Twenty-five members of the commission responsible for the rubbish crisis in Naples have been taken into custody and charged with criminally damaging public health and the environment. Pierluigi Battista comments: "Is it true that the refuse piles conceal a den of embezzlement? Or have the judges acted irresponsibly and frivolously, committing a fatal error and falling into a deadly trap? ... The arrest warrants were issued in January. Why have they been pulled out only now, when the state seems on the verge of removing the last obstacles to the solution of the waste crisis? ... The 25 arrests convey the impression of a criminal conspiracy which reached right up to the highest echelons of the apparatus which has been dealing with the waste problem for at least two years. If this is true, then a handful of courageous judges have dealt pitilessly with an appalling case of corruption. But what if it is not the case? What if the media attention stirred up by the arrests was a well-timed strategy to strip those who are leading the fight against the refuse of their legitimacy?" (28/05/2008)

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All available articles from » Pierluigi Battista

Andrej Mrevlje draws a connection between the refuse crisis and the import ban on Italian mozzarella. "The first Italian politician to express dismay at the American import ban on the wonderful buffalo milk mozzarella was Italy's current prime minister. ... For Berlusconi, the matter was of aesthetic importance. ... People in the EU were happy about the mozzarella scandal. Not because they don't like the cheese, which is of almost legendary significance in Italy, but because the mozzarella made it possible to exert pressure on a much bigger problem in Italy: the trade with industrial waste and the illegal refuse dumps around Naples, the cradle of buffalo milk mozzarella. ... [But] of course we ... do not mean to imply that the scandal surrounding the contaminated mozzarella is the sole reason that the conservative government is now resolutely tackling the Italian anomalies with a firm hand." (28/05/2008)

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All available articles from » Andrej Mrevlje

The British daily comments on Silvio Berlusconi's efforts to tackle the rubbish debacle in Naples: "The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, faces the first real test of his new government after his demand for a speedy end to Naples's interminable rubbish wars was greeted at the weekend with violent clashes and a call to arms by residents of the areas chosen for new dumps. ... Mr Berlusconi chose the battle, flying down to Naples for his first cabinet meeting last week and telling ministers that the rubbish crisis must be addressed. ... But one man's zone of strategic interest is another man's back yard." (26/05/2008)

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All available articles from » Peter Popham

Mafia expert Chiara Marasca comments on the Camorra's role in Italy's refuse crisis: "The Camorra has no interest in a solution to the crisis. It earns huge sums of money through obscure state-private enterprises. ... Rubbish is at least as lucrative as the drug trade or the building sector, where the organisation can secure public contracts. ... In the past, the Camorra ... has made offers to northern Italian firms to remove their hazardous waste on the cheap. The waste then landed in caves or on open fields. But it also deals in normal household rubbish. At the height of the crisis when the dumps are full, as they are now ... it can step in and offer alternative dumps or have the refuse vanish. The Camorra sees no need for waste incineration plants. The good thing about dumps is that sooner or later they are full, and others are needed. What the Camorra wants is a permanent crisis." (23/05/2008)

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All available articles from » Chiara Marasca

The French parliament has voted to adopt a reference to the country's regional languages in article one of the constitution. Olivier Pognon reflects on the significance for France's national unity: "'The regional languages belong to the nation's heritage'. In adopting this amendment to the constitution, the deputies have addressed a particularly sensitive issue, that of national unity. But they did it with such prudence that their initiative should not worry even the most ardent defenders of the indivisibility of the Republic. ... Regional languages will remain limited to private use. ... France was formed around a central power and through the progressive 'consolidation' of large regions into a kingdom. ... Today the deputies believe that national cohesion is not in danger, but that by contrast France's 75 regional languages are, and that this patrimony, dear to the hearts of so many French, must be saved." (27/05/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Cultural Policy, » Minorities, » Demographics, » France
All available articles from » Olivier Pognon

András Balázs writes about the "gypsy" problem in Hungary: "Part of the problem must be solved by the state. But dispelling stereotypes and pulling down the wall between Roma and non-Roma is impossible unless society strives for unity and a change of attitude. If we accept that the press reveals the ethnic origins of a Roma criminal; if we close our eyes to the fact that in the 21st century Hungary still treats people like second-class citizens because of their skin colour and origins, we cannot just pin the blame on the political elite. ... Criminality and lack of education have nothing to do with race - even if in the more backwards parts of the country this is particularly true of Roma. A person's social situation is a matter of socialisation and not skin colour. It is tragic but true that for these classes there are very few possibilities of work in Hungary. And the state is doing very little to change this. With its misguided social policy it instead makes it possible for them to survive without work." (28/05/2008)

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All available articles from » András Balázs

"The more Turkey accepts and recognises its Islamic identity, the more Western it becomes. This mystery makes Turkey all the more appealing. The dilemma Turkey faces over and again is tied up with the fundamental problems of present-day Europe. Today Europe as a whole... is preoccupied with general identity problems. ... Another mystery is that Europe has adopted a relaxed attitude towards this Turkey. Never before has Europe shown so much understanding for the problems Turkey has struggled to overcome. ... The superpowers who express concern about the 'Islamisation' of Turkey cannot convince Europe - which grew up with the prejudices surrounding the conflict with Islam - that this poses a 'threat'!" (28/05/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Europe, » Turkey
All available articles from » Alkis Kourkoulas

The secret service accusations being levelled against former Solidarność leader and ex-Polish President Lech Walesa prompt the daily to reflect: "Twenty years after the end of communism, former secret service members no longer constitute a major problem. Mafia structures, people driven by greed and ineffective governments are our main problems now. We have democracy and freedom, and the communists were ... defeated. If we have cause for dissatisfaction today we should not look for reasons and excuses in our totalitarian past but in ourselves and in the present." (28/05/2008)

