Greece's new government can only succeed if it acts with determination, the left-liberal business paper Imerisia writes: "The key goal for this coalition government is a realistic economic programme - and of course its effective implementation. A programme that limits the scale of the recession and promotes growth. The developments in Europe have created a positive climate in which the Greek proposals for a change to the austerity package are being accepted, particularly in relation to extending the deadlines for budget consolidation. ... The new coalition government needs a plan that will convince the markets, its partners, its lenders and the citizens that it is heading towards healthy economic growth - and that it can hold this course. This plan must be based on realistic facts and perspectives. Only then will society regain hope and support the government's efforts." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política interior, » Grecia
Cobertura de debates » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

The speed with which a new government was formed in Greece is seen as a good sign by the news portal tagesschau.de. It hopes the new Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is up to the task: "In the past three years as opposition leader Samaras distinguished himself not as part of the solution but as part of the problem. He pursued such a destructive policy of obstruction that many conservatives in Greece - and Europe - lost any confidence they had in his political abilities. And rightly so. … Nevertheless things may be different with his present government, but only if the coalition partners work together and not against one another. All too often in Greek politics, positive approaches are destroyed by clientelism and self-interested intrigues. Samaras was always a master on that score. For the good of Greece is it to be hoped that the new government will be spared this fate." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Elecciones, » Grecia
Todos los textos disponible de » Reinhard Baumgarten
Cobertura de debates » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

Following the victory of the pro-austerity parties in the Greek parliamentary elections German government representatives have expressed contradicting views on what should be done with the austerity requirements. The conservative daily Simerini criticises this lack of a unified stance: "While Brussels is adopting a more positive stance and wants to 'reward' the Greeks for the election result, Berlin is acting as if nothing had changed! … Are the Germans deliberately acting like this towards the Greeks? There are many explanations for this behaviour, the most important being that Greece is a means for Berlin to establish itself as the strongest partner and thus define the EU's economic policy. At the same time the unequal distribution of power between Germany and France is becoming increasingly obvious. Merkel tolerates the Socialist Hollande, who is against the austerity policy, but she doesn't accept him. … Greece is being used as a guinea pig for political conflicts particularly between the major countries. Therefore Samaras needs to demonstrate his wisdom, political skills, powers of persuasion and resolve above all vis-à-vis Germany." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política interior, » Alemania, » Grecia, » Europa
Cobertura de debates » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced on Wednesday that the debate on the state of the nation that usually takes place before the summer break will not be held this year. With this course of action he avoids explaining major decisions to his citizens, the conservative daily El Mundo criticises: "Rajoy's decision to dispense with the debate on the state of the nation is a grave political mistake. … The president's excuse that it doesn't make sense to have the debate after an election doesn't apply. [His predecessor] Zapatero's decision to forward the elections means that eight months have now passed since the last ones - eight months of intense activity and change that deserve profound analysis. A debate on the state of the nation was surely never as necessary as this one. The government, which is demanding more sacrifices from the people every day, has a moral obligation to explain its decisions. Not to do so is to treat the Spaniards like minors." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Elecciones, » Asuntos sociales, » España
Cobertura de debates » Spain in the banking crisis

At the G20 summit in Mexico several heads of government have called on Europe to quickly resolve the euro crisis by establishing a political union. Such expectations are unrealistic, the left-liberal daily De Volkskrant objects: "European integration, a European leadership and euro bonds are supposed to put a quick end to the crisis. That heads of government like Obama (US), Singh (India) and Calderón (Mexico) are calling for a European political union testifies to a lack of realism on their part. Not only is this political union unachievable, it is also unnecessary. With a package of measures Europe has already established a system for dealing with future crises. … Now it's just a question of how Europe can buy the time needed for Italy and Spain to reform their economies and get their finances in order. Because we're talking about a lot of money here, there are major doubts that this can be achieved. But futuristic visions of a political union won't fill the gap." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Economía política, » Europa, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Xander van Uffelen
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

