Morocco's reputation has been tarnished, writes left-liberal daily El País on the return of Aminetou Haidar to Western Sahara: "Morocco has severely compromised its credibility regarding autonomy for Sahara. By treating Haidar the way it did, meting out brutal punishment which was out of all proportion to the activist's original actions and was imposed without a court order and in violation of human rights, the [Moroccan government] has made it blatantly obvious that it continues to repress the inhabitants of Western Sahara. And it has put the Sahara issue back on the international agenda, where it had been languishing after the failed attempts of some of the most committed international envoys, such as [former US foreign minister] James Baker."  (18/12/2009)

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Despite the victory of activist Aminatou Haidar the residents of her home town Laâyoune are in no mood for celebration, the left-liberal daily La Repubblica writes: "Today around 100,000 Sahrawis live in life-threatening conditions in the refugee camps of Tindouf on Algerian soil. … The ceasefire between the independence fighters of [the military and political organisation in Western Sahara] Frente Polisario and the Moroccan military has lasted since 1991. The United Nations, which has not recognised the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, the independent state proclaimed by the Polisarios, has never gone beyond proposing a referendum. This referendum will probably never take place. Morocco is once again considering granting independence. This is the citizens' message: 'Aminatou, let us make peace. This land doesn't want another civil war. It doesn't want fratricidal war. Let Allah's will be done'."   (18/12/2009)

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All available articles from » Lucio Luca

After the return of human rights activist Aminatou Haidar to Western Sahara the conservative daily El Mundo celebrates this diplomatic victory for the socialist Spanish head of government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero: "Zapatero must be congratulated for the happy ending to a conflict that could have ended in tragedy. Given the deterioration in Haidar's health in the last few hours, with her being transferred to hospital after vomiting blood. The Spanish president was able to count on the support of the US and France, which without doubt helped to reach the agreement which enabled the Sahrawi's return." (18/12/2009)

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The climate summit in Copenhagen ends today, but there is still no agreement on a final declaration. Nevertheless society already knows what's got to be in it, writes the weekly magazine Le Jeudi: "This is an emergency. With more than 20 million climate refugees already ... we cannot afford to cross our arms and do nothing. ... And civil society knows this very well, at least that part of it which has invited itself to the Danish capital. In a joyful medley of ideas, propositions and demonstrations bringing together ecologists, antiglobalists and Mr and Mrs Everybody, society is trying to make itself heard by the official delegations. ... The conviction of these people is also their profession of faith: it is time to end the excesses of wasteful overproduction and financial capitalism. This is not just about protecting the climate. Far more than that is at stake in Copenhagen, because the consequences of global warming lie at the root of economic, food and social crises." (17/12/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Global
All available articles from » Jacques Hillion

Fifteen years after the war in Chechnya began the daily Postimees reminds readers that the problems have by no means been solved: "Chechnya remains a festering wound for Russia. One which it has grown more or less used to over the years, but which time after time makes itself felt. Each time the horror begins to fade a fresh attack revives it. Back then the Russian president at the time Boris Yeltsin sent tanks to Grozny to restore law and order. ... To this day the question of whether this bloody conflict could have been avoided hangs in the air.  But no matter how you interpret the past: that fateful decision of 15 years ago has supplied a series of tragic headlines, like [the musical theatre production] Nord-Ost, the explosions in apartment blocks, the attacks on the Moscow subway and the school in Beslan." (18/12/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » Russia
All available articles from » Igor Taro

The United States now also wants to pay into the climate fund from which developing countries are to access money for climate damage and green technologies. This demonstrates that the industrial countries can no longer gloss over the problems of climate change, writes the left-leaning daily Die Tageszeitung: "Despite crisis-battered budgets, the industrial countries have promised to spend hundreds of billions of euros and admitted that climate policy is now a core concern. ... In coming years we will see new organisations, new global agreements and cooperation. At the same time if things fail to run smoothly we will also see very new kinds of backhanded dealing and competition between regions. Because so much is riding on this: strategic resources for entire societies; trillions of euros per year and unfathomable profits and losses; the difference between investment and exploitation. Our lifestyles and the very outcomes of our elections are at stake. We will have to get used to summits gathering hundreds of heads of state and government together." (18/12/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Economic Policy, » Africa, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Reiner Metzger

For several weeks the debate on national identity prompted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been raging in France. The theologian Soheib Bencheikh writes in the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur that it is time the debate was put to rest: "For all reasonable people 'community' and 'identity' have no real existence. They are simply a nominalism used for the sake of linguistic convenience. I have never shaken the hand of the Muslim community, nor have I taken it in my arms. I don't know its address. By the same token I've never met or made my way around a fixed French identity. But what I have experienced is the influence of a Muslim presence, and the dazzling radiance of a French culture made up of a multitude of contributions. Wanting to fix an identity is tantamount to wishing its death. ... Dear Mr Sarkozy and members of the [ruling party] UMP, please let us close the ignoble brackets of this debate." (17/12/2009)

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Direct democracy is a permanent challenge to those who would wrest the power from the people, writes Urs Engeler in the weekly Die Weltwoche: "Direct participation is the bulwark against ruinous party-based autocracy, against the influence of lobbyists in the corridors of power and other detrimental demands. ... For that reason the enemies of democracy have been outraged ever since reasonable people first wanted to take political matters into their own hands. The Greek philosopher Plato, apologist of the philosopher king, deprecated the democratic Athenians as ignorant, foolish creatures who couldn't recognise the true essence of things. After him the church fathers among others developed totalitarian doctrines for the regency of the infallible Vatican camarilla. All anti-democrats use patterns of inequality to establish their models of controlled democracy, from the divine right of kings to the internationalist hegemony of judges and experts. And they really start getting excited when referendums don't turn out the way they want them to." (18/12/2009)

