"Western Europeans countries used to worry primarily about the antiquity of Eastern Europe's nuclear reactors. But since the fall of the iron curtain power stations in former Eastern bloc countries have been modernised and upgraded to EU safety standards thanks to the know-how of Western contractors. In the 1990s the American company Westinghouse undertook the renovation of the Soviet-designed WER 100 pressurized water reactors at the Temelin plant, adding, for example, complete physical containment. That has not, however, prevented the Temelin plant in South Bohemia [Czech Republic] from showing a 'serious failing'," writes Maurin Picard. And in the wake of the incident at the end of July at Sweden's Forsmark plant "the European nuclear safety debate is once again an issue." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Energía, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Maurin Picard

Alexandra Föderl-Schmid says it's no coincidence that two serious incidents at European nuclear power stations occurred on the same day. "At Sweden's Forsmark power station central safety systems failed. One expert referred to this as the most serious incident since Chernobyl. This effectively silences claims that serious accident couldn't occur at a Western nuclear power station. At almost the same time several thousand litres of radioactive water leaked from the Czech Republic's Temelin power station, which is just a few dozen kilometres away from the Austrian border. Only shortly beforehand a reactor block had been shut down because of a leaking oil pipe. Both incidents are a signal and will reignite the discussion about using nuclear power in Europe. This is a good thing, because it was just looking very much like the use of this source of energy would increase on the continent." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Energía, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Alexandra Föderl-Schmid

Vera Gaserow welcomes the decision of the German Minister for the Environment to order safety checks at Germany nuclear power stations following the Swedish incident. "Maybe the minister is using the threatening scenario as a political weapon in the revived debate about a renaissance of nuclear power. But by adopting a strict position on the issue of safety at nuclear power stations he can remind advocates of nuclear power of their weak point. The government had reached a moratorium with power companies: You accept a gradual withdrawal from the nuclear programme and we'll make sure the power stations can continue to operate smoothly. Necessary but expensive measures for retrofitting the stations have been handled with kid gloves or postponed. The operators of nuclear power stations had started to say goodbye to the withdrawal agreement. Now, following what was almost a serious accident, politicians have the opportunity to make it clear that they too can have their way in the debate about the safety of nuclear power." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Energía, » Empresa, » Alemania
Todos los textos disponible de » Vera Gaserow

Columnist Simon Jenkins is appalled by the platitudes of Middle East commentators. "If the first casualty of war is truth, the second is comment. While soldiers fight, diplomats struggle and civilians die, the commentariat is having a poor Middle East conflict. ... The format is familiar. It starts with an eye-catching list of atrocities attributed equally to the Israelis and Hizbullah, followed by nuanced sympathy for each in turn. Having thus established his impartiality, the writer continues with a dollop of historical bromide in which the west is to blame, as prelude to a 'proposal' as pat as it is implausible. Last comes a thunderous demand that all show various abstract qualities 'if peace is to return' - and the west's moral supremacy made evident." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Medios de comunicación impresos, » Oriente Próximo y Medio
Todos los textos disponible de » Simon Jenkins

"The war currently going on in the Middle East is perceived as an episode in the confrontation between, on the one hand, the free-market, democratic West, and on the other, Islamist fundamentalism which has chosen terrorism to promote its totalitarian - as defined by Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) - world view," comments the columnist Daniel Vernet. "The problem with this approach lies less with its characterization of Islamist fundamentalism as a form of totalitarianism - a point that cannot indeed be dismissed - than with the fact that it reasons by analogy ... Analogies can be deceptive. If Islamic fundamentalism is a totalitarian ideology that sometimes uses terrorism and should be fought as such, it nevertheless does not have at its disposal the kind of state apparatus the great totalitarian regimes of the 20th century used to further their ambitions. Conventional warfare cannot win out. Wrong diagnoses lead to wrong prescriptions and fresh catastrophes. See Iraq." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de seguridad / Crisis / Guerras, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Daniel Vernet

