In voting for Bronisław Komorowski the Poles have cast their ballots for a diplomatic president, writes the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung: "A large number of people didn't vote for the sallow, wooden Komorowski because they trust him as a politician, but because they wanted to prevent Kaczyński from being elected. His name is associated with the era of permanent political conflict. ... Such a confrontational style is hardly imaginable with Komorowski. Certainly he is just as concerned as the Kaczyńskis to further Poland's interests abroad. But his idea of what those interests are is different. As a historian he has come to understand that Poland can only strengthen its sovereignty in alliance with the Western democracies. Like his fellow party member Prime Minister Donald Tusk he is led by the motto: The smoother the EU functions, the better it is for Poland." (05/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Thomas Urban

The results of the Polish presidential election testify to Poland's political maturity, the left-liberal daily La Repubblica writes: "Poland remains European and modern. Twenty-one years after the democratic revolution that brought the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet empire Warsaw is sending the world a message of hope, ... a message of maturity and political commitment. ... The voters have ignored the Church's advice. It had given to understand that it preferred the national-conservative challenger and is now being forced to recognise the limits of its power in this new Poland. ... The young, liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the preferred dialogue partner of the 'new Europe' now has free rein. He no longer need fear that a Kaczyński will obstruct his modernising reforms." (05/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Andrea Tarquini

The winner of the Polish presidential elections Bronisław Komorowski has made a good start by bringing those who voted for his opponent Jarosław Kaczyński on board, writes the online edition of news magazine Polityka: "Politically it's important the he reached out his hand to the other part of Poland - the Poland that voted for Kaczyński. It's good that he saw the division in Poland and has promised to overcome it. This is the way winners behave in mature democracies. He's not allowed to add fuel to the fire. On the other hand Kaczyński's statements after the election had more political substance. He expressly wants to adopt the role of opposition leader - that of the party politician. ... This is what Kaczyński loves and is really good at." (05/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Adam Szostkiewicz

The new American General in Afghanistan David Petraeus faces a difficult mission as he must pursue military objectives while seeking to come to terms politically with the insurgents, writes the daily Die Presse: "That is the problem facing the new commander in Afghanistan. And things are rendered even more complicated by the fact that this is not just a 'Taliban problem'. The international troops in Afghanistan are not only combatting the hard core Taliban militia. They also have to deal with local uprisings against the government of President Hamid Karzai, as well as with armed insurgents bent on revenging the deaths of their loved ones at the hands of Nato troops. For that reason political solutions are needed to take the wind from the sails of the insurgents. Failing that Petraeus will find it hard to stabilise the situation militarily. In any event it is anything but certain that the hard core of the Taliban can be crushed." (05/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » U.S., » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Wieland Schneider

Spain is discussing Catalonia's Statute of Autonomy, which four years after it came into force has now been declared partially unconstitutional by the Spanish Constitutional Court. A group of Catalan intellectuals calls in the left-liberal daily El País for a realignment of relations between Spain and Catalonia: "The Spanish must accept that Catalonia is a nation, that it is a community with a clear awareness of possessing its own historical identity, its own language and its own will to reinforce its political independence. The Catalans must then for their part recognise that Spain is not just a state but a very old Western nation with a Castilian culture with which - despite all the mishaps of the past - it would be convenient for both sides to maintain privileged relations." (05/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Social movements, » Federalism, » Separatism, » Spain
All available articles from » Salvador Giner, » Josep Bricall, » Josep Castellet, » Jordi Nadal, » Antoni Serra, » Josep M. Vallès

In the US ten alleged Russian spies have been arrested. The news portal Balsas is not very surprised: "The scandal shows above all that Washington values actual relations above all the nice declarations. They are informed and have no intention of concealing this from Russia. Russia is smiling obsequiously at the West at present because it needs investments, and although everyone knows that Moscow is insincere the West is responding to President Dmitry Medvedev's outstretched hand. But it's just a show and not true foreign policy. This is evident in Russia's behaviour towards its neighbouring states, in its attempt to force the US out of Central Asia and in its secret support for Iran. The Russian secret service is no less active in the West than during the Cold War and the nuclear warheads of Russia and the US are still aimed at each other." (05/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Aidanas Praleika

Even if Jarosław Kaczyński had won the presidential elections Poland and the Czech Republic would remain on the best terms, writes columnist Luboš Palata in the conservative daily Lidové noviny: "Both countries have been on the 'path to the West' for the past twenty years, which were certainly the best in many centuries. Recently we have also been united by the project of the US missile defence shield. Our trade relations continue smoothly, almost silently. Prague is linked by motorway to Katowice and Kraków. The Poles sell coal mines to the Czechs that they'd never sell to the Germans or Russians. For all these reasons the election outcome does not put things fundamentally into question, even if Bronisław Komoroski is certainly somewhat closer to us liberal Czechs than the rather traditionalist Jarosław Kaczyński. ... It is very reassuring to know that the result of the elections will do little to influence our good relations. That holds more for Poland than for any of our other neighbours." (03/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Luboš Palata

French philosopher Alain Badiou reflects on the 20th century in an interview with the liberal weekly Élet és Irodalom: "I believe that we can't understand the 20th century without a good grasp of the 19th century. Perhaps one could say that the 19th century was the dream, or conversely the century of Romanticism. The 19th century dreamed of human emancipation, of communism, long parts of it were caught up with the passion of dreams. The 20th century, by contrast, was the century of the real. It sought to force its dream onto the world. In what ensued, however, it very quickly tossed its dreams to the wind. From then on only the real counted, and the world had to be changed through ground-breaking acts of force. 20th-century man really did create a new world. He not only dreamed about it or planned it, he also brought it into being. And this reality took on dreadful forms: nazism and communism are ample proof of that." (02/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Alain Badiou

