Nicolas Sarkozy and his nonstop reform announcements are to blame for the defeat of the French governing party in the regional elections, the liberal daily Der Standard notes: "The crisis, the economising, the fear of losing one's job - all this has left its mark on the French people. They are 'weary', writes Jean-Paul Delevoye, Mediator of the French Republic in his annual report. They are also tired of a president who is great at gesticulating but in the end has brought about little change ... . For the first time - and not just since the Greek crisis - left-wing voters are hearing the words 'social benefits cuts' while the conservative camp has lost its faith in reform for lack of implementation. There's no doubt about it, the French want the time out the political whirlwind now promises them. But it is doubtful that Sarkozy will keep even this promise. Taking a break is not his style. It would reveal him for what he is. Because what is the president without all his activism, his constant hustle and bustle?" (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » France
All available articles from » Stefan Brändle

The low turnout of only 46.5 percent in the French regional elections has come as a surprise to many. The regional daily Ouest France explains why so few people bothered to vote: "The French stayed away from the regional elecions first of all because the regions fail to interest voters. People have a hard time identifying with these young political formations. With limited and hazily-defined  areas of competence, they can never be at the centre of lively local politics. ... Secondly, many voters used the elections to punish the presidential majority, because they feel that after more than half the legislature period results have been slow in coming. ... With the debate over national identity and the attempt to open [to the Left] the government has lost support on the right without gaining on the left. ... Thirdly, the French want another style of leadership: more humble, closer to the people, with more participation and less show." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » France
All available articles from » Michel Urvoy

The far-right National Front party won just under 12 percent of the vote in France's regional elections on Sunday. President Nicolas Sarkozy is partially to blame, writes the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore: "It is problematic that Jean-Marie and Marine Le Pen's National Front did so well in the elections - generally regarded as a mood indicator for the national elections - and once more established itself as France's fourth-strongest party. ... It was Nicolas Sarkozy who, by launching the national identity debate for tactical reasons, brought the Le Pen's extremism back into play. Basically all they have done is to take back what Sarkozy took away from them as presidential candidate in 2007. They talked not only of national identity and immigration but also of setting up a ministry dedicated to these two issues which are so important to the right-wing electorate." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Integration, » Elections, » France
All available articles from » Attilio Geroni

The non-voters are the big winners in the first round of the French regional elections, writes conservative daily ABC: "The first conclusion to be drawn from last Sunday's regional vote: non-voting won the day hands down. In a country where power is concentrated mainly in the hands of the [central] government and the city halls, the regions are of only limited interest. More than half of the French quite rightly ignored the call to vote last Sunday. And considering that the socialists are in a position to retain the power they already had, the most that can be said of the election is that the party of the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, failed to motivate its voters to conquer French socialism's last bastion, the least important seat of political power." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Elections, » France

According to a report by the Swedish peace research institute Sipri, Germany is the third-largest arms exporter in the world after the US and Russia. But it is not fitting that Greece and Turkey should be among their best customers, writes the left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung: "The two Aegean states have been arming against each other for years. ... Such weapons-stockpiling on the edge of Europe is an anachronism. The European Union should insist that Ankara and Athens carry out their disputes over territorial waters and no-fly zones in a civilised way - before the International Court of Justice. [Prime Minister] Papandreou himself now has a first-class opportunity to get his country used to disarmament. And if the governments in Berlin and Paris want to help the Greeks, they should talk them out of buying more arms. That could cost jobs in Germany, but it would be more honest than paying the Greeks' unpaid bills later with tax money." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Trade, » Germany, » Greece, » Turkey
All available articles from » Christiane Schlötzer

On Saturday evening the Georgian television station Imedi broadcast a fictitious reportage on a Russian invasion, informing viewers only briefly at the beginning that it was a "simulation". The broadcaster has close ties to President Mikheil Saakashvili, the Polish news magazine Polityka reports, harshly condemning the programme: "There were fatalities among the viewers. Imedi failed to make it clear that it was not reporting on actual events but on what might have happened. This type of journalism is unprecedented. It's true that [director] Orson Welles frightened the Americans at the end of the 1920s with his report on the landing of Martians on Earth. But he had explained several times beforehand that it was just a radio play. In Georgia they did not explain that it was just a TV play. The reportage even said that President Saakashvili had been kidnapped and murdered." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Audiovisual Media, » Russia, » Georgian Republic
All available articles from » Krzysztof Mroziewicz

On the occasion of the Hungarian national holiday on Monday, local politicians in the Romanian region of Széklerland, home to a large Hungarian-speaking minority, have again called for the region's autonomy. Iulian Leca welcomes the idea in the blog Voxpublica: "It can only be a win-win situation to accept the Hungarians' territorial demands and grant them all the rights they want. Modernity comes about by accepting bold, audacious, even zany ideas. Just think what administrative advantages could be gained with such a move. A federal system of autonomous regions would emerge in Romania. ... Even if centralism is the rule in many Western states, in each case it adapts as modern administrations develop. ... Instigating a form of administration that the Hungarian minority could also adopt would be the biggest step Romania could take in the direction of modernity. And it would mean adapting to a changing world." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Federalism, » Separatism, » Hungary, » Romania
All available articles from » Iulian Leca

Latvia celebrates Legionnaires Day today in memory of the fighters of the Second World War. The daily Latvijas Avīze criticises the negative coverage abroad and holds Russia responsible: "The Russian propaganda machine has been doing excellent work since the end of the Soviet Union. It is strong enough to spread views that support Russian interests near and far, and if necessary influence an entire correspondent network and present the whole world with material on despicable human rights abuses. So when for example grey-haired legionnaires, victims of persecution or their supporters and relatives convene at the Freedom Monument [in Riga] on March 16, articles about the return of fascism immediately appear and local counter-demonstrations are organised. ... Latvia does not need this kind of negative coverage in the world, and certainly not in connection with March 16." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Print media, » Remembrance culture, » Germany, » Latvia, » Russia
All available articles from » Māris Ruks

