The meeting of EU finance ministers on whether to aid Greece clearly demonstrates how much they disagree and how little leadership there is among the euro countries, writes the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza. "The Greek crisis has become a problem for the Eurozone, and indeed for all of Europe. The investment funds are counting on the euro becoming weaker, in which case the crisis could spread to the entire Union. ... The Greek crisis is the most trying test for European politicians since the introduction of the common currency. Many different views and interests are coming to light. ... In lieu of strong leadership what we're seeing is the strategy of waiting and hoping that problems will somehow sort themselves out." (17/03/2010)

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All available articles from » Witold Gadomski

The finance ministers of the Eurozone have at least reached agreement on the fundamentals of an emergency plan for Greece, the daily Delo notes approvingly: "This premiere in the 11-year history of the euro group has two goals. The pressure on this member country, which with its lacking budgetary discipline and its 'creative bookkeeping' has caused unimaginable difficulties, must be maintained to radically reduce its deficit with harsh cuts in public spending and more revenues for the public purse. At the same time further speculation on the financial markets must be hindered as it not only destabilises offender Greece but also the foundations of the Eurozone as a whole. ... The difficulties of Greece are a wake-up call for the entire Euroclub. ... Other countries of the Mediterranean area and Ireland could soon find themselves in a similar situation." (17/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Financial Markets, » Greece
All available articles from » Bozo Masanovic

The EU has been hesitating for too long over whether to offer concrete help to Greece, writes the conservative daily Kathimerini: "For months now the Eurozone has concealed its major contradictions by pointing to Greece's responsibility for the crisis. Now that they can no longer play this game it becomes clear where the fissures lie. ... Greece has made clear that it prefers a European solution. But failing that it will be forced to seek other alternatives. Before turning to the International Monetary Fund, it would be wrong not to consider ... accepting aid from China. If the European 'family' doesn't help when you're threatened by bankruptcy it would be very cheeky for it to blame you for looking elsewhere." (16/03/2010)

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All available articles from » Stavros Lygeros

In contrast to Greece's austerity programme that of Portugal has met with applause in Brussels. The daily Diário de Notícias takes a look at why: "How to explain this praise, which stands in stark contrast to the scepticism with which Greece's cuts programme was received? Mainly it's because the economic development scenario is not very ambitious: in the coming four years the economy is to grow by an average of 1.15 percent annually, the minister of finance predicts. ... Teixeira dos Santos has been cautious in his prognosis in order to show Brussels that the path to financial stability is not based on improbable tax revenues. If the results surpass expectations, then all the better." (17/03/2010)

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A French policeman was killed during a shoot-out near Paris between alleged Eta terrorists and the French police on Tuesday. This is further proof that all countries must join forces in the fight against the underground Basque organisation, writes the conservative daily ABC: "Yesterday afternoon's killing shows that international cooperation against Eta is more important than ever. For it doesn't matter which country they hide in and shoot. Eta members remain Eta members whether they are in the Basque country, the rest of Spain, France, Venezuela or anywhere else. Therefore the Spanish government would do well to keep its police, judicial and international forces against Eta intact or even boost them. France long since ceased to be a safe refuge for Eta terrorists, but from now it will be less so than ever." (17/03/2010)

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The party of Russian head of government Vladimir Putin managed to maintain its leading position in Russia's local elections but registered substantial losses in certain parts of the country. The mixed results of the United Russia party confirm that Putin's reputation is suffering, the daily Savon Sanomat writes: "The United Russia party has lost the support of the masses and had to make do with a less than 50 percent share of the vote in many areas. ... As yet, the local elections have no influence on the general political situation in Russia. But it is still interesting to observe that approval for Prime Minister Putin is declining at the same time as it grows for President Dmitry Medvedev. Is Medvedev now gradually securing the position in Russia he is entitled to as its president?" (17/03/2010)

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The EU Health Committee has rejected obligatory colour marking for food products in all EU member states. The "traffic light" classification of food products into good (green), tolerable (yellow) and particularly sweet or fatty (red) will remain voluntary. Europe's consumers nevertheless profit from the system, writes the left-liberal daily Frankfurter Rundschau: "On the one hand the rules agreed on by the expert committee will provide more transparency in the shelves and food counters - even without the 'traffic light'. ... Customers can find out where a product comes from, what nutritive value it has and whether it has been genetically modified. On the other hand there is even a small back door for the 'traffic light'. States that want to give it the green light may do so. In this way national consumer associations still have the chance to persuade their governments of the benefits of colour labelling. The food industry, by contrast, is now facing the situation it wanted to avoid at all costs, with different rules in various EU states." (17/03/2010)

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All available articles from » Werner Balsen

The chief of the Swiss Armed Forces André Blattmann has come in for criticism over statements evoking supposed threats from EU countries and an end to the practice of calling up reservists for "repetition courses". The daily Tages-Anzeiger calls for a change in security policy: "The army simply cannot go on as it has done. When barracks are practically falling apart for lack of funds, when even the head of the army starts questioning the inflexible repetition course system and when Greeks on the run or Taliban fighters are necessary to justify the existence of the army, it's time for a major change. The army must be reformed so that it can react to realistic threats with less money. ... And our country will also have to become more integrated in European security policy. It's time ... we did our bit for a European security architecture - whether in the Balkans or on the southern flanks of Europe. Anyone who tries to beat down such changes with the cudgel of neutrality is merely postponing inexorable developments by a matter of years." (17/03/2010)