The new conservative governments in the Czech Republic and Slovenia have announced measures in the style of former US president Ronald Reagan to boost the economy, including tax cuts, a pension reform and the restructuring of the expensive healthcare system. But the strong centre-left parties in the two countries could thwart these plans, the daily Delo writes: "They will make the most of the protests that may flare up following the announcement of the healthcare and pension reforms and the potential introduction of tuition fees, even though many experts support these measures. Perhaps, however, the two new governments will become unexpectedly entangled in conflicts that are not connected with the economy and are nonetheless explosive. ... On the other hand Prague and Bratislava now have once more the chance to teach even the bigger countries something about successful development. Because many have criticised that the measures that Germany is taking to reduce its debts are not sufficiently geared towards development." (05/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Czech Republic, » Slovakia
All available articles from » Barbara Kramzar

Sweden comes out well in a pan-European comparison of carbon dioxide emissions, but it could do better, writes the tabloid Expressen: "This is partly owing to our geographic advantage in having many rivers whose hydropower we can exploit and partly the result of political astuteness in deciding to build nuclear power stations and allow their modernisation. But there's always room for improvement. Now it's about reducing the CO2 emissions of our traffic. To do this we must invest in electric vehicles, above all cars. ... Many of the major carmakers offer electric cars that have long ranges and can reach high speeds. The development in this area is based on growing demand in the face of global warming. Many states offer their citizens a financial incentive to buy electric cars. Sweden should follow this example." (05/07/2010)

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The music festival season has begun in Flanders, with roughly 300 events attended by hundreds of thousands of visitors. But the regulations governing the festivities threaten to ruin them altogether, writes the daily De Standaard: "The whole socio-cultural phenomenon arose from a love of music on the part of a couple of amateur organisations in the late 1970s. And despite the growing attendance and professionalisation it is often still based on the same principle: festivals unite people. ... There can be no denying that in earlier days festival organisers - often because they were incredibly naive - took irresponsible security, health and environmental risks. Nevertheless there have been no major tragedies to speak of in the last 30 years. Sure, they improvised, but the mood was good. ... Nowadays large festivals have the wherewithal to hire people to make sure that the rules and regulations are followed, but small festivals don't. Small organisers often put together their festivals in their free time, and are now becoming no more than administrators or accountants. And that spoils all the fun." (05/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Peter Vantyghem

For days now Romania has been hit by heavy flooding in the northeast and eastern parts of the country. The waters of the Siret, Pruth and Danube rivers have reached an unusually high level. But the disaster is man-made, the daily România Liberă contends: "Some of those whose homes have been flooded had taken the risk and built in areas prone to flooding. But as so often in such cases the problem lies in the incapacity of the authorities to define clear rules and ban the construction of houses in such areas. ... So the blame for the floods in regions where only recently billions were invested in anti-flood measures lies not with the old people who don't want to live the homes where they have lived for years but with the minister who allowed a fortune to be spent on poorly done work and accepted bribes for this." (05/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Environmental Policy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Social affairs, » Romania
All available articles from » Dan Cristian Turturica

The Bulgarian fiscal authorities have imposed a fine of roughly 1.3 million euros on the Orthodox Church after an inspection revealed that it failed to pay social insurance contributions for clergy members for years. The daily Dnevnik complains that the Church has become a purely business-oriented establishment: "Instead of concentrating on its real tasks, the Church now concerns itself with no more than business and finances. The only exception is the clergy, who are left to their faith and their missionary zeal. Meanwhile the Church looks after its buildings and estates, which it trades, rents out or leases. It prints and sells its own 'securities' such as stamps, baptismal and wedding certificates. It collects fees for rites, manages charity funds, bids for projects, etc. Meanwhile its employees must wait endlessly for their wages. Often they receive nothing at all, or are only paid in kind." (05/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Tax Policy, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Spas Spasov

A majority of Finns would like to see begging banned, according to a survey carried out by six regional papers. A work committee at the interior ministry also views this as the right approach. The daily Lapin Kansa disagrees. "Poverty, misery and hopelessness are part of this world, unfortunately. Begging is humiliating. Beggars have to experience what it is to be stared at and despised. What it is to be invisible, a third-class citizen. How small children gape at them and parents eye them with distrust. ... To ban begging by law won't help. It would only sweep the problem under the carpet, make it invisible for people. The Finns rightly believe that every country like Finland should take care of its own poor. Begging Roma are a pan-European problem that must be dealt with at a European level. The best results can be achieved if we begin to improve living conditions in the beggars' home countries. It should be a matter of honour for the EU to take care of the weak." (05/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Finland, » Europe

In Britain the parties are at odds over whether it is unduly cruel to make the long-term unemployed look for work. The conservative newspaper The Daily Telegraph shakes its head in disbelief: "Somehow, we seem to have lost touch with the idea that being self-supporting and responsible for your own subsistence is the normal condition of adult life: you may have difficult times in which this is not possible, but they should be seen as temporary - transitory circumstances which require a remedy so that the proper business of grown-up existence can resume. ... Paid unemployment as a lifestyle option is no longer sustainable economically. But the best reason for removing it is that it breeds defeatism and despair. Pretty much everyone - of every political persuasion - accepts that. The next step is to admit that the inertia and despondency that it creates are part of our greater economic problem, which is going to require the mobilisation of every human resource available to the country if it is to be solved." (05/07/2010)

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All available articles from » Daley Janet