Main focus of Friday, February 27, 2009

Crisis in the East

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe are especially hard hit by the financial crisis. The European papers put the blame for this on the region's fragile democracies and the rapid growth of recent years, yet point out that there can be no talk of a uniform Eastern European crisis.

Financial Times Deutschland - Germany

In the present financial and economic crisis the new EU member states should not all be lumped together in one category, the daily newspaper Financial Times Deutschland writes: "The label Eastern Europe seems utterly out of place when Central European EU states are mentioned in the same breath as Russia or Ukraine, which haven't been involved in the European adaptation process and still suffer from the fact that they don't offer a secure environment for investments. When beyond economic shortcomings there are warnings of political instability the warnings can at most refer to these CIS states. The phase of democratic reforms in the new EU states has been so successful that they now have dependable political systems. So far there has been no generalised crisis in Eastern Europe, even if the tendency to generalise could indeed result in all the states of the region coming under pressure. Sensible investors, however, should be able to distinguish between genuine problem cases and normally developed economies." (27/02/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Economic Policy, » Europe, » Eastern Europe

Dnevnik - Slovenia

The rapid development and strong growth in Eastern Europe in recent years are taking their toll in the crisis, writes the Slovenian paper Dnevnik: "The first two months of this year were a catastrophe for every investor. On the developed stock markets of Western Europe, for example, the DAX lost 17.4 percent of its value and the French CAC 14.6. According to Bloomberg the biggest losers in the East are the Romanian BET with a minus of 38.5 percent this year and Poland's WIG20 with a loss of 31.2 percent. At this rate it's hard to imagine where share prices will end up by the end of 2009. Because until now the measures introduced in the various countries seem not to have had any effect to speak of. The real economy is increasingly feeling the negative impact of the crisis, which could in turn have a negative influence on business integrity. And further events on the stock markets depend on whether the indexes can be stabilised." (27/02/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Eastern Europe
All available articles from » Jernej Kozlevčar

Figyelő - Hungary

The business paper Figelõ reflects on the remarks of the leader of the opposition in Hungary Viktor Orbán, who has accused Western Europe of deserting Central and Eastern Europe in the crisis: "Orbán's concern is justified. This economic protectionism is indeed detrimental and a bad approach to dealing with the crisis, not to mention the fact that it makes little sense in a globalised economy. If the 'French' carmakers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia do return to France as President Nicolas Sarkozy has populistically demanded, who would buy these expensive cars? … It would be wrong to seek a solution to the crisis in economic nationalism and pitching countries against each other. What is required now is a pan-European approach." (27/02/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Hungary, » Europe

Dilema Veche - Romania

The Romanian newspaper Dilema Veche is not surprised that Austria has requested financial aid for Austrian banks from several Eastern European governments. "From the perspective of those living there the European Union is made tangible through certain things in day-to-day life ... that give us the distinct impression that 'we are not foreigners' when we travel to other European states. ... What's more: we feel like Europeans when we encounter Vodafone, stores like Lidl, Metro and Carrefour, and pay with our credit card from 'our' bank at home. Equally, the visit of the Austrian Finance Minister Josef Pröll highlights the European dimension of the crisis: our banks are also your banks, the difference between 'us' and 'you' is no longer relevant. ... The case of a couple of European banks that perform transactions in several states concerns not only the inhabitants of the country where they have their headquarters. Banks have no nationality, and neither does bankruptcy." (27/02/2009)

» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Austria, » Europe, » Romania
All available articles from » Mircea Vasilescu

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