"Primarily in Germany, but in Scandinavia too, police and residents on the border are worried. They fear an increase of cross-border criminality and a decline in security," reports Gerd Appenzeller. But he thinks the fear is unjustified. "It may be an understandable fear, but it also a bit absurd, like that among Western Europeans when the borders between France, Germany and the Benelux states – to name a few – were abolished on 26 March 1995. There, too, the federal police were removed, and new methods for cross-border investigations were introduced. Security did not worsen as a result, but rather improved. Today, too, no one can say that the federal police will disappear overnight in the areas where Germany meets Poland and the Czech Republic." (20/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Gerd Appenzeller

Christine Fauvet-Mycia is far from enthusiastic about the new Schengen zone. "The fact is that the enlargement of the Schengen zone we are being thrown back into the debate that stirred up the French citizens and Europeans at large when the European Constitution Treaty was submitted to their judgement. It ended up in 2005 with a 'No' vote in France and the Netherlands. A 'no' to an ever-growing Europe that is endlessly stretching its boundaries, spreading without settling and affirming itself, without re-centering itself around what unites it and what it is based on... The EU is diluting itself more than it is reinforcing itself while the 'cordon sanitaire ' around the Schengen zone is thinning as it stretches." (20/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Christine Fauvet-Mycia

It's not only Germans in some border zones who have reservations about the disappearing boundary with the Czech Republic. Czechs feel the same way, writes Martina Kopecká with an eye to the village of Krompach: "On the German side, the street leading to the border has been renovated, so as to get closer to their neighbours. But on the Czech side, the local authorities claim they don't have the money to fix up their part of the street. But more than anything, they worry about German cars in their town. So there is a large boulder blocking the way, and the local leaders have installed a "no transit" sign... Some local residents are annoyed, but people who have their weekend homes here want to keep the town quiet. Now, a referendum renders its decision: The road between the two countries is to remain a pedestrian zone." (20/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Martina Kopecká

The entry of the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the Schengen area makes the border between the two countries, set up 15 years ago upon the division of Czechoslovakia, superfluous," says Michal Piško. "Those in the border regions are happiest about this, because they have relatives and property on the 'other side.' As Mayor Josef Tkaldec of the Czech village of Horní Lideč put it, 'At the time of separation, we didn't think that the border issue would be solved so elegantly a few years later.' The new situation means more in emotional than practical terms, because in fact the people could already cross the border unofficially." (20/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Michal Piško

Most Austrians worry about the extension of the Schengen area. Wolfgang Weisgram laments the fact that the tabloid papers "Kronen Zeitung" and "Österreich" in particular are stoking fear among the people in cities. This is nothing but "staged heckling by the media aimed at Social Democrats who have become disoriented. But take one look at the towns near the border, and you'll see that not all in the party have lost their orientation. Take Schattendorf, for example - not only a historically Social Democratic community, but also one that is currently important. It's been preparing for years for the opening of the border, seriously and with no regard for 'Krone's' sensitivity. And most border communities are doing that. Because they know: That's their future. But only the local Hungarian media really see it." (20/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Wolfgang Weisgram

Journalist Ervin Hladnik Milharcic recalls the "iron curtain" that once existed between Italy and former Yugoslavia: "The fence separated two worlds. In one world, you could only choose between the Beatles and Rolling Stones, which you could buy in the Nova Gorica department store – and presumably it was like that up to Vladivostok. But in the other world, you had stacks of Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, the Grateful Dead and the Doors... The border that no longer exists at the railway station of Nova Gorica was a division between cultures. The signboard that stood there for a few years, saying the border is only temporary, was one of those things that made your heart beat faster when you saw it." (20/12/2007)

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Predrag Matvejevic, bosniac writer and professor of Slavic literature at Rome's Spienza University, ponders the opening-up of the Schengen zone. "So many people who only yesterday were still living within the closed borders of former eastern Europe today have to become the attentive guardians of adjacent land ... . It is not for example difficult to imagine a Pole or a Czech preventing a Russian or a Ukrainian from crossing his territory. But how will a Slovenian behave when twenty kilometres away from Zagreb he will have to stop a Croatian or a Bosnian with whom he shared a common fate so very recently." (19/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Predrag Matvejevic

The US magazine Time has chosen Vladimir Putin as "Person of the Year 2007." Sonja Margolina does not think he has really stabilized conditions in Russia: "In the eight years of his undisputed power, Putin has weakened or smashed all state institutions. In the name of supposed stability he has allowed his secret service to destroy the Yukos oil conglomerate and to snatch up other valuable assets, mostly in the energy sector. The fusion of uncontrollable power with billions in private capital in the hands of his St. Petersburg friends and colleagues created a powerful corporation of informal players who control the country with the help of secret service methods. The latest parliamentary and presidential elections are all about the clique going for everything. So anyone who thinks Putin has things under control is naïve." (20/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Sonja Margolina

Michel Abescat interviews the astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Luminet on the effect city lights have on the night. "For astronomers it is dramatic. Everything is lit up now, artificially. On a deeper level, we are running a big risk of collectively loosing touch with the universe in which we live. There are city dwellers today who have never seen the Milky Way. Is someone who has never contemplated the sky as it actually is aware that a fundamental dimension of human experience escapes them ? It was probably the gaze of cave man that triggered the first big metaphysical questions. ... If artificial lighting gradually effaces the stellar panorama of the night, a gigantic loss of meaning will occur." (19/12/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Philosophy, » Science / Research, » Global
All available articles from » Michel Abescat, » Jean-Pierre Luminet