Writer Iván Sándor takes stock of the ideological state of Hungarian political parties in the liberal weekly Élet és Irodalom: "Similarly to other European left-wing parties, the biggest problem of the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party is that ... they have failed to adopt an ideological canon compatible with the realities of the market economy. They lack both room to manoeuver and a social basis. ... By contrast the reasons for the collapse of the liberal Free Democrats lie in our past, when liberal thinking was nothing but a mental, ethical value represented by only a small number of intellectuals. ... The opposition Fidesz has overcome the lack of identity with skilful acrobatics. The party has assimilated the populist tradition that contributed to strengthening the extreme right yesterday as well as today. As the next governing party, Fidesz' paradox lies in that on the one hand it wants to lead the country into the 'future', while avoiding on the other any mention of the dark chapters of 20th century Hungarian history that still contaminate political life today." (12/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Hungary
All available articles from » Iván Sándor

In an interview published on Monday the French minister for economic affairs, Christine Lagarde, called on Germany to do more to address its trade surplus. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung sees this criticism as uncalled for: "The discussion about these imbalances is strongly reminiscent of Chinese-American relations. China has been an export nation for years, and registers high trade surpluses especially with respect to the US. ... Meanwhile the US may justifiably complain that China is forcing it into a kind of involuntary monetary union. But the struggling Eurozone states have no grounds for such complaints. They entered the monetary union of their own free will and with their eyes wide open. For years they benefited from advantages like the low euro interest rates and lived beyond their means, without taking steps to increase their own competitiveness. They can't complain now that certain countries like Germany have done better in this respect." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Financial Markets, » Germany, » France, » Europe
All available articles from » Matthias Benz

The 16 states of the Eurozone agreed on Monday in Brussels on an emergency plan to help Greece. If Athens is faced with bankruptcy they will step in with loans. The business paper Hospodářské Noviny points out that for some time now instruments for disciplining euro countries have been available: "The Stability and Growth Pact, for example, makes is possible to impose sanctions or block access to European funding. But so far such sanctions have never been used for budgetary discipline infringements. Greece is not the first offender; other countries, and not just those in the Eurozone but from all over the EU, also violate the budgetary regulations." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Greece, » Europe
All available articles from » Julie Hrstková

Estonia has a railway museum and a toy museum but it still has no museum dedicated to the culture of the local Russian minority, complains the daily Eesti Päevaleht: "Around one third of Estonians speak Russian as a mother tongue. Over the centuries Russia and the Russians have played a decisive role in Estonia. ... However a Russian museum wouldn't be just a cultural establishment. Building such a museum would also have profound political significance. It would show that Estonia is seriously interested in the history and culture of its largest minority. And that would inspire Estonians and Russians to work together in a meaningful way. Furthermore it would send a constructive signal to Russia if it were called upon to help with collecting, archiving and showing exhibits that highlight our common history." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Exhibitions / Museums, » Public Culture, » Cultural Policy, » Minorities, » Estonia, » Russia
All available articles from » Andrei Ivanov

In a survey commissioned by the daily Helsingin Sanomat almost 60 percent of respondents were against taking in more immigrants. Three years ago this figure was still at less than 50 percent. The newspaper writes that rather than closing Finland's doors, "it would be sensible to close the gaps in asylum policy and reach a common European approach in matters of asylum. ... For Finns that means understanding that asylum seekers are not simply a horde, but people with diverse outlooks and opinions. For their part the Finns have the right to expect that immigrants will respect this country's rules and traditions. Furthermore we must ask what this growing rejection of immigration really means. One thing it shows is a fear of change. When the world evolves we must change our own attitudes, regardless of whether immigrants come here or not. The challenge for politicians is to convey lasting values to people living in a changing world." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Migration, » Finland

Few cases have roused the British public as much as the 1993 murder of two-year-old James Bulger by two ten-year-olds. After completing eight years of preventive detention one of the perpetrators has now committed an offence involving child pornography. This is having an impact on the current British debate about raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 years, the Irish Independent writes: "And then how should children who kill, or who act in a dangerous or devious way, be treated? Should they be punished or rehabilitated? ... In ordinary life, deterrents work: at a very basic level, parking penalties reduce illegal parking, and tax penalties usually incentivise citizens to remit their taxes. It must follow that deterrent and penalty apply in the sphere of crime and criminal justice. But how to apply that to children - especially those who have had highly troubled backgrounds - is another matter." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Social affairs, » United Kingdom
All available articles from » Mary Kenny

Two leading Dutch politicians have announced that they are leaving politics to dedicate more time to their families. Journalist Hanneke Groentemann praises them in the Internet forum Joop.nl and calls for more commitment to finding a balance between career and family: "My confusion about the resignation [of social democratic leading candidate] Wouter Bos has become mixed with anger at the explosiveness that it has injected into the debate - while all the women who don't manage to combine a demanding career with their domestic duties are basically seen as losers. ... In the past few years Wouter Bos has proven that he is no sissy and I think it's good that he is now placing the interests of three small children above what is referred to as national interests. ... But this doesn't obscure the fact that we're talking about a bigger problem here: politics still doesn't do enough to ensure that people (most of them women) who want to use their qualities and talents for the public good are also able to do the same at home." (16/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Gender equality, » Netherlands
All available articles from » Hanneke Groenteman