"This is the end of twelve years of presidency and a forty-five year political career. It is also the first time in the 5th Republic that a French president is voluntarily handing over power", notes Franck Renout, the daily's Paris correspondent. "Chirac was never an ideologist. While the world was changing, its borders opening, economies being liberalised, the president did his best to manage France's historical, cultural and economic legacy. People even jest that the museum of primitive art in Paris, the Quai de Branly Museum, is the one and only tangible result that Chirac has come up with in his own country. The past few years have indeed shown no ideology, no vision, no mission for the future." (12/03/2007)

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The outgoing French President Jacques Chirac was popular because politically he was without fear, notes Stefan Brändle. His popularity "was perhaps increased by the fact that he didn't even try to pretend to voters that he had a political agenda... But the French knew: just as Chirac always puts himself first, he will also always put his country first. His political agenda was called France. Chirac was neither a left-winger nor a right-winger; he was a Gaullist, or in other words, a passionate Frenchman. Just as his first decision after he took office in 1995 was to schedule nuclear tests in the South Pacific without caring about the opposition of the international community, at his last EU summit three days ago he tried to sell off France's nuclear power supply as renewable energy." (12/03/2007)

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"Most analysts agree that 'Chiraquisme', apart from supporting farmers, does not stand for much", writes Martin Arnold. "An eternal opportunist, [Jacques Chirac] has flip-flopped on many big issues, including European Union enlargement, free market capitalism, the euro and the 35-hour working week. He promised voters in 1995 that he would end the 'fracture sociale', but unemployment remains high among the unskilled and a largely Muslim immigrant community remains poorly integrated. ... Yet even his critics concede he did some things right. He is widely praised for admitting France's responsibility for deporting Jews during German occupation in the Second World War and in 2003 led 'Old Europe' in opposing the US-led invasion of Iraq and warned of the dangers of American unilateralism." (12/03/2007)

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The editorialist Françoise Fressoz considers that Chirac's presidency was marked by "two political catastrophes: the failed dissolution in 1997 and the 'no' vote in the referendum on the European Constitutional Treaty, both of which revealed the same weakness. Jacques Chirac did not know how to give a sense of purpose to the European adventure. Last night he tried to make up for lost time by solemnly declaring, 'it is vital that we pursue the construction of Europe. Our future is at stake.' But why did he not say so earlier?! The paradox is that we would be hard put to name another president in the history of the Republic who was as open to the world as he. His obstinate rejection of the war in Iraq, which has now owed him a flood of kudos after a torrent of criticism, came from his desire to avoid a clash of civilisations at all cost." (12/03/2007)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Françoise Fressoz

Michaela Wiegel discerns "two ruptures in French foreign policy" which appeared during Chirac's term in office. "The first rupture, the quarrel with America over the war in Iraq, was consciously brought about by Chirac. The second was France's renunciation of the European integration process... It was Chirac, whose political career was so deeply influenced by the Cold War, who broke away from the thought patterns of the era, in which maintaining a balance between the blocks was the main objective. For the first time since the Suez crisis of 1956, Chirac risked breaking the alliance of solidarity with America when, in the midst of the Iraq crisis, he threatened to exercise France's power of veto in the UN Security Council. France's attempts to unite the great powers of Russia and China, European partners like Germany and Belgium, and a number of Latin American and African states in a kind of counter-alliance were without precedent. Unlike Gerhard Schröder, who was fighting for votes, Chirac - well-versed in foreign policy - wasn't just trying to endorse the pacifist impulses of his fellow countrymen." (12/03/2007)

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Milan Rokos describes French President Jacques Chirac as a person who defended, but also blocked Europe and "one of the last dinosaurs in European politics." Rokos delivers an ambivalent verdict of Chirac's policies regarding the Czech Republic: "He supported the expansion of the EU to encompass the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. But when the newcomers sided with the Americans on the Iraq issue he arrogantly let them know that they had 'wasted a good opportunity for remaining silent.' Nor did he ever much like the liberalism advocated by most of the countries of 'new Europe'... Nonetheless, his successor will have to work hard to maintain such a high profile on the world stage as he did." (12/03/2007)

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Massimo Nava, the daily's Paris correspondent, notes that Jacques Chirac has not officially declared his support of Nicolas Sarkozy, or nominated an heir. "There was a bit in Jacques Chirac's speech that many have taken for an approbation in favour of Sarkozy, when he mentioned the successful fight against criminality... . But Sarkozy has imposed himself as a man breaking away, applying a method, a system and a governmental mentality very often openly different from Chirac. He therefore could not have received a blessing from him. At the top of the polls, Sarkozy is doing a balancing act: on the one hand he is seeking to seduce far-right voters and on the other he wants to stand apart from Chirac by promising economical reforms and the modernisation of the country to the middle classes". (12/03/2007)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Massimo Nava

Polish journalist Adam Krzeminski contributes an essay to the debate about how European societies should deal with radical and moderate Muslims: "The inner-Jewish conflict in 19th century Germany saw reformed, often even German-nationalist Jews looking askance at the masses of Eastern European Jews with kaftans and sidelocks in Berlin's Scheunenviertel district. Here one is reminded somewhat of today's debate around Ayaan Hirsi Ali's 'Enlightenment fundamentalism.' It shouldn't be forgotten, however, that assimilation was no protection for the German Jews. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were meant to repeal the successful assimilation and integration, and led to the ovens of Auschwitz. Europe is not only a refuge of humanity and tolerance, as the French wanted inscribed in the preamble to the EU Constitution; it also has a long history of separation, apartheid and mass murder." (10/03/2007)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Adam Krzeminski