According to media reports, the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is wrestling with death. The country's Supreme Military Council refuted reports that he has already been declared clinically dead. At the same time the announcement of the final result of the presidential election was postponed. Keeping the country in a state of uncertainty may be a strategy employed by the Military Council, the liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera speculates: "Mubarak is recovering while Egypt's situation is deteriorating. The implausible series of reports on the state of health of the former ruler, who has been condemned to life imprisonment, speaks volumes about the chaos on the Nile. … The generals may be behind all this, trying to cause even greater confusion and divert the country's attention from the real problems. … Intrigues, crime, conspiracy? Or just the umpteenth scam? … In reality the Egyptians couldn't care less about Mubarak's fate. They have other problems to deal with and other challenges to meet. As well as the threat of a never-ending transition phase coming from a different direction." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Egipto
Todos los textos disponible de » Cecilia Zecchinelli
Cobertura de debates » El mundo árabe lucha por la libertad

The electoral commission in Egypt has still not presented the final results of the presidential elections that took place on the weekend. And last week, constitutional judges dissolved the parliament owing to irregularities in its election in last winter. The country will eventually realise its democratic potential but the Egyptians must be patient, writes the left-liberal daily The Irish Times: "These differences and divisions [among the different religious groups] will ensure Egypt's revolution maintains its momentum despite the setbacks to its democratic progress in recent days. It is much too early to conclude any one force has definitively secured control. ... After decades of authoritarian military rule its citizens are realising political change can be slow and tortuous, with periods of rapid shifts followed by agonising reversals. Great interests are at stake and often in conflict, between generations, ... social classes and varying cultures." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Elecciones, » Egipto
Cobertura de debates » El mundo árabe lucha por la libertad

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is still trying to avoid extradition from the UK to Sweden where he faces rape and sexual harassment charges. Now he has requested asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. His behaviour has long since turned his political demands for absolute transparency into a farce, writes the liberal-conservative daily Die Presse: "While things have gone quiet regarding WikiLeaks, he [Assange] has been staging his own self-demolition for months while the world looks on, culminating in his buttering up to a terrorist like Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on the Kremlin propaganda channel 'Russia Today'. Instead of answering what he claims are the unfounded accusations of two women before the Swedish judiciary he is casting himself in the role of a political victim and topping the whole thing off by seeking asylum. If Assange is a victim at all, he's the victim of his own hubris." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Libertad de prensa, » Justicia, » Medios de comunicación, » Suecia, » Latinoamérica, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Helmar Dumbs

At the climate change summit that ends on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, heads of state and government from across the world are discussing solutions for global environmental problems. Politicians should take inspiration from the humanist values of the many activists meeting alongside the summit, write Christopher Wasserman, founder of the Zermatt Summit, and Jakob von Uexküll, co-founder of the Alternative Nobel Prize, in the liberal daily Le Temps: "Anyone who still believes we are helpless against the power of money and the lobbies, the tyrants and the cynicism of the reasons of state, should see the faces and achievements of these innumerable heroes who, all over the world, replace or oppose the public authorities and change their neighbourhoods, villages, regions and the lives of millions of human beings. ... With this in mind we campaign for change. The fact that the challenges facing the world are so numerous, momentous and urgent encourages us to send a message to our leaders that we too would do well to heed: what we so abstractly call an international system is in fact a true community." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Ética, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Christopher Wasserman, » Jakob von Uexküll

The US Federal Reserve decided on Wednesday to boost the country's ailing economy with 267 billion US dollars. Not only will that increase the risk of inflation, it also shows that President Barack Obama's policies have achieved nothing, writes the conservative daily Svenska Dagbladet: "The head of the Federal Reserve has long had a very careful attitude as far as new monetary policy stimuli are concerned. Again and again - like today - Ben Bernanke has made it clear that he wants to have all the cards on the table before using the heaviest ammunition and switching on the money press for the third time since the start of the financial crisis. Even if the Fed is not taking political action, it is nonetheless clear that this decision also has the backing of Barack Obama. There is no doubt that the country is facing economic difficulties. But printing more money will not only raise the danger of inflation, for many people it is also a clear indication that the president's efforts have borne no fruit." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política financiera, » Economía política, » EE.UU.
Todos los textos disponible de » Daniel Kederstedt

