After the flurry over the referendum Greek Prime Minister Papandreou will face a motion of confidence in parliament today, Friday. But he is no longer the right man for the job, writes the left-liberal daily De Volkskrant: "Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy have for the first time said that bailing out the euro is more important than bailing out Greece. This pressure has got things moving in Athens. No only the important Finance Minister Venizelos adopted a clear stance against the referendum. Even the opposition, which until now had been characterised only by opportunism, has shown its readiness to push through the bailout package by political means. But for that to be the case there must be a transitional government of national unity led by a prime minister who stands above party affiliations. A logical demand, but a bitter pill for Papandreou, who has weathered many a storm with honourable steadfastness. But Greece is undergoing a true national crisis that calls for the greatest political skills." (04/11/2011)

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Prime Minister Giorgos Papandreou will propose a vote of confidence in parliament late on Friday evening. But to judge by recent political developments it is clear that Greece no longer has a political leader, writes the business paper Imersia: "Everywhere people are talking about the lack of a strong leadership, both in Europe and in our country. The Eurozone's misadventures are commonly attributed to a weak political leadership. ... The same could be said of the political leadership in Greece. ... Instead of assuming their responsibilities and serving the interests of our country, which entails defending it from threats posed by its EU partners as well as the threat of begin expelled from the Eurozone they are only interested in their own power. All the citizens have realised this. We hear the politicians repeat monotonously that they are fighting for the interests of the people but no one believes them any more. All the trust has evaporated." (04/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Thanasis Lirtsogiannis
Who's saying what » Greece in dire straits, » Ways out of the debt crisis

The Greek opposition party Nea Dimokratia is calling for a transition government to organise new elections within six weeks. Far from calming the situation in the country elections will have the opposite effect, the left-liberal daily The Guardian fears: "Greece will now enter a tense election period that will put more strain on public finances (with collapsing revenues and rising expenditures) and, more importantly, will not resolve the problems of political instability and legitimacy. It is very unlikely that the elections will bring into power a strong and stable government. More likely, they will bring new rounds of political bargaining for the formation of a coalition government and for an agreement on a policy programme consistent with the Eurozone bailout agreement. The events of today are, in one way or another, a positive development. But the future does not look any brighter - not yet and not any time soon." (04/11/2011)

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Who's saying what » Greece in dire straits, » Ways out of the debt crisis

In not going through with the announced referendum Prime Minister Papandreou is ignoring the will of the people, and that is a mistake, the conservative daily Le Figaro writes: "The arrogance of the powerful reached it peak this week in the hefty comments criticising the prime minister for rashly announcing a referendum on austerity measures that his fellow citizens must support. Such invective is reminiscent of 2005, when the French voted against the European constitution. Greece is called the cradle of democracy. But if you expect people to tighten their belts when they were not really responsible for the crisis, the least you can do is ask them first. ... One thing is certain: Europe will not come together as long as it ignores the indignant, as it is now doing. The people are the key to the crises, and they are currently gaining the upper hand. Without their support there can be no solution." (04/11/2011)

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Who's saying what » Greece in dire straits, » Ways out of the debt crisis

Greece has learned the hard way that individual countries don't really have much say when the euro is at stake, the left-liberal daily Der Standard concludes: "The country urgently needs money, in four weeks at latest. But for the euro partners and the IMF to transfer their billions there must be functioning decision-making structures in Athens. A vicious circle for which Papandreou, under pressure from all sides, is ultimately responsible. He played poker too long for stakes that were too high. This no longer works in the euro community - that is the most important consequence of the crisis in the past two years. And when the euro ship does start to tilt badly it is euro power politics that calls the shots. This may be necessary but it is nonetheless a backward step for the Union." (04/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Thomas Mayer
Who's saying what » Greece in dire straits, » Ways out of the debt crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is increasingly being pushed into a corner by France and the US at the G20 summit in Cannes, writes the liberal daily La Stampa: "Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama are in agreement regarding the G20's plan of action and the strategy on Libya and Iran. ... But above all they agree that the new ECB boss Mario Draghi is the right partner for them to ensure the ECB plays a key role in resolving the euro crisis. Their high spirits are due primarily to the fact that Draghi has lowered the base interest rate, as Paris and Washington wanted it to but Berlin had so far prevented. Washington is also toying with the idea of a euro fund that would work along the same lines as the French proposal for turning the EFSF rescue fund into a bank. Angela Merkel also opposed this idea in October. But with Draghi in the ECB, Paris and Washington hope to overcome Berlin's resistance and have Frankfurt take on a role similar to that played by the US Federal Reserve in 2008 and 2009 in the United States." (04/11/2011)

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The campaign for the parliamentary elections scheduled for November 20 began today, Friday, in Spain. The conservative Partido Popular (PP) will win by a large majority, the liberal daily La Vanguardia affirms with absolute certainty: "In the midst of a financial and banking crisis compounded by the economic crisis in the industrial nations of the West and a correspondingly high unemployment rate, which in Spain has almost reached five million. In the midst of this perfect storm an election campaign begins in which the cards have already been dealt out and there is barely any room for surprises. The PP led by Mariano Rajoy has all the polls on its side, with a clear absolute majority. Meanwhile they predict a historical defeat for the [socialist] PSOE led by Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. It is not just the impact of the crisis that is castigating the government and rewarding the opposition but the glaring and dramatic lack of solutions offered by the Zapatero government and PSOE." (04/11/2011)