Gerhard Matzig fears that Europe's reservations about skyscrapers could jeopardise the future urban development of its cities. According to UN studies, by the year 2035 two-thirds of the world's population will live in constantly growing – vertically as well as horizontally – cities. "Europe, too, needs to start thinking about how its cities can expand upwards – perhaps even more than all other continents, and for environmental reasons if nothing else. Increasingly scarce energy resources will soon deprive us of the mobility we have taken for granted and erase the separation between suburbia and the inner city. The result will be urban concentration. And that inevitably entails the construction of taller buildings… If Europe doesn't want to end up as a museum for the Asian world but at the same time wants to preserve its unusually diverse urban heritage in a dynamic way, it must address the issue of height, albeit without resorting to the construction of ecologically and economically unviable super skyscrapers – but nonetheless with an awareness of the potential of the vertical as living space." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Arquitectura / Ciudades, » Desarrollo demográfico, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Gerhard Matzig

Banned from all political activity since 2003 the Batasuna party, the political wing of the Basque separatist organization ETA, has called a demonstration in San Sebastian on August 13 in support of self-determination for the Basque country. The Spanish authorities have authorized the march but has demanded that no banners or chants should mention Batasuna. The daily believes that "this situation is untenable. The strategy employed by Batasuna makes it impossible to rethink the application of the law providing for a transitional period prior to any legalization of the party. Batasuna has not made any clear statement of its intention to abide by the law and seems to be waiting for the state to adapt the law to the party's positions - the very positions that caused it to be banned and outlawed." (09/08/2006)

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

Latvia ranks twentieth in the "State of World Liberty Index", the product of joint research by several institutes and international NGOs on economic and personal freedom. Peteris Strautins says it's not a bad ranking, but laments the fact that of all countries Latvia's eternal rival Estonia is number one. "We could try to console ourselves by saying that the Estonians go to great pains to seem as westernised as possible, but in their heart of hearts harbour the same fears we do. But Latvia has more corruption, and fears are growing regarding people who are perceived as threatening, for example sexual minorities and their campaign to be allowed to march peacefully through the city. This hysteria did not come about spontaneously but has been fuelled by politicians who want to divert the public's attention form their own underhand dealings." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Minorías, » Países Bálticos
Todos los textos disponible de » Pēteris Strautiņš

"Catholicism is no longer a religion in Poland today but an ideology," state the worried academics Tomek Kitlinski and Stephane Symons in the progressive daily. "The new Polish government is nationalist in the extreme. Its guidelines are: Poland for the Polish, women in the home, 'holebi' [gays, lesbians, bisexuals] in Hell. Abortion has been outlawed and, worst of all, more and more women are jobless and living in poverty. Homosexuals are insulted in the street, in parliament, in government, and in the media. This homophobia goes hand in glove with antisemitism and hate for Roms and gypsies, and for refugees." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Polonia
Todos los textos disponible de » Stephane Symons, » Tomek Kitlinski

In a guest commentary, Michal Syska, deputy chairman of "Social Democracy Poland" (SDPL), which is not represented in the Sejm but in the European parliament, criticises the conservative ruling party's nation-state oriented policies. "For PiS politicians, the project of a federalised Europe is artificial. They advocate the nation state, which they see as a natural, autonomous entity that is not the product of human endeavour. Its basis, the national identity, is homogenous (society is held together by ethnic-religious bonds), exclusive (public space is reserved for the national and religious majority…) and confrontational." Syska argues that Poland's Left should "not allow the government to slam the door in Europe's face" because "for parts of the population, integration in the EU also (and perhaps above all) means opening Poland up to Europe – with its acceptance of diversity, openness and tolerance." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Polonia
Todos los textos disponible de » Michal Syska

In a guest commentary Jiri Dienstbier, a former dissident and Czechoslovakia's first foreign minister after the fall of the Iron Curtain, explains why he opposes the construction of a US missile defence base in the Czech Republic. "In an already unstable world we shouldn't let ourselves relapse into an arms race," Dienstbier comments and points out that Russia could be alarmed by the establishment of a US military base in the Czech Republic. "Do we really expect an attack from the powerful world of Islamic fundamentalism, which might decide to wage a 'war of civilisations' against the 'devils' of the West? Anything is possible, but it will be dozens of years before such a scenario is really feasible. It will be difficult to convince the Czech nation that we of all people should participate in the missile defence system project – without considering our allies within NATO and the EU. The Czech Republic has military obligations to NATO, not the US. As a NATO member, we cannot set the seal on such an important decision in a bilateral agreement with another member state – even if that state is the most powerful member." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de seguridad / Crisis / Guerras, » La República Checa
Todos los textos disponible de » Jiri Dienstbier

