American financier and philanthropist George Soros has sharply criticised recent measures introduced in Italy to deal with its Roma population. With an eye to Soros' words, the Dutch national newspaper De Volkskrant stresses the inefficiency of Europe's Roma policy: "This stern criticism is embarrassing for the European Commission, which had anounced it had no objections to the Italian measures. ... In recent years the EU has put 275 million euros into programmes aimed at furthering the integration of the Roma, of whom roughly a quarter to a third live in Romania and Bulgaria. But the programmes were less successful than had been hoped. One of the problems is that the EU has little say in the decisive areas: the labour market, social institutions, health systems and eduction. These areas fall under the competence of national governments." (17/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Migration, » Minorities, » Europe
All available articles from » Bert Lanting

Kateřina Šafaříková, EU correspondent for the conservative daily Lidové noviny, criticises the procedure for selecting the summit participants: "Anyone who was not informed that the European Roma summit was now meeting in Brussels would never have found out. ... The organisers invited roughly 500 participants, among them representatives of important Roma organisations. Nevertheless one is easily left with the impression that this is a debate about the Roma without the Roma. Or more precisely: without the Roma whose problems are being discussed. Those present at the meeting are people who are skilled at talking with ministers and EU commissioners - the Roma elites. Livia Jarok, for example, a young and pretty member of the European Parliament from Hungary. She is a Roma, but she studied at prestigious schools in Britain and elsewhere. After appearing at the morning session she went down to the lobby and gave interviews about discrimination, poverty, miserable living conditions and stereotypes. All in impeccable English." (18/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Integration, » Minorities, » Europe
All available articles from » Kateřina Šafaříková

Miranda Voulasranta, the Finnish vice-president of the European Roma and Travellers Forum, stresses in the die tageszeitung newspaper the important message the Roma summit in Brussels sends: "It appears that the question of which Roma organisations are representative was not taken into consideration. The list of participants encompasses a hodgepodge of groups and organisations. One is forced to ask oneself according to which criteria they were selected. This is why the panorama of opinions ... is somewhat vague. On the other hand Europe's first Roma summit has pushed the issue right to the top of the political agenda. It was, after all, opened by the president of the Commission and attended by five commissioners. The European public sphere can no longer ignore the problems. The Roma are still the most discriminated and marginalised minority in Europe." (18/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Integration, » Minorities, » Europe
All available articles from » Miranda Voulasranta

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has stressed his country's claim to the mineral resources of the Arctic region. The Daily Telegraph comments: "Its aggressive policy towards a region whose melting icecap offers access to possibly huge energy and mineral deposits was dramatically illustrated last year by the planting of a Russian flag on the seabed at the North Pole. ... Any unilateral action by Moscow will be contested by America, Canada, Denmark and Norway, in particular with regard to the Lomonosov Ridge, which runs under the pole. The four should co-ordinate their policies before the deadline next year for submitting claims to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. ... And it is high time that America ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. ... The front line of the confrontation between Russia and the West has shifted from the North German Plain to the fossil fuel deposits that lie beneath Siberia and the Arctic." (18/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Energy, » Denmark, » Norway, » Russia, » U.S.

"A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of the caretaker government," writes the liberal daily Sme commenting on developments in Hungary and the Czech Republic. In Budapest the Gyurcsány government is on the verge of collapse while in Prague Prime Minister Topolánek is losing more and more of his party's own MPs with each day that passes. "For those who have had enough of all the patchwork politics the idea of a caretaker government doesn't sound too bad at all. At last people who understand something of governance and are not just preoccupied with their own interests would be in charge. But this idea is deceptive. Unless we get rid of the entire system of parliamentary democracy it would still be the political parties who have the final say on the programmes and measures of a caretaker government - with the simple difference that they wouldn't have to assume direct responsibility." (18/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Hungary, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Peter Morvay