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All available articles from » Daniel Foppa

Neighbourly relations between Slovakia and Hungary are once again being sorely put to the test by new Slovak legislation aimed at boosting patriotism. On both sides of the border it is stirring up nationalist zeal which is being abused for election campaign purposes, Czech journalist Luboš Palata points out in a commentary for the Slovak liberal daily Sme: "The populist [and probable next Hungarian premier Viktor] Orbán can hold out his hand to [Slovak head of government] Robert Fico [who is poised to be re-elected], and [Slovak] nationalist Slota can do the same with [Hungarian] fascist Gábor Vona of the Jobbik party. With their mutual attacks they are gathering votes and mobilising their voters. They couldn't care less about the long-term interests of their countries. It would be too much to expect that this will all end after the elections. Populism and nationalism are drugs to which politicians quickly grow addicted. Fico and Orbán are classic examples of this, even though they endanger all Central Europe with their behaviour. We Czechs and Poles and all the others who live together with them can only entreat them to stop before it's too late." (17/03/2010)

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All available articles from » Luboš Palata

The former president of the Austrian National Bank, Klaus Liebscher, rejects the idea of founding a European Monetary Fund (EMF) to save Greece in a guest commentary for the daily Die Presse: "Any form of 'quasi-collectivisation' of a looming national bankruptcy resulting from debt overload would be tantamount to a financial equalisation at a European level and would contradict not only the wording but also the spirit of the Maastricht Treaty. It would weaken commitment to a sustainable, stability-oriented budget policy and encourage the moral hazard of potential candidates for national debt overload (to the point of bankruptcy). The planned EMF construct - as impressive as it may look at first glance – would thus reinforce doubts in the reliability of European politics and the credibility of the structures of the monetary union, thus jeopardising the stability of the euro. The International Monetary Fund remains the best option for protecting vulnerable members of the monetary union from insolvency and leading them back to the path of virtue." (17/03/2010)

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Finnish exporters have suffered losses amounting to 1.5 billion euros as a result of the longshoremen's strike. Set to enter its third week, the strike is crippling the country's shipping lines. In the opinion of the daily Maaseudun Tulevaisuus something must be done: "The right to strike is guaranteed to unions by law and must not be called into question. Nevertheless we must ask how the effect of strikes in key sectors may be limited so as not to jeopardise all of society. It is unacceptable for the interests of a small group to aggravate everyone's lives to such an extent. Society's vital functions must be safeguarded. ... If the social partners cannot agree to end the longshoremen's strike, the state must consider other possibilities. Otherwise the strike must be ended by law." (17/03/2010)

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In future Czech schools are to provide Roma children with language classes on their mother tongue, Romani. The measure is part of a government project meant to improve the low educational level of many Roma children. The conservative daily Lidové noviny puts the move on a par with the introduction of compulsory education by Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa in 1773 : "Until now the idea that all Roma should receive a sound education has been more or less a pipe dream. That has to do with the disinterest of the state, but also that of Roma families regarding their children's future. After a half a century of attempted assimilation with education only in Czech, the Roma identity has remained exactly the same, and Roma children still stand very little chance of receiving a proper education. It's at least a step in the right direction that twenty years after the Velvet Revolution the Czech state now wants to provide Roma children with instruction on their own language." (17/03/2010)

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All available articles from » Zbyněk Petráček

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc has shown satisfaction with the effects of a loan of billions from the IMF and European Commission. The daily Adevărul comments on the fact that the loan was partially used to pay pensions: "We have around 800,000 unemployed and just over four million employees while the number of pensioners is at around 5.5 million. It is no secret that the burden of this large discrepancy between taxpayers and recipients of social benefits is not sustainable in the long term. Romania has allowed itself the luxury of letting almost half of its active work force emigrate. These people now pay their social security contributions in Italy, Spain, France, Germany or wherever they are. The following question demonstrates the vision and capability of the government: How do you create new jobs to pay the pensions? Do you try to convince Romanians to return or open the door to immigrants? This is a question to which Mr Boc has not even given a rhetoric answer." (17/03/2010)

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All available articles from » Ion M. Ionita

Cardinal Seán Brady, the Primate of the Catholic Church in Ireland who forced two victims of abuse to take a vow of silence in the 1970s, wants to remain in office despite demands for his resignation. The daily the Irish Examiner is harshly critical that senior representatives of the Church have justified his behaviour: "These revelations and the response to them will deepen the sense of betrayal felt by so many good people clinging to their faith despite decades of clerical scandals. It's ironic that the secularism so reviled by the church did not destroy the faith of so many, rather it was destroyed by a institution incapable of reform or understanding that it had obligations other than those to itself. Secularism exposed the evil protected by the church but the church is destroying itself." (17/03/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Social movements, » Ireland, » Global

The Bulgarian prosecutor's office has signalled its satisfaction with the results of measures introduced to counter the embezzlement of EU funds. The daily Dnevnik has nothing but scorn for such self-praise: "The fight of the prosecutor's office against the embezzlement of EU funds has made visible progress: in the last successful year a grand total of 28 judgements were handed down and then promptly executed. 17 of those who were sentenced reached an agreement with the prosecution. Sceptics might say that in so doing they got off lightly. We know however that this really means these criminals confessed their guilt, so there has been a sort of moral retribution. Thanks to the good work of the judiciary a total of 80,000 euros - the price of a three-room flat in Sofia - has been recovered for the treasury. ... Soon one can expect payments worth two or even three flats." (17/03/2010)

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