Egyptians expect thoroughgoing political and economic reforms in their euphoria after the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, the business paper Hospodářské noviny writes, but doubts this will happen with the army in control: "The fact that no clear leadership personality emerged during the more than two weeks of mass protests could make the situation much more complicated. Mubarak has put the leadership of the country in the hands of the army, which called on the demonstrators to go back home. ... Should the army remain the decisive element, radical change is not to be expected in either domestic or foreign policy. But it's a moot point if the people who called for change on Tahrir Square will accept such a scenario." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Unrest / Riots, » Egypt
All available articles from » Irena Kalhousová

After the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Friday the army has the country under its control, the daily Trouw writes and calls for a swift power transfer. "Since the protests began the army has been trying to consolidate its own position of power. In view of the situation in Egypt this was inevitable to prevent the collapse of the state. But whether the military will be able to bring themselves to transfer power to an elected civilian government in the foreseeable future remains to be seen. When it sided with Mubarak at the beginning the army proved that it was capable of seriously underestimating the determination of the people. The opposition as a whole will have learned from this that the slogan chanted at Tahrir Square, that the 'army and the people should act as one', was naïve. Only if it puts pressure on the military has the opposition any real hope of true democracy." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Crises / War, » Egypt

For Egypt to have a democratic future after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak it needs above all economic growth, the left-liberal daily Der Standard writes: "The millions of people who took to the streets in recent weeks didn't just want free elections and a share in political decisions. They want more jobs, a higher income and more social security. ... Even if the new government does everything right the structural problems remain unresolved. Everywhere in the Arab world productivity is lower than the wage level. Apart from oil and gas there is no export industry that could compete with the highly efficient Asian suppliers. ... The Europeans, the most important trade partners, can only help to a certain point here. Still it would be good if they opened their markets to the new democracies in North Africa and offered their expertise for reforms. ... But these states must find the path that leads to more growth for themselves. If they don't the hopes for a democratic future will disappear." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Trade, » Labour market, » North Africa, » Egypt
All available articles from » Eric Frey

With the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011 a period that began on 11 September 2001 comes to an end, the daily Público writes. September 11 "marked the beginning of a civilisation clash between the West and the Middle East, a battle on the world stage between Western dominance and Arab resentment. On 11 February 2011 a signal from the Arab world showed us how alive the belief in democracy and freedom is. The revolution in Cairo has demonstrated that the desire to live freely and choose one's own destiny is not exclusive to the West. ... In the 18 days that culminated in Mubarak's fall from power, Tahrir Square was a symbol for a cause common to all mankind, and it has proven that Tunis was not an isolated case. After Tunis the Arabs in Cairo have shown that they can jump onto the globalisation train. After a decade of stagnation history has once again began to move forward in the Arab world. September 11 came to an end at Tahrir Square." (12/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Human rights, » Unrest / Riots, » Society, » U.S., » Egypt, » Tunisia

After the fall of the Egyptian and Tunisian presidents the Algerians now also want to free themselves from autocratic rule. Algerian leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika's attempt to quash demonstrations with an immense police force will prove powerless against the young people's desire for freedom, writes the left-liberal daily Libération: "The causes that brought about the downfall of Mubarak and Ben Ali also exist in Algeria, in fact there conditions are much worse. The youths have no recourse but to unemployment or emigration, and feelings of hopelessness are even more widespread than in other Arab countries. ... Corruption is as prevalent among members of the military and their families as in Tunisia. ... The fate of Mubarak and Ben Ali shows that the old dictatorial recipes and methods no longer function. The Algerians have a right to democracy." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Unrest / Riots, » Algeria
All available articles from » François Sergent

Several thousand people have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa in recent days as a result of the toppling of the Tunisian regime. Rome shares part of the blame for the situation because of its questionable agreement with Libya on illegal immigration, writes the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "The victims of an entire political era characterised by Rome's cooperation with Muammar al-Gaddafi and the brutalisation of our society end up in Lampedusa's waters. ... From those who die during the crossings to the arbitrary deportations which all end in Libya's prison to the illegal immigrants who are left at the mercy of exploiters and human trafficking. ... We can see that this situation is on the one hand a result of Europe growing ever more distant and on the other of increasingly close connections with Gaddafi, whom we have promoted to the position of watchman of our coasts, and whom we supply and pay with weapons to this end." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Migration, » Italy, » Libya, » Tunisia
All available articles from » Adriano Prosperi