As one of the last dictators of the Warsaw-Pact states Wojciech Jaruzelski, former leader of the Polish United Workers' Party (the former Polish Communist Party), is currently on trial in Poland. A debate has flared up about whether the trial serves any purpose. Among others Lech Wałęsa, leader of the former Solidarność trade union, believes it is a pure act of revenge initiated by victims of political persecution at the time. The daily Dagens Nyheter also sees no reason for a trial: "Jaruzelski's motivations [for his policies back then] and the possible alternatives are naturally interesting, but this is a matter that should be left to historians, not a court. The former, however, are unlikely to reach agreement about the twists of history, and the motives of historical figures are seldom clear. But one thing is for sure: it is a bad sign when history becomes part of party political struggles, because that only distracts from the real problems." (18/09/2008)

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

An "anti-Islamisation congress" will take place in Cologne from September 19 - 21, in part as protest against the construction of the largest mosque in Germany. La Repubblica newspaper writes: "The goal of the congress called by the right-wing populist movement Pro Köln is to protest the construction of the mosque in the city of former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and to condemn the progressive Islamisation of Germany. Counter rallies have been organised by the ruling CDU and Mayor Fritz Schramma, who approved the construction of the mosque, as well as the other traditional parties. The congress will give populist movements a major opportunity to mobilise their forces on a European level. Vlaams Belang has confirmed its participation, while Le Pen, whose speech is still announced in the programme, has now cancelled. The security forces are keeping a keen eye on Pro Köln, which is under surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as several of its members are suspected of being in contact with the NPD and other neo-Nazi movements." (18/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Religion, » Integration, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Andrea Tarquini

Historian Marius Oprea explains in the weekly magazine Observator Cultural why the past is still very much alive in Romania: "Not a single officer of the Securitate, the former communist secret police, has been convicted. Not one party activist has had to answer for his behaviour in court - or even suffered the slightest loss of dignity for what he did in the past, for the crimes and abuse of power. Today I must deliver a grim diagnosis. ... The guilty ones receive their pensions without batting an eyelid. And of course they're far better off than their victims. Their dead are buried in military graves or in the cemetery of honour - depending on their rank. And until that day comes they are cared for in the hospitals of the interior ministry. ... Romania has failed to distance itself from its past, and this lack of distance has pushed it into the arms of those who take a nostalgic view of communism. And there are certainly more of these people than the party cadres or secret police would have dared to hope in December 1989. ... The sole veritable reforms have been freedom of the press and political pluralism, but even these are compromised by the omnipresence of a well-organised post-communist mafia which controls large parts of the media and many politicians, regardless of their party. Communism has not disappeared in Romania, it has simply been privatised. It seemed that it was dead, that it had committed suicide in 1989. But it only looked that way. Its brain, its dictator and its ideology are dead, but its cells are alive and well." (18/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Romania
All available articles from » Marius Oprea

The invisible hand of the market has reached its limits, comments Lluís Foix in his blog. He adds that a new form of financial policy is emerging in Washington, regardless of who wins the elections. Foix sees parallels with Roosevelt's New Deal: "The normal procedure would be for Washington to turn its attention to Wall Street to ensure a good quotation for the conglomerate of big banks concentrated in this small street in New York. The paradoxical side of this crisis which is churning up new surprises every day is that it is [the banks on] Wall Street that have turned to Washington to ask for public funding to bail them out of the mess they are in. ... Little did the liberals of the Chicago School and the neo-conservatives inspired by philosopher Leo Strauss suspect almost half a century ago that the market would be asking the state for help. But the most interesting aspect of capitalism is that it is able to correct its course even if it has to avail itself of social democratic rather than liberal principles to do so, as Franklin D. Roosevelt did in the 1930s with his New Deal." (17/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Financial Markets, » U.S.
All available articles from » Lluís Foix

