"The current situation in Belarus is little different to that in Poland or Czechoslovakia back in the 1960s and 1970s, and exactly like then, it seems desperate and hopeless," write Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa, former heads of state of the Czech Republic and Poland respectively, in a joint commentary. However, they go on to paint a rosier picture for Belarus: "In the long term Lukashenko's authoritarian regime will not be able to stand up to the nation's growing self-confidence. If the European Union gives this movement effective backing, the last non-democratic regime in the region will collapse as quickly as the communist regimes once did." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales
Todos los textos disponible de » Vaclav Havel, » Lech Wałęsa

"The presidential election is likely to be nothing more than a farce. Not the most cheerful of news for the rest of the continent, which has thus shown its incapacity to enforce respect for human rights within Europe itself - even as the West so earnestly seeks to cast itself as a universal model of virtue!" writes Laszlo Monar. The regime of the current president, Alexander Lukashenko, survives thanks to Russian aid. Belarus's only large-scale exports to the West consist of Russian oil and gas - purchased at a quarter of the international price - which Belarus refines and resells at market rates. Russia is also the only serious buyer for Belarussian products. Moscow's generosity is certainly not dictated by love, but by a need to keep this rare European ally. In exchange for its loyalty, Russian President Vladimir Putin shuts his eyes to the abuses perpetrated against the citizens of this neighbouring country..." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales
Todos los textos disponible de » Laszlo Monar

"For a man apparently assured of victory, Alexander Lukashenko is going to unusual lengths to ensure the 'right' result in Sunday's presidential election in Belarus. His anticipated triumph may mark a glum turning point for pro-democracy movements in the former Soviet sphere," writes columnist Simon Tisdall, noting a recent crackdown against opposition activists, journalists and poll monitors. "...The likely collapse, for now, of hopes of democratic reform in Belarus coincides with a broader loss of confidence in the future of the 'colour revolutions' that swept countries such as Ukraine, Georgia and Serbia in recent years. ... If a backlash is under way against the populist revolutions that shook the post-Soviet space, a much-distracted US and EU bear some blame. The benefits of 'joining the west' have not proved impressive so far." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales
Todos los textos disponible de » Simon Tisdall

On March 15 the Ukrainian author Yuri Andrukhovych was awarded the prize for European Understanding at the opening ceremony of the Leipzig Book Fair. In a sensational speech, he attacked EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen who opposes Ukraine's entry into the EU. The newspaper publishes extracts of the speech: "European dialogue has not taken place," Andrukhovych notes bitterly, and makes an appeal to EU countries: "It is crucially important for me that you help this cursed country, in whose language I write and address you in. And it wouldn't be so terribly difficult for you to help this country. It would simply be a matter of not saying anything that will kill our hope." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Yuri Andrukhovych

Five former heads of state and government who are members of the InterAction Council - an association of former heads of state - have drawn up a counter-manifesto attacking the manifesto "United against New Totalitarianism". They see the publishing of the Muhammad cartoons in the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten as a sign of an international "breakdown in the sense of responsibility" and criticise the Danish government. "The Danish government has failed to take advantage of several opportunities for dialogue... To combat clichés and prevent a clash of cultures we must make an effort to understand the fundamental beliefs of the world religions." To this end, they propose that the "General Declaration of Human Responsibilities" drawn up by the InterAction council in 1997 should be incorporated into the UN system. "A debate in the plenary assembly on how to achieve the necessary balance between freedom and lack of restraint, rights and responsibilities is urgently needed." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Ingvar Carlsson, » Malcolm Fraser, » Abdul Salam Majali, » Kiichi Miyazawa, » Helmut Schmidt