Fifty-seven percent of Swiss voted in a referendum against the initiative 'for protection against gun violence' backed by the Social Democratic Party (SP). This means Swiss army officiers and soldiers may continue to carry their weapons home with them provided they're not loaded. The referendum demonstrates the strength of the conservative camp in rural areas, writes the left-liberal daily Tages-Anzeiger: "After the acceptance of the minaret ban and the expulsion initiave, the No for the gun protection initiative is the third referendum victory for rural conservative Switzerland within a short period of time. The majority in the cities and French-speaking Switzerland has once again been outvoted, and is rubbing its eyes in astonishment. The last vote before the national elections has strengthened the conservative camp. The Right's ability to mobilise is striking, whereas the mistrust of leftist solutions has even scuppered proposals that looked set to gain a majority. That should give the SP pause to rethink its strategy after scaring off many voters with its quixotic platform." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Switzerland
All available articles from » Daniel Foppa

German neo-Nazis on Sunday commemorated the destruction of the German city of Dresden during the Second World War. According to the conservative daily Rzeczpospolita part of the blame for the neo-Nazi march lies with the German government: "Just a couple of days previously the Christian Democratic politicians and the FDP (the Liberals) had pushed through a project in Berlin that foresees a day of remembrance for the victims of expulsion. The government's announcement neglected to mention that there never would have been any flight or expulsion if the Germans hadn't let a madman who tried to conquer the world rise to power. ... And now the German Christian Democrats and the liberals, driven by electoral motives [state parliament elections this year], are creating a new day of remembrance which could easily provoke revanchist excesses. Didn't the lesson of Dresden demonstrate that this is playing with fire?" (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Remembrance culture, » Germany
All available articles from » Piotr Semka

The speedy change of political terminology that has come about as a result of the fall of the Egyptian president is annoying, writes David Hugendick in the liberal weekly Die Zeit: "The despots are on one side, the West and its allies, to which Hosni Mubarak himself long belonged, on the other. ... Now however with the revolt in Egypt this image has become redundant. The world is screaming: Mubarak is a dictator. ... The former rebels have now become demonstrators and protestors, the protestors are now critics of the regime, the critics have become opponents and are now being referred to as freedom fighters in some places. All within just a few days. The vocabulary of Tahrir Square now dominates our way of talking in the same way that for a long time one used the language of realpolitik in the West to speak of Mubarak's regime. For the past 30 years, that is. Yesterday realism, today revolution. Thrilling times! And yet somewhat opportunist. ... To be fair it should be said that it's better to gain insight late than never. However it's distressing that it takes a fullscale uprising for that to happen." (10/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Languages, » Human rights, » Germany, » Global, » Egypt
All available articles from » David Hugendick

In Greece the non-payers movement is growing. It consists of people who refuse to pay the higher tolls and fares for travel on local public transport which have gone up by 40 percent. The government plans to take tougher action against these people but demonising them will be counterproductive, writes columnist Giannis Kibouropulos in the business paper O Kosmos tou Ependiti: "The commercialisation of public assets has become the new El Dorado of capitalism and its last hope of boosting its profits. ... Neo-liberalism has set itself the goal of conquering all the areas of activity of the welfare state. ... Road construction was gradually taken over by diverse contractors, and then passed into 'co-financing' and finally ended up being completely privatised like the national road network. ... So demonising the free movement and the non-payers is not as innocent as it may seem. The opponents of the non-payers are not defending a universal right, they simply want to legitimise a new form of public handling of public assets in which the state is not just a guarantor for the privatisation of public assets but also for the profits of the companies which have taken control of those assets." (13/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Social movements, » Greece
All available articles from » Giannis Kibouropoulos