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All available articles from » Urs Paul Engeler

The Czech Republic did much to sweeten up 2009 for all of Europe, writes Bára Procházková in the online portal of the liberal weekly Respekt: "Many people scoffed when they heard the motto of the Czech presidency - 'We'll sweeten Europe', nevertheless it was entirely fitting. We sweetened Europe among other things with the unexpected fall of Mirek Topolánek's government even before the end of the presidency. The head of the Social Democrats, Jiří Paroubek, sent a whole pack of sugar cubes to Brussels when he put an end to the government without being able to offer a better alternative. But thanks to the subsequent caretaker government under Jan Fischer, the presidency ended on a firm footing. As Europe was just breathing a sigh of relief, we sweetened things up all the more with President Václav Klaus' refusal to sign the Treaty of Lisbon. All of Europe held its breath. Even if everything went well in the end, we gave Europe some unforgettable headaches." (18/12/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » History, » Czech Republic, » Europe
All available articles from » Bára Procházková

Russia has intensified its customs controls on the Latvian border, resulting in long tailbacks of trucks. This is harming the economy, the daily Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze writes, but it could help in the battle against smuggling: "The situation is critical even though tailbacks on the border have been a fixed feature on the news for years: the transport sector is a key component of Latvia's economy and accounted for around ten percent of our gross domestic product in 2008. ... What could better illustrate Russia's negative attitude towards Latvia than the kilometres-long tailbacks on the border? But the Russian government is now getting tough in its battle against the shadow economy and that economy is rooted not only where the smuggled goods are sold, but also on the borders. Transporters would frequently cross the border and then their cargo would disappear in Russian territory. … The current approach is inappropriate because it penalises all Latvian haulage contractors. But when will Latvia's government and public prosecutors finally tackle international smuggling?"  (18/12/2009)

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All available articles from » Juris Paiders

Romania was the Republic of Moldova's most important export market for the first time this year. The economic situation there has markedly improved but the border traffic between the two countries has been slow to pick up, the weekly Revista 22 notes: "Contrary to expectations Romania's EU accession has not led to catastrophic isolation for Chişinău [the capital of Moldova]. And the recent signing of a treaty for small border traffic will reinforce the positive trend for companies, which give the people living in Moldova's peripheral areas along the Romanian border new hope. ... Company bosses point out that the economic environment in the Republic of Moldova is not as bad as people say it is. The pressure exerted by the networks surrounding Oleg Voronin [one of the country's richest businessmen], who wanted to control all important movements in the business sector, has disappeared. Even the bureaucracy is not as bad as supposed. … So people wanting to do business in the Republic of Moldova can turn a profit - provided they find a functioning border crossing." (18/12/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Trade, » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Russia, » Europe, » Romania, » Republic of Moldova
All available articles from » Sorin Ionita

Slovakia has published the implementing regulations for its new official language law, which foresees heavy fines for infringements of the law. Ethnic Hungarians feel the law puts them at a disadvantage because it forces them to speak Slovakian when communicating with authorities. This prompts political scientist Miroslav Kusý to launch an attack against the law in the liberal daily Sme: "The law is bad to start with because it declares the language state property, an object for government regulation and which can thus be used to harass citizens. It would be well suited to a totalitarian society but has no place in a modern society. ... Slovakia is the political community of all its citizens ..., not just a language community of Slovakian-speaking people or an ethnic community made up solely of Slovakians. There are ethnic Hungarians and Ruthenians as well as ethnic Slovakians."   (18/12/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Public Culture, » EU neighbourhood policy, » Languages, » Slovakia
All available articles from » Miroslav Kusý

German television presenters Thomas Gottschalk and Dieter Bohlen may be fighting tooth and nail for the favour of TV viewers, but that doesn't stop the humdrum Gütnter Jauch from topping the popularity charts, writes the daily De Volkskrant: "Gottschalk and Bohlen are theatrical figures, and the very antipode of the German mainstream television presenter. Gottschalk's sleek outfits were long the sole hint of glamour in an otherwise innocuous programme geared to elderly viewing tastes. Bronzed 'pop-Titan' Bohlen with his notorious gags, meanwhile, attracts the broad-based target group comprising readers of the German tabloid Bild Zeitung, including many young viewers. But now the first popularity surveys of moderators put things back in their place: number one on the list is Günter Jauch. With glasses, a side part and a predilection for insipid chatter he is the picture of inconspicuousness. Bohlen and Gottschalk are fine at upping quotas, but German television must be orderly as well." (18/12/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Audiovisual Media, » Germany
All available articles from » Merlijn Schoonenboom

The sports journalists of US news agency Associated Press (AP) have designated golf player Tiger Woods Athlete of the Decade. This means that journalists are after all capable of distinguishing between golf and private life, George Eaton writes in his blog for the left-liberal weekly the New Statesman: "Tiger Woods, has had, to put it mildly, a rough time of it recently. The media's round-the-clock coverage of his sexual 'transgressions' led to accusations of a witch-hunt. But judging by Associated Press's decision to name Tiger Woods as the 'Athlete of the Decade', journalists are still able to detach his performance on the golf course from his misdemeanours elsewhere. Most notably, half of the ballots were returned after the 27 November car crash that triggered the remarkable series of revelations about his private life. British journalists, currently the subject of an outrageous injunction by Woods, may not have been so generous." (17/12/2009)

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All available articles from » George Eaton