The daily draws on Italy's refusal of the proposed merger between the highway operators Abertis from Spain and Italy's Autostrade in order to analyse the EU's role as a regulator of fair trade. "Although the Treaty of Rome assigns this function to the EU, it does not have much history of taking action. Brussels has always been seen as a gigantic machine for redistributing funds, at the heart of which lay an acceptance, even encouragement, of national corporatism, which involved the rejection of non-national businesses. So the EU authorities' opposition to the manoeuvrings of Montilla [Spanish industry minister who opposed a German bid for a Spanish gas group] and Di Pietro [Italian infrastructure minister] is good news for the citizens of the European Union." (09/08/2006)

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

"Something tells us that the latest production from the DreamWorks studios will be the stuff of many a conversation on the Paris-to-London Eurostar," writes Nicolas Crousse. "In 'Flushed Away', which will be coming to our big screens later this year, war rages between British rats and French frogs. The war is primarily one of clichés. On one side is the rat pack, led by upper-crust Roddy from Kensington and Rita an underground ginger rat in tight Union Jack jeans ... On the other side is the amphibian clan ... Yes, you guessed it: in this face-off between cultures which pits the really corny ... against the really cool it is the Brits who win ... The French have in fact become for the English-speaking world what Belgium once was for France : the ideal scapegoat. The wheel turns." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Película, » Francia, » Gran Bretaña
Todos los textos disponible de » Nicolas Crousse

Interviewed on the margins of the Locarno Festival, Moritz Leuenberger, president of the Swiss Confederation, offers his thoughts on the role of the political authorities in the arts and culture. "The arts energize our society and in this country they should be able to develop in accordance with the principle of the separation of powers and in all independence. Like any other art form, film should be able to develop. The politician's role is to make such development possible. I'm not talking about subsidies, which are not my responsibility, but about the fact that the arts have always played an essential role in human history - whether in architecture, Renaissance painting, or the writings of the Enlightenment. Cinema now contributes to this power of the arts. The duty of politics is to give this power the freedom to emancipate itself. And without financial support, that is impossible." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Película, » Política Cultural, » Suiza

The Association of Young Christian Democrats (IKSZ) wants Moscow Square, one of Budapest's most important traffic junctions, to be renamed "Square of the Revolution of 1956". It argues that Budapest has not a single important location commemorating the resistance to Soviet occupation. Judit N. Kosa regards the initiative as absurd. She argues that Moscow is simply a city within Europe and that the name has no political connotations. She accuses the young Christian Democrats of making a fuss about unimportant issues while Budapest has real problems to deal with. "Of course, 1956 should be commemorated in an appropriate manner, even if the shadows of the monuments and counter-monuments prevent a clear view of the events of that time. To change the name of Moscow Square wouldn't be doing justice to the spirit of 1956. It will be a great and moving day when we finally manage to make an objective analysis of the events of 50 years ago." (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Historia, » Hungría
Todos los textos disponible de » Judit N. Kósa

The daily deplores the dreariness of Malta's capital city, Valetta. "People have always wondered how and why Valletta can be so alive by day and become almost spectrally dead by night. For a city in the southern Mediterranean, where it is normal for people of all walks of life and ages to live life outdoors, our capital city has been, for decades, singularly different to Palermo or Rome, cities that truly never sleep, because of this strange nocturnal transformation. Possibly because of damage that forced 'entertainment' to move to Sliema [five kilometers away] our capital city has never quite recovered from the physical and psychological scarring left by World War II and the relative neglect of the powers that be to restore it to its former splendour. It is ironic that events of the Malta Arts Festival - Summer 2006 are being held in the most controversial monument to post-war inertia, the site where the Royal Opera House once stood" (09/08/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política Cultural, » Malta