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All available articles from » Luboš Palata

Essayist Jean-Paul Marthoz criticises the tolerant attitude of the United Nations Human Rights Council toward undemocratic states, and questions the institution's significiance: "The UN Human Rights Council still has seven months to honour the year 2008 in which we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Last week the ambiguous nature of this body founded in June 2006 was highlighted when several states with dubious reputations joined. ... The Council was silent on Tibet during the session in March. It ended the mandate of its expert in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as if the crisis there had been resolved. It embraced the good will of the Sudanese government regarding Darfur while the rioting there continues. ... In this mood of dissimulation and hyprocrisy, the Council's decisions are often one-sided, biased ... and bereft of true moral force." (27/05/2008)

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All available articles from » Jean-Paul Marthoz

The Romanian daily Cotidianul observes a creeping return to fascist ways of thinking in Europe and the rest of the world: "This mentality is gaining force. Whether in Rome, Bucharest, London or Paris, everyday fears are creating monsters. Beyond the election cycle this issue seems more pressing today than ever before. A debate is necessary in this new European context. What makes popular fascism so attractive? Reality has dispelled the illusion that fascism in the broadest sense does not exist in ex-communist countries. The connection between the wild and uncontrolled capitalism practised in the transition countries and the temptation of exercising authority cannot be concealed. Both Putin's Russia and post-Maoist China, where the harshest form of capitalism is combined with authoritarian regimes, are testimony to this connection. It has long been common knowledge that political democracy and capitalism are not always a good combination, but there is less willingness to acknowledge that there could be a return to fascism. What if history repeats itself? What if the election of Gianni Alemanno as mayor of Rome or the anti-immigration policy of the Berlusconi government is not pure coincidence? Politics and democracy are merely instruments for ensuring the functionality of the market. But when protecting the market entails a wild capitalism that foments everyday fears, there is the danger that democracy could be sacrificed." (28/05/2008)

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All available articles from » Cristian Pirvulescu

A fusion between Unite, Britain's biggest trade union, and the American union United Steelworkers has created the largest inter-continental union in the steel sector. Federico Rampini explains the background to the "super-union" with an eye to threats facing the steel industry: "For years the steel industry has been considered the yardstick for economic development in both countries. But today it is firmly in Indian hands. Takeovers by Asian firms have been carried out on a massive scale in recent years. The Asian companies are by no means hostile to workers or unions, but they have different, stricter criteria in their layoff and wage policies. The super-union is an expression of the workers' fear in the face of globalisation. The negotiating table is the only answer to the massive competition from Asia." (28/05/2008)

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All available articles from » Federico Rampini

Thousands of German farmers are staging a milk delivery strike in a bid to have milk prices increased. "Farmers have no chance on the market because the negotiations on milk prices are not conducted with the farmers but between the big dairy companies and the powerful retailers in the food trade. The result is not fair prices but a dictatorship. So the farmers have no choice but to boycott deliveries in an effort to reduce supplies and force higher prices on the market. Even if this strategy works now it is not a solution for the long term." (28/05/2008)

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A recently erected monument which stands close to Berlin's Holocaust memorial commemorates the homosexuals persecuted and murdered by the Nazi regime. Jewish columnist David Warszavski calls for solidarity with gay and lesbian victims but criticises the film which forms part of the memorial. "The monument for the murdered gays will incite protests, among other things because of the bad idea from an artistic point of view of incorporating a video screen into the monument which displays a film of two men locked in a passionate kiss. It will also provoke protests from people who do not like gays or regard them as perverts. Unfortunately, such views are common also among conservative Roma or Jews - but I can assure you that there will be no protests by Jews or Roma against the Berlin monument. History forced the Roma and Jews to look beyond their prejudices and share in the fate of homosexuals: one cannot choose one's sexual orientation, just as one does not choose one's forbears. ... Those who were murdered because of their origins know the price to be paid for refusing solidarity - because they themselves were once refused solidarity." (28/05/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Exhibitions / Museums, » Minorities, » History, » Germany
All available articles from » Dawid Warszawski

The German chain of stores Media Markt advertises in many European countries with the slogan "Ich bin doch nicht blöd!" (I am not stupid). Sociologist and economist Salvador Cardús examines the values underlying this slogan. "The question ... is whether the shrewd strategy has made the transition from a value cherished by a few fainthearted, crafty customers to an accepted method of saving oneself the trouble of other strategies for success which however require more intelligence and effort. Or to put it differently, the question is ... how many crafty customers a society, a company or a government can tolerate without putting its own efficiency and cohesion at risk. I refer here to the clever dicks who exploit the public health service; for those who think they are 'not stupid' this would also apply to those who commit insurance fraud; those who do politics for purely cynical reasons; those who believe traffic regulations do not apply to them - all these people. How many is that? ... The triumph of the spirit behind 'I am not stupid' would be the triumph of stupidity." (28/05/2008)

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All available articles from » Salvador Cardús

Dutch politicians are calling for a ban on squats in the wake of renewed violent conflicts with squatters in Amsterdam. Up to now squatting has been legal under certain conditions. "The squatting movement has done itself a disservice in the past couple of days if it wants to avoid a total ban", comments the paper. "What is new here is the origin and motives of the squatters. Occupants of squatted buildings increasingly come from abroad, primarily from Eastern Europe. For them squatting is above all a way of finding free housing. As a result, many squatted buildings are like cheap hotels. Gone are the days when squatters were fighting the housing shortage by occupying empty buildings. .. The move to tighten the anti-squatting law must be accompanied by measures to combat real estate speculation. ... In view of the movement's original goals, the squatters will have to go along with this." (28/05/2008)

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