The conservative daily Rzeczpospolita welcomes NATO General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's strong words to Russia, and calls on the alliance to take action: "Scheffer is neither from the Baltic nor from Poland, and consequently cannot be accused of irrational Russophobia. He has simply given words back their true weight and reminded people that it is not normal for a high-ranking officer from a state hoping to become one of the most important democratic countries to threaten with a missile attack. ... Both Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Condoleezza Rice have called this alarming trend by name. And that is good, because it is the very devaluation of words in diplomacy that encouraged the Kremlin to pass from its rhetoric of arrogance to its policy of tanks. ... Only the harsh words are still having no effect on the situation in Georgia. ... Russian tanks are still ploughing over Georgian soil. If the West can find no effective means to force the Russians to withdraw, its esteem will suffer dramatically. Because words alone, even the strongest, are not enough here." (20/08/2008)

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All available articles from » Piotr Semka

The daily Die Presse is worried about the "Schröderisation" of NATO: "Before yesterday's summit many people were talking of a 'watershed' - and of how relations with Russia had to be 'fundamentally rethought'. And then all that came from Brussels was the announcement that the talks with Russia in the NATO-Russia Council would be postponed until the Russian troops have been withdrawn. We are used to hearing such wishy-washy reactions from the EU Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. But now NATO too seems to be largely 'Solanaised'. The Russians themselves repeatedly made clear before the Georgia crisis what they think of the NATO-Russia Council, namely next to nothing. A talking shop, they say, where you can get an insight into what makes the Western alliance tick without having to promise too much in return. But then after the 'Solanaisation', how far is it to the 'Schröderisation' of NATO? Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the Kremlin's most faithful propagandist in the West, recently said to [German news magazine] Der Spiegel that Russia does not pose the slightest threat, and that the country is simply misperceived in the West. Fine, fine, this is Europe's future à la Schröder: we will all become Gazprom employees, listen to Radio Moscow and parrot everything the Kremlin says." (20/08/2008)

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All available articles from » Burkhard Bischof

The crisis in the Caucasus has made clear how much Nato has changed, writes the daily Dagens Nyheter, commenting that this will have a positive impact for Sweden: "Nato does not have it easy. There is no consensus on what actions it should take. Russia needs to be made to feel a reaction, and this reaction must be harsh, says the one camp. But it would not be smart, the other replies, pointing to the economic ties. This is more like a discussion in the UN Security Council than in a military alliance. Is Nato developing into an international debating club? That is how things look. When an organisation like the OSCE seems competent and relevant in a political context, it is definitely time to view Nato with new eyes. Not as a defence alliance, but perhaps as an organisation that provides personnel and material for missions abroad. For us Swedes that would be the ideal type of club. Because so far mutual assurances along the lines of 'all for one and one for all' have scared us off." (20/08/2008)

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The daily Postimees takes a sceptical view of NATO's loyalty to its members after the Caucasus crisis: "How would Russia react today if Estonia and the other Baltic states wanted to join NATO? Let's be happy we already have. But that does not answer the more important question of whether anyone would come to our aid in a crisis. The clause that in a defence case, all member states must answer for each other has not yet been put to the test. According to statements from the US, South Ossetia's 70,000 inhabitants are no reason to start a third world war. But then the question arises, just how big does a country have to be to justify intervention?" (20/08/2008)

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All available articles from » Mihkel Mutt

Today US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski will sign the agreement on stationing the US missile defence shield in Poland. Environmental activist George Monbiot writes in The Guardian that the agreement only goes to serve domestic political and economic interests: "Poland is just the latest fall guy for an American foreign policy dictated by military industrial lobbyists in Washington. The American government insists that the interceptors, which will be stationed on the Baltic coast, have nothing to do with Russia: their purpose is to defend Europe and the US against the intercontinental ballistic missiles Iran and North Korea don't possess. This is why they are being placed in Poland, which, as every geography student in Texas knows, shares a border with both rogue states. ... The system has been in development since 1946, and so far it has achieved a grand total of nothing. ... US politics, because of the failure by both Republicans and Democrats to deal with the problems of campaign finance, is rotten. ... Federal government is a vast corporate welfare programme, rewarding the industries that give millions of dollars in political donations with contracts worth billions. Missile defence is the biggest pork barrel of all ... The government's interests have always been provincial. ... The US does not really have a foreign policy. It has a series of domestic policies which it projects beyond its borders. ... The only question of interest is who gets paid and what the political kickbacks will be." (19/08/2008)

