The accusations levied at UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also apply to the five major members of the United Nations, writes the daily Der Standard, for they elected him: "Indeed, there are a number of things to criticise about the South Korean. He hasn't cut a good figure in his time in office so far. Whenever there was a war or crisis he has always been the last to comment. And the respectable but uncharismatic career diplomat lacks the personal stature to exude the moral authority the post requires. However, Ban didn't make it to the headquarters of the global organisation in New York all on his own. It was mainly the five permanent members of the Security Council who pushed for his appointment because in contrast to his rival for the post back then, the brilliant Indian politician Shashi Tharoor, he was considered easy to get along with and manipulate. So the annoyance over Ban should also be directed just as much against the veto powers." (21/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Global
All available articles from » Christoph Prantner

The criticism of the United Nations and its secretary-general is justified, the daily Göteborgs-Posten notes, but contends that the blame lies chiefly with the individual nations: "The UN will never be anything but what its members want it to be. The fact that the organisation is a weak player is not primarily a result of how the UN functions, whether it wastes money or is plagued by incompetence. The UN has exactly as much power as its members want it to have, or to be more precise, as the big members want it to have, who sit on the Security Council with their power of veto and see the world through their own political glasses. A global organisation that is too strong would challenge their power. They don't want that. The political problems that the UN has in different parts of the world must be seen in this context." (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Sweden, » Global

The daily The Independent agrees with criticisms of UN Secretery-General Ban Ki-moon primarily in one respect: "However many compromises the UN makes to keep the show on the road, one thing on which it simply cannot afford to compromise is institutional corruption. Corruption undermines the legitimacy that the UN draws from its inclusive approach. Everything worthwhile that the UN does ... depends on this legitimacy. ... Whatever else Mr Ban's supporters claim he has delivered, on issues from women's rights to international diplomacy, when it comes to institutional reform and the fight against corruption he has been disastrously weak. The Secretary General's first term will come to an end at the end of next year. There needs to be nothing short of a revolution in Mr Ban's approach if he is to merit another." (21/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Global

According to Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Antonio Moratinos, Cuba has agreed to release all its political prisoners. Just two weeks ago 52 dissidents were allowed to leave the country thanks to Spain's mediation. The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has doubts about Spain's campaign to boost human rights: "It was a strange coincidence that in the days after the announcement of the pact between Raúl Castro, the Catholic Church and Moratinos on the release of the prisoners 84-year-old Fidel suddenly made half a dozen public appearances. … [Those already released] are temporarily housed at a pension called 'Welcome' in a Madrid suburb but would prefer to be with their friends and families in Florida. The Europeans, they say, should not be deceived. For beyond political manoeuvrings nothing much can be expected from the Castros for the simple reason that any substantial step towards liberalisation would weaken their grip on power. So should the EU provide oxygen to a moribund dictatorship which in the space of half a century has seen more than a tenth of its population flee the country, all in the vague hope of a 'soft transition'?" (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Latin Amerika
All available articles from » Leo Wieland

Six weeks after the Dutch parliamentary elections coalition talks broke down on Tuesday between the right-wing liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the Labour Party, Democrats 66 and Green Left. At the same time a government including the right-wing populist Geert Wilders and a grand coalition are also being blocked. All parties must now make compromises, writes the daily NRC Handelsblad: "The VVD is the largest party, but it is still not a big party. Nevertheless it will have to maintain the initiative in the government-building process. Responsibility now lies with [VVD leader Mark] Rutte, and he must cast about for new possibilities. The situation after six weeks is as follows: all options remain open but it has now become even more difficult to realise them as both the Right and the Left have blocked the negotiations. ... In this complex process a new government will not be possible unless taboos are abandoned, blockades are dismantled and hard-and-fast demands are shelved." (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Netherlands

For the third time the Slovenian rehabilitation centre Soča has taken in wounded and traumatised Palestinian children for a month of therapy. Most of the children receive and learn to live with artificial limbs in this time. The daily Delo praises Slovenia's humanitarian diplomacy: "In times when it is difficult to accomplish anything political for the Palestinians, Slovenia is providing what it can. ... Humanitarian diplomacy is an important niche for the Nordic Countries, while Slovenia has little experience to speak of in this domain. Building up such a reputation takes a large amount of persevering, painstaking, well-considered work. The results are of a long-term nature and can't be seen overnight. And yet it means bolstering a country's foreign policy profile and complementing political endeavours." (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Social affairs, » Slovenia, » Middle East
All available articles from » Sasa Vidmajer

The four Visegrád countries Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia agreed at their Budapest summit on Wednesday to intensify their cooperation. The liberal daily Sme makes concrete proposals for their efforts: "Visegrád could still be very useful. Instead of over-ambitious plans that will inevitably lead to disappointments and convey the impression that this is just a politicians' toy, they need to clarify after almost twenty years what can be most effectively achieved within the Visegrád framework. … In addition to the obligatory topics two significant aspects were addressed in Budapest: traffic and energy security. In both cases it's about establishing a cross-border infrastructure. If there's something we can do it's practical things like constructing gas and oil pipeline networks, as well as the corresponding storage facilities with which we can help each other in the case of power failures." (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Energy, » EU neighbourhood policy, » Poland, » Hungary, » Czech Republic, » Slovakia
All available articles from » Peter Morvay