The Spanish writer and philosopher Rafael Argullol denounces Europe's passivity in the secret CIA prison affair. "Illustrious Europe ... loses its ability to persuade in the world's eyes when it accepts underhanded logic. This is what happened with the totalitarian regimes of the last century and with the horrors of the colonial wars, Algeria being emblematic. In all of these cases, we saw the creation of secret prison universes that ended up imprisoning Europeans' own conscience. This danger is back: if we do not put an end to this knowing hypocrisy, to explain what really happened and what may still be happeneing, we will have no moral authority in the fight against terroristic nihilism. We will all end up in 'non-existent prisons': both the accused and those who did nothing to defend the rights of the accused." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Sociedad, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Rafael Argullol

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday, March 15 voted by an overwhelming majority to establish a human rights council, despite stiff opposition from the United States, dissatisfied with the structure of the new body. "It is not for nothing that Micheline Calmy-Rey [the Swiss minister for foreign affairs] uttered the word 'victory'. From Berne to New York, via Geneva, Swiss diplomacy showed its mettle in defending the proposed 'humane rights' council - its preferred term for the body that enjoyed its favour," explains Richard Werly. "Now that the creation of the council is a step from becoming a reality, and that Switzerland has confirmed it is in the running to serve on it, the worst thing would be to slacken the effort now under various pretexts. After having rallied the wavering states, in New York, we must persevere in this fighting diplomacy in the name of freedom." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Suiza
Todos los textos disponible de » Richard Werly

According to a study conducted by the Berlin Institute for Population and Development, Germany has the lowest birth rate in the world. Published on March 15, the study has caused a stir in Germany. Correspondent Piotr Jendroszczyk sees the German mentality as the root cause: "The lack of daycare facilities and Kindergartens for children is just one reason among many for Germany's demographic crash... The time to have a child is once people have reached their professional and financial goals, when you can afford a child. However, a third of the country's women don't want to have children because they create obstacles for her career. This widespread attitude justifies the claim that government programmes will not trigger a child boom in Germany." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Sociedad, » Alemania
Todos los textos disponible de » Piotr Jendroszczyk

The daily Jyllands-Posten will not go on trial for publishing the Muhammad cartoons. The public prosecutor's office announced its ruling on March 15, saying that the newspaper had acted within the limits of freedom of expression. Politiken, which adopted a critical stance regarding Jyllands-Posten in the cartoon row comments: "The public prosecutors' decision is satisfactory. A newspaper's right to provoke, and even commit grave mistakes, is an important feature of democracy. However, the public prosecutors' decision does not alter the fact that the cartoons were an unpleasant, unwise and damaging use of freedom of expression." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Medios de comunicación, » Dinamarca

The daily reacts in its editorial to the recent arrival of several hundred illegal immigrants on Spanish shores. "It is not easy to resolve an issue that is linked to the largest income-disparity gap between two worlds that we have ever seen. Few borders would resist the powerful attraction that [this disparity] represents for a generation of people who have nothing to lose, their country offering no opportunities for them to latch on to. Despite this, Europe has no other choice but to finally tackle this enormous task if it does not want to find itself facing a social explosion with unforeseeable consequences. The challenge of dealing with streams of immigrants from the poorest countries towards the most developed one is hardly a new one, but the phenomena one observed half a century ago bear nothing in common with what is happening now." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » España

On March 15, the Czech parliament overrode President Vaclav Klaus' veto against the new law for the legal registration of same-sex marriages by a slim majority. This makes the Czech Republic the second post-communist state (after Slovenia) in which same-sex marriages are permitted. The law caused a fierce dispute between Klaus and Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek. However, Jan Nemec doubts that this victory will help the prime minister in this summer's elections. "It's unfortunate that such a sensitive ethnic issue became the subject of political debate just a few months before the elections. Paroubek won, but will the gays and lesbians vote for him in June as a token of their gratitude? They probably just feel that they have at last been given something which they were entitled to anyway." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Sociedad, » La República Checa
Todos los textos disponible de » Jan Nemec

