euro|topics - Michael Braun

Braun, Michael

4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

die tageszeitung - Germany | 15/05/2008

Pogroms in Naples

Leftist politicians have also joined in the Roma-bating in Italy, writes the paper. "Several barracks in a Roma camp in Naples have been set on fire - yet apart from the radical left-wing Il Manifesto, not a single newspaper or TV station has used the word pogrom. ... In the recent elections, Italy's right wing had already declared public security as the country's 'top emergency'. And it did not mean the Cosa Nostra, the Camorra or the Ndrangheta. ... For them, the biggest threat to public security comes from the Roma and Romanians. ... The Left, too, played its part in fanning the climate of hate. Walter Veltroni was the one who proclaimed the 'Romanian emergency' last November following a murder in Rome, and had barracks in Roma camps cleared out with high media coverage."

Spiegel Online - Germany | 15/04/2008

Berlusconi is back at Italy's helm

According to Michael Braun, Berlusconi's return to power was on the cards back in April 2006, when he lost the elections to Romano Prodi. "Romano Prodi did the rest of the work with his coalition. With its 13 or so ruling parties, the centre-left troop conveyed a pathetic impression - so people on the right soon forgot that during his five years in power Berlusconi did nothing to address the structural problems of a country whose economy has been stagnating for years. Prodi was the fiscal Dracula who raised taxes to get the budget back on course and fulfil the EU stability criteria. Berlusconi on the other hand - well, wasn't he the one who issued one tax amnesty after another during his term in office? ... For the first time - and this is a revolution by Italian standards - only four factions will sit in the country's parliament. So the times when 23 to 30 parties defined Rome's politics have come to an end."

die tageszeitung - Germany | 05/11/2007

The expulsion of criminal Romanian Roma from Italy

According to Michael Braun the climate of hate against the Roma has reached fever pitch in Italy. "A hatred that was first created and then fanned by the media is spreading throughout the country. Whenever a Romanian citizen has been involved in a crime over the past few months, the media coverage has turned into a political campaign. And politicians, particularly those on the right, have taken advantage of this. But now, following the latest murder case in Rome, Walter Veltroni has taken matters into his own hands. He has sounded the battle cry against the 'Romanian emergency'. After all, he's warming himself up for the role of Romano Prodi's successor and therefore thinks he can't afford an open flank on the right. But his strategy won't work, because a policy that purports to take fears seriously by declaring a state of emergency is hardly likely to reinforce a sense of security."

die tageszeitung - Germany | 02/11/2006

An upsurge of crime in Naples

Michael Braun says it's a bad idea to send soldiers to Naples. He points out that this strategy has already been tried and didn't work: "The Mafia acknowledged their presence but simply carried on as before ... There was a time, in the mid-1990s, when it looked like Italy would be able to bring down the mafia. There was talk of 'Spring in Palermo' and 'the renaissance of Naples'. Mafia bosses were rounded up and arrested by the dozen, and civilian society woke from its slumber. But in the end the State left them alone again. Once Sicily's Mafia put an end to its spectacular murders of public prosecutors and politicians, the anti-Mafia campaign was no longer a priority – even for the political left. All of a sudden, the public prosecutors who wanted to bring the Mafia's white-collar accomplices in economic and political circles to justice found themselves isolated again. The message got through: as long as the Mafia and the Camorra didn't go too far, they have nothing to fear from the law. Naples doesn't need soldiers; it needs a political signal from Rome that the Italian State no longer wants to live with the Mafia."

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