The EU politicians are going on their summer holidays, but they're taking bad reports with them, writes Lluís Bassets in the left-liberal daily El País, adding that Germany plays the role of the strongest in the class who had always been a good classmate but is now becoming selfish: "Germany is the biggest pupil in the class, and also the most visible, always sitting at the centre of the classroom. It may not always be the noisiest - its neighbour France tends to take on that role - but it calls the shots. If Germany is doing badly, Europe fares badly, even though now that things are picking up for Germany it's by no means clear that the same will happen for Europe. … In September there will have to be another attempt. Merkel's Germany is the pupil best prepared to pass the test, or in other words start to grow vigorously once more. If the rest don't follow suit and no one else can pass, Europe could end up with a problem. We now depend on the big guy in the class much more than before. But the big guy who used to be so generous has become selfish and is in no mood for jokes. So the rest of the class will finally have to wake up and get a move on." (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Economic Policy, » Germany, » France, » Europe
All available articles from » Lluís Bassets

In view of the aging global population Miro Svetlin hazards a look into the future on the Internet portal e-vestnik, and fears a dictatorship of the elderly: "A 62-year-old woman gives birth to her second child. A 68-year-old man studies law. A 69-year-old woman with three bypasses goes bungee jumping. Until now such reports have only come from the US and Japan. But now global aging has also reached Bulgaria. The consequences are not only of an economic but also - and above all - of a human nature. In ten years there'll be no stopping cloning and there will certainly be places to practice it. There will be a new class society: on the one hand the immortal rich, who remain healthy and beautiful thanks to regular upgrades, and on the other the poor - ugly, sick and mortal. Today's tyranny of the youth will become a dictatorship of the aged. With time old people will evolve from cash cows to consumers devouring ever larger amounts of resources. ... What significance will joy and sorrow have? How will the rich immortals withstand the pressure of the poor mortals? I don't even want to think about it. I'll be content if I live to be 70 or 80." (21/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Demographics, » Global, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Miro Svetlin

Europe's second-largest biogas plant is to be constructed in Poland. The project in the southern Polish city of Szczytna is part of a national investment programme for renewable energies. This kind of power is the energy of the future in Poland, writes the conservative daily Rzeczpospolita: "Our energy may be traditionally based on coal, but this is changing quickly. The investors have already announced the astronomic sum of 80 billion zloty [20 billion euros] for the construction of wind parks. And almost 10 billion zloty [2.5 billion euro] are to by gobbled up by biogas plants. The plans of companies for biogas are becoming increasingly bold. You can obtain funding to subsidise such projects from both the EU fund and from government programmes. This will certainly encourage potential investors to become active." (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Poland
All available articles from » Andrzej Krakowiak

Despite the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico BP wants to set up a new platform off the coast of Libya in August that will drill even deeper than Deepwater Horizon. The daily Le Quotidien accuses the company of greed and calls for stricter security measures: "This goldmine on Tripoli's doorstep promises huge profits, and BP's management - as weak as it may be - has no intention of playing the good student and learning from past mistakes. But the activity planned in the waters off Libya is not just characterised by a lack of responsibility and extraordinary greed. ... It is also political in nature. Britain's interest in the new Mediterranean rig is undeniable. In future the challenge will be to close the security loopholes on the platform ... and above all to put an end to our dependency on oil as quickly as possible." (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Energy, » Corporations, » United Kingdom, » U.S., » Libya
All available articles from » Christiane Kleer

The Maltese Labour Member of the European Parliament Edward Scicluna writes in the daily Times of Malta that his country must create more jobs if it wants to be successful economically: "Unless we obtain an annual economic growth rate exceeding four per cent there is no chance of converging with the EU standard of living. The biggest millstone around the economy's neck is not the pensions or even social services, as some might want to think, but the unacceptably low employment base. Regarding the financial services industry, my view is that while the new EU legislation will change the culture and mentality of financial services, Malta's size is such that we can find a niche in which to generate wealth. The outlook overall is generally positive. We have the resources and structures to succeed if we want to. We must examine what damage the recession has left, lick our wounds and move on. But we cannot live in a fool's paradise. We are 70,000 jobs short. This is our Mount Everest. A group of young energetic and courageous Maltese have conquered it. The country needs to do the same." (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Malta
All available articles from » Edward Scicluna

The Hungarian government under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán refuses to bow to the demands of the EU and the IMF for more austerity measures. The daily To Ethnos examines the reasons behind the international pressure: "The Hungarians are being blackmailed because the 'indisciplined' behaviour of the new Hungarian government offends, and above all because the EU and IMF fear that Hungary will found a school of 'undisciplined states'. They also feel insulted politically because the Hungarian Prime Minister stood up the IMF delegation ten days ago to watch football in South Africa! But the real reason why the IMF and the EU have sounded the alarm bells against Hungary is another: The Orbán government has decided to impose a special tax on banks, daring to touch what is most sacred to the EU!"  (21/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Hungary, » Europe, » Global
All available articles from » Giorgos Delastik

Almost 21 years after the end of the communist regime in Romania the alleged remains of ex-dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena were exhumed on Wednesday at Bucharest's military cemetery for the purpose of establishing their identity. The left-liberal daily La Repubblica fears that the dictators' supporters will take action: "The goal of the several attempts to exhume the bodies of the Ceauşescus, shot to pieces by an execution squad so young it barely knew how to use weapons, seems to be to establish their identity once and for all. This already controversial procedure will perhaps serve as an opportunity for some of their eternal supporters (who never showed their faces the days of the revolution in Bucharest and Timişoara) to demand a church funeral service and an honourable burial in a mausoleum built specially for them, in accordance with the will of their late son Nicu." (22/07/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » History, » Remembrance culture, » Romania
All available articles from » Alberto Stabile