The Belgian researcher Benoît Grevisse, a specialist in European media, compares the journalistic treatment of the recent paedophile affairs in Belgium and France. "In both cases, the press got carried away. But in the Outreau affair, the mechanism is undoubtedly a more classic one: it traces its source to a blind confidence in institutions on the part of the media. The former named the guilty parties, and the journalists followed ... In Belgium, at the time of the Dutroux affair, we saw the emergence of a new type of journalism, inspired by American-style civic journalism, that sought to distance itself from institutions. ... In France, as in Belgium, we are way behind in this kind of thinking. In most northern European countries, and in many countries across the world, we have seen the development of self-regulating bodies of 'press consultants'." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Sociedad, » Bélgica
Todos los textos disponible de » Laurence de Charette

The English filmmaker and humourist Terry Jones talks about the cartoon controversy in an interview led by François Armanet. "I don't thing Muhammad ever appeared in 'Monty Python', while Jesus was a regular associate. But we were making fun of the Church, not religion. It wasn't blasphemy, it was heresy. ... 'Monty Python' provoked certain reactions from the religious authorities. But at the time we made 'Life of Brian', in 1976, doing a religious satire was a bit like shooting at an ambulance. The Church seemed to be on its last legs. Thirty years later, we see quite a change. The Muslims are on edge. Of course I defend freedom of expression, but the Danish cartoons were not intended to make you laugh, but to provoke. They appeared in a newspaper with far-right leanings, and what's more, they weren't even funny." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Sociedad, » Gran Bretaña
Todos los textos disponible de » Terry Jones

Avant-garde theatre groups from the Polish provinces are enjoying huge success in New York, London, Moscow, Genoa and Sydney, but at home they're given little opportunity to perform, Roman Pawlowski complains. "On the one hand, this is because in Poland we distinguish between central and provincial culture. If a play doesn't come from Warsaw or Cracow, it doesn't count. People think plays from the provinces are less valuable, less important, and at best represent regional culture. A theatre director from Gardzienice near Lublin says: 'We've been marginalised geographically and at the same time culturally.'" (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Cultura, » Polonia
Todos los textos disponible de » Roman Pawlowski

The Belgian philologist Roland Mortier analyses the evolution of the French language in an interview ahead of the 'French language celebration', a week-long cultural event that begins Sunday. "Clearly, language is spoken differently depending on the sector of society. Age, gender, social background determine the way we speak. But the new phenomenon is that adults are aping young people and trying to pass themselves off as adolescents. One feels the need to remain young - referred to as a 'teenage wannabeism' - and I believe this phenomenon tends to spread due to an inversion of the categories of respect. The Greeks admired Nestor because he was old and wise. These days, being old means that one is not wise, that one has lost contact with reality." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Sociedad, » Bélgica
Todos los textos disponible de » Eric de Bellefroid

The American children's book author Katherine Paterson has won the Swedish literature prize dedicated to the memory of Astrid Lindgren. The jury explained its decision saying that Paterson manages to capture the harsh realities of American life in her books. US correspondent Karin Henriksson met the author, whose books often have a historical setting or are set in other countries. "Children in America know nothing about history. Historical tales are a wonderful means for waking their interest in history, but it's important to tell a simple story. When you compare children's books with adult books, the latter are like symphonies, whereas I write solos for the recorder. I ask the same questions children ask: about life, death, and what it's like to love someone else." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Cultura, » Suecia
Todos los textos disponible de » Karin Henriksson

The debate over the renovation of certain outlying areas of Rome is all the rage among urban planners. With an eye to the projects carried out in foreign cities - London and Dublin in particular - Giovanni Caudo, a young professor of urban studies at the University of Rome, sees a new innovative approach to these suburbs on the horizon. "Let's take as an example the Laurentino 38 neighbourhood, tucked away under three of the eleven viaducts that symbolise Rome's fiendish periphery. Laurentino 38 is one of those working-class neighbourhoods that is also one of the most difficult, an example of a self-governing community. The area needs new paths, bike lanes and a square. Let's raze these viaducts. Their demolition would serve as a purification rite." (16/03/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Sociedad, » Italia
Todos los textos disponible de » Giovanni Caudo