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All available articles from » George Monbiot

The daily La Vanguardia comments on yesterday's attack on Nato troops in Afghanistan in which 10 French soldiers were killed: "The worrying thing about this attack is that it occurred just 50 kilometres from the capital, Kabul, and was carried out by a group of around a hundred rebels. This is a further indication that the Taliban has redoubled its attacks. ... The situation in Afghanistan has worsened despite the presence of 70,000 US and Nato soldiers, including 500 Spanish soldiers. Although in theory it won the war against the Taliban in late 2001, the West still has a long way to go before it gains control of this vast country. [Instead] it is trapped in the country after seven years of military presence. The government under [Afghan President] Hamid Karzai is so weak that it probably would not last even a day if the allies were to withdraw - and this would have grave consequences for the region, particularly in Pakistan." (20/08/2008)

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43 people were killed in a bomb attack in Algeria yesterday. The daily La Stampa calls for Europe to become more active in the region. "Algeria has been living with terrorism for 15 years. Yesterday's bombs should not be regarded by the West as the local problem of a country in which political and religious tensions are mixed up with the historical roots of the ethnic conflicts between the Algerian-Arab majority and the Berber minority in Kabylia." The paper writes that Europe needs to pay more attention to this region. "Attention that would highlight Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union project by inserting the Maghreb into a unified vision of Europe in which the hope of common interests overcomes the ethnic, religious, political and social divisions and differences." (20/08/2008)

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All available articles from » Mimmo Candito

An old people's home in the Netherlands has taken the decision not to resuscitate people aged over 70 when they suffer cardiac arrest. The public health authority is examining the introduction of a corresponding guideline and has thus triggered a broad debate. The daily De Volkskrant criticises the plans to introduce such a guideline. "It is generally mandatory to attempt resuscitation even if success is not guaranteed. ... Yet resuscitation does not make sense in all cases. With terminally ill patients in the final stages of their illness medical intervention can be harmful and lead to more suffering than foregoing resuscitation. But setting an age limit ... is completely arbitrary. ... Doctors and medical staff are in principle obliged to do everything in their power to keep the patient alive. Patients who are of sound mind can come to an agreement with their doctor about whether ... they are to be resuscitated or not. This is a matter to be decided by individual agreement and not by general guidelines." (20/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Health Policy, » Weltanschauung, » Netherlands

Since 1996 there have been plans to construct a railway tunnel between the Estonian capital of Tallinn and the Finnish capital of Helsinki. The tunnel would be around 80 kilometres long, take around ten years to build and cost an estimated two to three billion euros. The daily Helsingin Sanomat welcomes the gigantic construction project. "Many people think all the talk of the tunnel is a joke. ... [But] social development and the future call for visionary projects. ... Let us reflect on how many things have changed since the plan was first presented to the public. The Baltic states became EU members in 2004. ... For a long time now the new member states have been developing at a more rapid pace than Western Europe. ... The EU's main interest lies eastwards. ... The volume of traffic in Europe requires that we adopt new approaches. ... And then there is all the worry about climate change. ... One can marvel at the Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel project, but it is certainly nothing to be ridiculed." (20/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Estonia, » Finland

Socialist MEP Henri Weber analyses the decline of socialism in Europe in the French daily Le Monde: "The number of defeats at elections is growing, the number of active members is dwindling, the ties with trade unions and associations are loosening. Just seven years ago socialists led 13 of the governments in the European Union. Today this is only the case in Spain, Portugal and - who knows for how much longer - in the UK. ... This decline of the red wave of the years 1996 - 2006 has many causes. It has been attributed to a natural wearing down of power after several terms of office (Tony Blair in the UK, Göran Persson in Sweden), the inability of the Left to effectively meet society's need for order. ... Its miserable failure to meet the challenges of an influx of migrants and integration. ... The new era of globalisation which has dawned, with soaring prices for energy, agricultural products and raw materials and its series of financial and economic crises will not fail to add to this list. If it wants to return to power, Europe's social democracy must come up with a new political proposition." (19/08/2008)

