it makes to plan a conference on a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East in two years' time. Israel wasn't even included in the final document. But you could also see it like this: If the meeting takes place Iran would have to be at the same conference as Israel." (04/06/2010)

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This week the EU Commission proposed that a new European regulating authority should monitor the business of rating agencies. The daily Le Quotidien writes that the agencies bear partial responsibility for the crisis: "It is no accident that fingers are now being pointed at the agencies. In all probability they turned a blind eye to the 'subprime' time bomb. ... They brusquely downgraded Greece's rating and cast suspicion on Spain and Portugal. To arm themselves against the agencies' damaging effects, some are proposing striking at the root of the evil, at least on a state level. ... [President of the Euro Group] Jean-Claude Juncker and [economist] Jacques Attali have agreed on an option that could improve the relatively inefficient European budget policies in the Eurozone by issuing European treasury bonds. The idea ... could come into effect just at a time when Europe must protect itself from speculators." (04/06/2010)

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All available articles from » Camille Leroux

Bulgaria's Minister for Economic Affairs Trajcho Trajkov has predicted higher revenues for the country's tourism industry in 2010. The daily Sega accuses him of calculated optimism because so far fewer tourists than last year have visited Bulgaria's Black Sea coast: "The Bulgarian tourist industry is a strange phenomenon. Each summer sees fewer tourists but at the end of the year we always report that huge crowds of holidaymakers visited the country. At the end of April the Minister for Economic Affairs Traicho Traikov eagerly announced that we can reckon with good news this year too. He forecast five percent growth for 2010, even though the crisis is far from over and the World Cup still lies ahead. Major sports events, no matter where they are held, always have a negative effect on countries like Bulgaria. Traicho, who likes to holiday in Mexico, obviously overlooked this fact."   (03/06/2010)

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All available articles from » Diyan Ivanov

A man shot dead a female judge and a clerk at a court in Brussels on Thursday, reigniting the debate about security at law courts. There needs to be more security at courts, the daily De Morgen demands: "The judiciary is the only guarantee for the protection of all of us and therefore needs extra protection if it is to continue to fulfil its task in complete independence and with true authority. An attack on a judge is an attack on all of us, on one of the foundations on which our society rests. ... There is however a structural security problem in our law courts. The solution is not to post a policeman next to every official. ... But more centralised courts and a few security officers at entrances is feasible and affordable. This type of investment is also justified even at times when holes in the budget need to be filled." (04/06/2010)

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All available articles from » Yves Desmet

The rampage of 52-year-old Derrick Bird in the northern English county of Cumbria has sparked a debate about tightening gun control laws in the UK. The daily The Irish Times writes that only a complete ban on weapons would make sense: "Bird had held his shotgun licence for 15 years, and that for the rifle since 2007. This was possible because his conviction for theft in the 1990s did not involve a custodial sentence. And, while questions have been raised about police laxity over the home visits that are supposed to accompany licence renewal applications, there has been no suggestion that anything in Bird's behaviour might have indicated to friends or the police that he was not a fit person to hold the licences. Short of banning firearms it is difficult to see how someone like him could be prevented from holding guns." (04/06/2010)

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The FIFA World Cup will take place in South Africa from  June 11 to July 11. The left-liberal daily Libération warns that the event will only mask the problem of racism in the country for a short while: "The expectations are on a par with the delusions of a nation whose dream of a 'rainbow' has never been fulfilled. Since the end of apartheid the African National Congress has certainly managed to establish a multi-racial democracy. But economic injustice persists and only serves to exacerbate the divisions in society. For the duration of this planetary celebration Jacob Zuma's South Africa will do its best to give an image of perfect harmony. But after the World Cup, once the television cameras have returned home and the Bafana Bafana have gone back to their changing rooms, the country of Mandela won't be able to escape its harsh reality.The nation is still convalescing from 350 years of racist tyranny, and its march towards liberty is far from over." (04/06/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Minorities, » Social movements, » Sport, » Africa
All available articles from » Fabrice Rousselot