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti called at the G20 summit in Mexico for the EFSF bailout fund or its successor, the ESM, to be allowed to purchase the bonds of crisis-stricken states as a means of lowering their borrowing costs. Germany, too, should realise that this is a sensible strategy, writes the liberal daily Público: "It's still too early to tell whether Berlin will approve this plan, but the mere expectation of such an option was enough to reduce the pressure on Spanish bonds. For the first time in weeks there seems to be more on the horizon than just vague expressions of commitment to a fiscal union, banking union or euro bonds. This progress is probably owing to the fact that Germany seems to have realised that it must make some compromise to prevent a chaos scenario which could also damage its own economy. … Merkel and Germany symbolise the struggling crisis management. … It's one thing to be the target of criticism from Greece or Spain - but it's quite another to have to admit one's own faults to Washington or Beijing." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Economía política, » Italia, » Europa
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

France wants to introduce euro bonds, Germany wants to strengthen budget discipline. The two positions should be reconciled with the introduction of "euro bills", write the financial experts Christian Hellwig and Thomas Philippon in the liberal business paper La Tribune: "Politicians should view euro bonds and austerity measures as complementary components of a global strategy. For that reason we recently proposed the introduction of 'euro bills', that is common short-term debt securities for the Eurozone countries, through which long-term discipline and short-term stability may be reconciled. They would resemble the Treasury Bills issued by US Treasury Department. The market for safe and easily accessible capital in euros created in this way would enable the states to refinance part of their debts, for example ten percent of GDP, in the short term through a fixed interest rate. Nevertheless the states would have to finance the rest of their debts in the long term and without a common protection. And the renewal of debt guarantees could be made contingent on the implementation of a sustainable financial policy." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Mercado de finanzas, » Economía, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Christian Hellwig, » Thomas Philippon
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

The European debt crisis continues to pose a threat to financial stability, writes the business paper Dienas Bizness, proposing that Latvia should position itself with other Baltic countries as a safe haven for investments: "Investors will always need to find a place where they can place their assets. And the number of safe havens has continually dwindled in Europe recently with the uncertain situation in the South. For that reason attention is now focused on the North. Latvia should propose itself as an investment location together with its Baltic neighbours, and form a common Baltic region together with Scandinavia, all the while taking care not to succumb to illusions. In itself the country offers few interesting investment prospects, nevertheless it is part of a region with solid financial policies and has a population that doesn't feel the need to make a violent display of its dissatisfaction on the street." (19/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Mercado de finanzas, » Letonia
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

An amendment to the constitution according to which the family would be defined on the basis of a marriage between a man and a woman failed in the Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday owing to insufficient votes. The online portal Delfi condemns the initiative as discriminatory: "The [ruling] conservatives want to officially define a certain social status as superior, thereby declaring couples who have married as those who have made the right choice and have higher moral standards. This plan amounts to undemocratic interference in the private lives of the people and discrimination on the basis of their social status. … No one is 'against the family', NO ONE believes that their neighbours who are married are (morally, intellectually, politically or socially) inferior, or that their way of life is contemptible. On the contrary: conservative politicians like [the staunch advocates of marriage between man and woman] Adomėnas and Degutiene believe that those people who don't get married are in many respects inferior." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Igualdad de derechos, » Sociedad, » Lituania
Todos los textos disponible de » Nida Vasiliauskaitė

The Ukrainian national football team was eliminated from Euro 2012 on Tuesday. For the country this is more than a disappointment in sport, writes the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza: "Success in these championships would not have solved the problems in Ukraine. But it could have inspired the Ukrainians, giving them pride and the conviction that the state and its future are far more important than the interests of any political group. Such a dose of positive energy would have been more important for this young state which is still seeking its place in Europe than for any other country in the region. For that reason reaching the Euro 2012 quarter finals was not just a sporting goal, but also something far more important. ... Now that the country is out of the running it returns to square one: Ukraine is deeply divided and is considered as partially authoritarian by the countries of Europe, even boycotted by some." (21/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Deportes, » Ucrania
Todos los textos disponible de » Marcin Wojciechowski
Cobertura de debates » Kick-off in Eastern Europe