Cristian Pirvulescu takes a look at the first year of Romanian membership in the EU: "Paradoxically, we have distanced ourselves from the EU more in 2007 than in previous years. Because Europe is neither a purely geographical location nor a market. It is a state of mind. And to live and think this way, based on values, is foreign to the politicians in Bucharest. Romania started out as a curiosity [in Europe] and then became a disappointment. The Polish democracy deficit is no longer so sensational, after the October elections and the clear victory of pro-European liberals. The Treaty of Lisbon has been signed and can be ratified quickly. Even in Belgium, there seems to be a solution on the horizon. So Romania has all the chances in the world to become Europe's problem country in 2008. (19/12/2007)

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On Monday, December 17th, Portuguese authorities intercepted a boat with 23 Moroccans aboard, on the outskirts of Culatra Island, [in the Algarve, southern Portugal]. For the Portuguese daily, "The coast of Portugal is becoming a major destination for illegal immigrants from Africa. ... As Spain is reinforcing protection in the Canaries and in Andalusia, Portugal is seen as a last chance country. ... Europeans had better put an end to this human drama that has been unfolding for years while Africans should prevent youths from fleeing. During the EU-Africa summit it was thus decided that the two continents will cooperate to develop employment in Africa. This is the path to follow, far more efficient than any border control system." (18/12/2007)

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

The Cypriot daily is concerned to see that the issue of the island is being ignored as Turkey takes a new step towards EU accession. "Granted, Turkey can only cry victory after two new chapters in negotiations concerning Turkish accession were opened on Wednesday, December 19th. These two chapters made no mention of Cyprus. It goes without saying that the 33 year occupation of the northern quarter of the island is no obstacle for Turkish accession as far as Ankara is concerned. ... Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy are proposing a privileged collaboration or a Mediterranean Union as alternatives to EU accession, but the Turkish government will hear nothing of this. It wants nothing less than accession. Thus the Cyprus issue is secondary for Brussels." (20/12/2007)

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Spanish justice has condemned 47 members of organisations in favour of Basque independence to prison sentences, for 'belonging to' or 'collaborating with' the terrorist group ETA. This is the biggest trial ever to be held against ETA's social, political and media entourage. The Basque daily welcomes this condemnation. "The fact that most of the condemned are representatives of the pro-independence left clearly illustrates the manner in which the ETA front has operated in the very heart of Basque society for decades. The condemnation of this fanaticism, which is behind so much suffering in Basque society, stigmatizes the attitude of those who, like the PNV [nationalist Basque party], refer to democracy when challenging the legitimacy of these verdicts which, trial after trial, hold the pro-independence left responsible for the unbearable persistence of terrorism." (20/12/2007)

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Bulgaria's standard of living has risen, a survey suggests. More than half of those questioned are no longer focusing on simply securing their basic needs; they have become real consumers. Bojko Pentschev has some misgivings: "The false impression of an improved quality of life is not thanks to President Sergey Stanishev, but thanks to our brethren in China. Everything on the Bulgarian market that is not from China has doubled in price. Of course, young people are overjoyed by the purchase of a plasma TV, mobile phone or other technological toy. But gradually, more people are placing greater value on things that don't come from China: apartments, food, services. Sports, books and everything that is important for personal development is getting more expensive. … Quality of life is more complex and more expensive than any old plastic object. It depends on things that money can't buy, things one shares with others: infrastructure, nature.” (19/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Boiko Pentchev

Artist Damien Hirst's diamond-studded skull entitled 'For the Love of God' was recently sold for 70 millions euros. Jonathan Guthrie comments. "Mr Hirst, 42, has helped redefine his profession. An artist can now be a multimillionaire wheeler-dealer with a personal brand as powerful as a celebrity fashion designer. [Contemorary art] has become an investment playground for people made wealthy by globalisation, ranging from American and European bankers to Russian resources magnates and Asian industrialists. Thanks to the universality – or perhaps opacity – of his themes, Mr Hirst's art is a currency of success among the super-rich. ... The artist has persuaded a wealthy elite to buy representations of the only inconvenience their riches cannot protect them from: death." (20/12/2007)

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All available articles from » Jonathan Guthrie

The weekly investigates why French winemakers are feeling beleaguered. "One French grower complained that each bottle of New World wine that lands in Europe is a 'bomb targeted at the heart of our rich European culture'. But few things agitate French winemakers more than other winemakers' unspeakable irreverence towards the terroir, the mix of soil and climate found in the place where a vine is grown. The strength of feeling is so great that the country even has its own breed of, er, 'terroiristes'. A group of masked, militant French winemakers has attacked foreign tankers of wine, bricked up a public building and caused small explosions at supermarkets. Now France's balaclava-clad winemakers have a new horror to see off: transgenic wine. ... Efforts to create transgenic grapevines are well advanced, and transgenic wine yeasts are already starting to appear in American winemaking." (20/12/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Agriculture, » France