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As his first official act in January 2012 Bulgaria's new president Rossen Plevneliev plans to dismiss all the Bulgarian ambassadors who formerly worked for the country's communist secrete service. His predecessor, the Socialist and former secret service agent Georgi Parvanov, vehemently opposed such a course during his time in office. Pleveneliev's renewed campaign promise is the right sign for a new beginning in the presidential office, writes the daily 24 Chasa: "It would show the world and the Bulgarians that Bulgaria really has closed with the past - at least in this respect. And that finally, 22 years after the fall of communism, the old secret service members can no longer hold important offices in our country, which in turn means an end to the double standards and the devious and dangerous intrigues in our foreign policy. Bulgaria began far too late with the process of appraising and coming to terms with its secret service past and the first official act of the new head of state will close a dark and shameful chapter of our history." (03/11/2011)

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The new centre-left government in Denmark has presented its budget for 2012. It includes an investment and growth programme called Kickstart. But there is little sign of any real will to introduce reform, the liberal-conservative daily writes: "For the most part the government is basically continuing with the policies of the previous conservative government. ... Denmark's biggest problems right now are sinking competitiveness, dwindling private consumption and rising unemployment. ... A far more forceful will to reform financial policy that benefits both the private sector as well as consumers will be necessary. ... Once the motorways have been built, the hospitals modernised and the houses renovated there is a great risk that many will lose their jobs again. And then the only thing that will have been given a kick-start is the mountain of debt." (04/11/2011)

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In his first act as new president of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi on Thursday surprised observers by lowering the base interest rate from 1.5 percent to 1.25 percent. The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung praises Draghi's clear approach in unstable times: "The political chaos in Greece has the markets very much on edge, and many shareholders had wished for additional help in the crisis. But after his first Governing Council session as ECB president, Draghi appeared clear, calm and comprehensible. ... Recently domestic consumption and foreign demand had weakened, among other indicators, and the mood in industry had been alarmingly dismal. Draghi is not deterred by what is still a high rate of inflation, as it will sink to below two percent next year due to basis effects and the weak state of the economy. Draghi's argumentation is clearer than that of his predecessor Jean-Claude Trichet, and that will make the ECB more predictable." (04/11/2011)

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Russia is to join the World Trade Organisation WTO in the coming months. According to Russian sources Georgia, the last country to block Russia's entry on account of the conflict with Russia over the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, gave its accord on Wednesday. The West is now in a better position to keep an eye on Russia, the conservative daily Rzeczpospolita writes in delight: "This is by no means a triumph for the Kremlin, as many who criticise the West for being too obliging to Putin say. On the contrary: as a WTO member Russia can be better controlled. The more legal fetters are laid on the country, the easier it can be called to account for violating human rights. Moscow has been trying to join the WTO for 18 years. In the beginning everyone blocked Russian membership at will, including Poland. But in the end the only one left was Georgia. The rest had recognised that it makes no sense to exclude such a large economy from the world trade system of the WTO." (04/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Andrzej Talaga

Despite the current turbulence the single currency is not about to collapse, however several states may end up leaving the Eurozone, the left-leaning daily Právo writes: "If Greece really does fall, it can't be ruled out that other states will be dragged down with it. Financial experts have long been sketching scenarios in which only Germany, some Scandinavian countries and a few surrounding states retain the euro. But even that would be no reason to abandon the euro and go back to the Deutschmark, the guilder or the schilling. Because that would also mean the German Central Bank would once again have the decisive influence over monetary development in Europe, as it did as in the 1980s - something none of Berlin's partners want. So what are the prospects for the euro? The common currency isn't in danger. But some Eurozone states most certainly are." (04/11/2011)

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A 35-year-old US hacker stole nude photos of Scarlett Johansson from her mobile telephone several weeks ago and has posted them on the Internet. The actress reacted with composure in an interview published Tuesday, prompting Joan Smith to praise her cool-headedness in the conservative daily Irish Independent: "Against the still-unfolding scandal of phone hacking, it's becoming clear that for far too long the arbiters of what should be considered damaging have been precisely the wrong people. The popular press has mistaken prurience for morality, and intrusion for transparency, while clinging to a set of ideas about human behaviour that belong in the Fifties. Yesterday, a British newspaper described Johansson as a 'busty beauty' who has 'bounced back from her nude pictures scandal'. I think I know who's got a problem with nudity - and it certainly isn't Scarlett Johansson." (04/11/2011)

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The Portuguese government plans to cut spending on the public transport system in and around Lisbon. One measure foresees the underground closing earlier in the evening. Hugo Mendes describes the plans as unsocial in his blog on the portal Jugular: "Tens of thousands of people live outside Lisbon and depend on public transport to get home from work late at night. If the metro closes at 11pm or even 9.30pm on some nights this would not only lower Lisbon to the level of a third-world capital, it would also reduce the disposable income of people who would then be forced to travel by car. But after all, anyone who doesn't have one or can't borrow one can take a taxi or ride a bike or simply walk. Sort out the problem yourselves. And if you earn something like the minimum wage [of 485 euros] it's hardly worth going to work anyway. Public transport after supper will become a luxury we will simply have to go without." (03/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Hugo Mendes