Whether in private life or at work, in the family or leisure time, more and more details are subject to legal control, complains Anne Knudsen in the left-liberal daily Politiken: "Politicians today have lost sight of the people at the expense of the electorate and consumers who use or abuse the social system. ... When you let children establish the classroom rules themselves, everything, - be it important or picayune - is settled higgledy-piggledy without any priorities. This way of deciding how we should behave with each other can be seen as immature, even infantile. It's fine when we're talking about children, but it's inappropriate for politicians to act that way. Unfortunately our political life is increasingly dominated by such infantilisation. All discussions are focussed on the whys and wherefores of rules - on new ideas for new laws and regulations: ... 'We have now presented a proposal. ... We have adopted measures ... .' And immediately everyone is overjoyed at such resolute behaviour. And what's the point? Yes, dear politicians: stop behaving like children who don't know what's important and what isn't." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Society, » Denmark
All available articles from » Anne Knudsen

Axel Weber, the president of Germany's central bank the Bundesbank on Friday announced his early resignation from the post. He has also announced that he doesn't  intend to run for the presidency of the European Central Bank. The left-liberal daily El País sees this as a setback for the German government: "Germany's reliability and discipline are once again being called into question. Weber, who announced his decision to the Chancellor only three days ago, is abandoning this career path 'for personal reasons'; reasons which in reality may consist in an offer from one of his country's major private banks. ... His predecessor as president of the Bundesbank, Ernst Welteke, was also forced to step down after accepting a gift from the Dresdner Bank. The current situation has at the very least caused confusion at what has so far been Germany's most respected institution, and has done nothing to strengthen Germany in its function as role model for the Eurozone." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Fiscal Policy, » Banks, » Germany, » Europe

STX Finland's shipyard in Turku has suffered yet another setback. Its long-time customer Royal Caribbean Cruises will have its next luxury liner built by Meyer Werft in Germany. The liberal daily Turun Sanomat takes a positive view of the situation: "One is always smarter in hindsight. The Turku shipyard shouldn't have put all its eggs in one customer's basket. Although the situation now seems even more difficult than before, it also offers the chance for a new start. Now there is room on the Turku shipyard for another customer's liner. New markets and new customers exist around the world. Over the past years the shipyard has perfected its concept for cruise ships together with Royal Caribbean, continually honing its technological capacities. ... In recent months the shipyard has no doubt been working out new business models. New shipping companies and new customers can provide the chance for further innovation and a new start for the entire Finnish shipbuilding industry." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Industry, » Finland

Just under half of all Bulgarians submitted the forms for a current census over the Internet. That puts Bulgaria on the cutting edge regarding Internet use, the daily Trud writes, identifying an economic opportunity which the country must put to good use: "For years we Bulgarians have been considered to be bringing up the rear in the European cultural family. ... However now something is happening that puts Bulgaria right at the forefront. ... Reason enough to rethink our position, goals and strategies within the EU. When one in every two Bulgarians and 37 percent of households use the Internet not just for fun but also as a professional communication medium, we are among those societies where the Internet revolution has taken place. If you add to that the good reputation of Bulgarian IT specialists worldwide ... you see we have ample potential to free ourselves from the status of an economic colony with inexpensive services and cheap labour we've had for the last 15 years." (13/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Demographics, » Science / Research, » Economic Policy, » Economy, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Krastyo Petkov

Under the new education law which came into force last week in Romania, around 2,000 university lecturers over 65 years of age will be pensioned off to make room for the younger generation. But the latter need to be better equipped for the task, the daily Gândul writes: "Although the universities haven't been allowed to appoint new teaching staff for a year now ... education minister [Daniel Funeriu] is determined to drive the pensioners out of the faculties or at least limit their working hours - in principle a correct and necessary measure. But if is intended to reduce costs it will complicate rather than simplify matters. Normally, before pensioning off the over 65-year-olds they would have had to be prepared to replace them with staff whose academic status is based on more than just two or three articles (if any!) published in obscure journals." (14/02/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Upbringing / Education, » Romania
All available articles from » Raul Florea