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All available articles from » Henri Weber

According to the weekly Freitag, since its unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008 Kosovo has been administrated as if it were an international protectorate, making it Europe's first colony. "If in the summer of 2008 you set up the authorities that have a share in controlling little Kosovo in hierarchical order you get the following structure: at the very top you have the accumulated military power of KFOR, a Nato-led occupying force. ... Under it are the UN administration mission UNMIK and the two EU missions, the International Civil Office (ICO) and the European Union Rule of Law mission (EULEX). Then come the Kosovo-Albanian government and the Serb authorities in Belgrade, which in effect represent their respective ethnic groups but are subordinate to the colonial structures that have multiplied since the unilateral [declaration of] independence. ... UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon thinks it's necessary to preserve the UN's authority wherever possible by uniting two irreconcilable positions - the yes and the no to Kosovo's independent state status - under the auspices of the UN. On the other hand Brussels is using this confusion to present the world with a fait accompli. The bureaucrats in Brussels would not let the trifling matter of the formal preservation of a UN framework under UN Resolution 1244, which recognises Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo, bother them. ... [So] without further ado Europe has set its sights on establishing a colonial territory in southeast Europe." (20/08/2008)

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All available articles from » Hannes Hofbauer

The Spanish business newspaper Cinco Días calls for a united economic reform in Europe in view of the worsening economic situation. "When French President Nicolas Sarkozy took over as the European Council President he attempted to convince the EU to take joint action to counter rising fuel prices ... and failed. And at the time the economic situation was not as bad as it is now. The meeting [of the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council] in September would be a good time to jointly tackle the major reforms. There are many topics: a common, flexible and secure labour market, a common energy market, a harmonisation of tax law, the service sector, reducing bureaucratic hurdles and controlling financial systems with a European regulatory authority to prevent further scares." (20/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » France, » Europe

The Financial Times criticises Italy's recent domestic policies toward illegal immigrants and crime, and points to the economic need for immigration: "There is no hard evidence of such a crime wave, only the perception of one. The measures the government has introduced ... threaten to aggravate that perception and fuel a xenophobic backlash against perfectly legal migrants ... At the weekend Pope Benedict warned about 'recent examples of racism'. ... Other countries in Europe, such as Spain, are dealing with an even greater proportion of immigrants without resorting to any such measures. Immigration is a fact of life in Europe today, and an economic necessity. The key is to manage the process of integration, not to inflame prejudice against the least protected." (19/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Migration, » Crime and Law, » Italy

In Bulgaria the case of Bulgarian students who took holiday jobs in Scotland through an employment agency and arrived there only to be forced to live in pitiable accommodation and receive less pay than promised has caused a scandal. For the daily Standart this is an intolerable situation: "Firstly, the whole affair ... was handled by a licensed agency. Secondly, Bulgaria is already an EU member and the times when foreign workers had to spend the night in a cellar full of rats in some foreign country so they could save up money to buy a car should have ended by now. ... If following an inquiry it turns out that the employment agency was responsible, it should be severely penalised. And those in government should give employers in Great Britain an official warning that they cannot treat Bulgarian workers willing to do jobs no one else wants to do like goods to be bought in bulk. For if the state turns a blind eye and offers no support in such a situation, Bulgarians could end up being treated like second-class citizens." (20/08/2008)

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All available articles from » Stela Stojanova

A mass drinking bout planned in Zürich for the end of August by a 17-year-old apprentice is causing a stir in Switzerland. Thousands of prospective bingers have announced their participation over the Internet, and the city's sanitation department is considering banning the event. "Why is this curious idea upsetting people at all?" asks Der Tagesanzeiger newspaper. "The provocation lies in its senselessness. All intellectual explanation has been avoided, and in this over-commercialised event-driven world the invitation has been reduced to the core: guzzling alcohol. ... A ban would be the wrong reaction. One must not overreact in the face of provocation. But both the public and the authorities must self-critically observe what really transpires at this mass booze-up - and if need be intervene. Noise and dirt have long been not just a problem caused by senseless binge drinkers, but by a society part of which has abandoned all pretence of politeness and style. This reality cannot be be dispelled by the police." (20/08/2008)

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All available articles from » Hartmeier, Peter