Instead of trying to soothe the fears provoked by the US financial crisis Europe should start doing some plain-talking. The financial world's assurances that Europe is not so heavily affected by the financial crisis because its activities are focused on booming Eastern Europe are clearly out of place, the Austrian daily Die Presse writes: "Despite all the reassurances, the US crisis has hit us hard. ... Because (the now almost non-existent) confidence plays such an important role in this sector the best approach now is to be completely candid about the situation with the general public - for the next economic slump is coming from the East. ... So much for [all the talk about] a boom: the Moscow stock exchanges are experiencing a crash which makes the sharp fall in prices on Wall Street pale in comparison. Hopefully no one will try to tell us that this is a problem for Mr Putin to deal with and which (like the US crisis) will have next to no impact in these parts." (18/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » Josef Urschitz

The daily Le Monde analyses the internal strife at carmaker Porsche over the takeover of Volkswagen: "Despite the internal war raging at the top levels of both German companies, Porsche continues to nibble away at Volkswagen. The sports car producer has bought five percent of its compatriot's stock. ... Europe's number one in the automobile industry is de facto being turned into a Porsche subsidiary. ... This is an insult for Ferdinand Piëch, who is both chairman of VW's supervisory board and a shareholder in Porsche. ... Yet 71-year-old Piëch is one of the most staunch advocates of a rapprochement with Porsche. ... Mr Piëch nonetheless has problems tolerating the methods employed by Mr Wiedeking [chairman of the board at Porsche], who in Piëch's opinion has gained too much influence. ... But the family dispute is ... just one facet of the battle for power into which the two groups have thrown themselves over the takeover." (17/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Germany
All available articles from » Marie Verges

The Austrian city of Linz, which will be European Cultural Capital in 2009, is showing an exhibition presenting Adolph Hitler's plans to make the city a sort of "Cultural Capital of the Führer". Spiegel Online news magazine writes that despite its goal of throwing light on the past, the exhibition is too uncritical of the Nazi art it displays: "There are no distraught self-portraits of artists who have been branded 'degenerate'. There are no apocalyptic landscapes or works showing the hideous face of the war. ... Similarly, in the sections on music and theatre the show concentrates on works that adhered to the Nazi party line: the Bruckner cult in the Third Reich and the operetta composer Franz Lehár, a protégé of Goebbels'. ... Despite its educational aims, the show continually comes back to works that fall in with Nazi doctrine. Ultimately this makes the entire 'Cultural capital of the Führer' project an awkward if not dubious affair. For now it can only be hoped that the huge exhibition will not become a mecca for die-hard nostalgics." (17/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Architecture / Cities, » Exhibitions / Museums, » Literature, » Music, » History, » Austria
All available articles from » Nicole Büsing, » Heiko Klaas

A group of asylum seekers in Brussels has been on a hunger strike for more than 70 days now, but the Flemish media has virtually ceased covering the situation, the daily De Standaard notes: "The different public spheres in the North and South of our country react differently to the debate over asylum seekers. The hunger strikers are occupying churches in a community in the Brussels district. For the average Flemish citizen this is all happening too far away. The Francophone media ... have kept up continuous coverage of the asylum debate. ... The media is increasingly becoming a mirror in which readers want to see themselves. The Francophone reality in Brussels presents a stark contrast to that in Flanders. No identification ergo no media coverage - this is the brutal logic of the media. Anything that is happening in our immediate vicinity has major news value - the rest less so." (18/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Media policy, » Belgium
All available articles from » Meryem Kanmaz

For several months a war that has resulted in deaths, street shoot-outs and bomb attacks has been raging between gangs of rockers in Gothenburg and Copenhagen. The Danish daily Der Nordschleswiger hopes this war will soon end: "The police is stepping up the pressure on the gang members of both sides. This police tactic known as 'man-to-man marking' means in football that a man follows his opponent's every move - even when he goes to the toilet. We can only hope that this will soon put an end to the gang war before it claims any more victims. It is shocking for the Danish public to see how openly and recklessly the gangs fight for their vested rights. We have never seen anything like it here. But it would be naïve to believe these 'criminal battles staking out territory' will soon end." (18/09/2008)

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