Anne-Marie Le Gloannec, French director of research at the Center for International Studies and Research (CERI), recently published a work entitled 'Berlin and the world'. In an interview with Dominique Berns she considers that the German view of Europe has changed. "The Germans - I mean public opinion - now have a vision that is more French than before. This is rather interesting at a time marked by a Franco-German rift. German public opinion has distanced itself from the United States. For the most part, it considers that France is Germany's best friend, that the EU should have common foreign policy and that Europe should act as a counter-point to the United States, which was really a French idea to start with. Thus Germany has become more European when it comes to ideas and feelings." (12/03/2007)

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On March 11, 1990, the Lithuanian parliament declared the restoration of the country's independence, thus risking a confrontation with Moscow. Virginijus Savukynas examines what has been achieved since then: "Of course there are still many problems in Lithuania today, but didn't we have problems in Soviet times? The social disparities are no doubt greater today, and there are people who can't afford to buy meat. But back then there was no meat to buy and there were always long queues in front of the shops... However the most important thing is freedom. No matter how much we may criticise our political system, at least we have the freedom to do so - unlike in Soviet days. And no matter how much we may have got annoyed with our country, over the past 17 years there have been enough occasions when we were proud to be Lithuanians and not just part of the periphery of an empire." (12/03/2007)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Virginijus Savukynas

"It would be an exaggeration to describe the final meeting in Vienna as negotiations," writes Wieland Schneider on the failure of the Kosovo negotiations. "Because even if no one admitted it openly, one thing was clear to everyone from the very start: the Kosovo talks were not about negotiating Kosovo's future status. They were about guaranteeing the survival of the Serbian minority in what is likely to be an independent Kosovo in future... The Viennese Kosovo show this weekend was just a prelude to the big showdown in the UN Security Council. This is where Ahtisaari's plan will be discussed and the future of Kosovo decided. Moscow is acting with a renewed confidence there, and has no intention of approving plans for Kosovo's independence against Serbia's will, as the West had expected it to do. This means that yet again an important decision for the Balkans will be reduced to a proxy war between the major powers." (12/03/2007)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política de seguridad / Crisis / Guerras, » Sudeste de Europa, » Serbia
Todos los textos disponible de » Wieland Schneider

Urged by the Spanish far-right, several thousands of people demonstrated in Spain on Saturday, March 10th, to protest against the partial emancipation of the Basque prisoner José Ignacio de Juana Chaos. The Portuguese journalist Alberto Gonçalves makes an implicit plea for the resignation of the Spanish Prime Minister Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. "The reason for the demonstration, as we know, is the decision taken by Zapatero to free an ETA psychopath on hunger strike. But this is a symbolic reason, given the fact that submission to terrorism is a sort of trademark for the current government, created under the fear and misunderstandings around March 11th. This Sunday, another March 11th, the victims of the terrorist attacks three years ago were honoured with a glass monument and the presence of 'Mr' Zapatero, apparently dazed by the barbarism that pushed the Spanish to elect him. Although a bit late, the best tribute to the victims would be for the Spanish to recognise and rectify this mistake. As we saw on Saturday, we are not so far off from this." (12/03/2007)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Alberto Gonçalves

At the summit meeting of EU heads of state and government on March 9th, the decision was made to increase the proportion of renewable energies used by 20 percent. After a long period of stagnation it now seems the EU's German-French engine has suddenly sprung back to life, writes the paper's Brussels correspondent László Szőcs: "Although the French got their way by having prominent mention made of the potential of nuclear power (despite protests from Austria and Ireland), the German presidency was nonetheless able to achieve a consensus among the different positions." However, Szőcs points out that the EU still has a long way to go before it has a common energy policy: "Cyprus needs energy to cool down the country. Denmark needs energy to heat. Finland is expanding its nuclear power facilities while Germany is reducing them. The EU has called for measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions which will have a negative impact on the German car industry, while Italian and French cars already fulfil the requirements." (10/03/2007)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Medio ambiente, » Energía, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » László Szőcs

In the Northern Irish assembly election on Wednesday, March 7th, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) won 36 of the 108 Assembly seats with Sinn Féin taking 28. However, the political journalist Peter Preston considers that "Northern Ireland's power-sharing is nothing but a gloss of politics, built on distrust. ... Yes, Ian Paisley (DUP) and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fein), big winners both, can finally plight their political troth. Yes, this is devolution at last. Yes, Northern Ireland has voted for low water rates, mobile phones that work both sides of the border - and a warm bath of southern comfort. Yes, this is Tony Blair's legacy (with a nod to John Major). Yes, we mainlanders can relax, switch off and concentrate on global warming, not Belfast hot air. And no, Nuala O'Loan [Police Ombudsman ] isn't welcome at the wedding breakfast. ... [She] revealed how police informers in one Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) gang had been shielded by RUC officers as they murdered 10 or more Catholics." (12/03/2007)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Peter Preston

In an interview carried out by Juan Carlos Sanz, George Lillikas, Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs, has announced that his government wishes to go even further after last week's demolition of a wall of division in the heart of Nicosia (Ledra Street) between the Turkish part of the island and the Greek Cypriots. "We have accomplished a gesture of good will in order to make Turkey face up to its responsibilities. This wall was a defence point designed to stop Turkish invaders in 1974. From now on they must leave this zone. ... The Cypriot president, Tassos Papadopoulos, has proposed the opening of eight crossing points and Ledra Street is only one of them. We want to open as many as possible. We have to start bringing together both of the island's communities in preparation for reunification." (12/03/2007)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Chipre
Todos los textos disponible de » George Lillikas, » Juan Carlos Sanz

As of March 15th, a law will enter force in Poland under which not only politicians, but also journalists, among others, are obliged to reveal their collaboration with the former secret police. Many well-known journalists, including numerous anti-communist dissidents, have protested against the law passed by the PiS government. Marek Magierowski criticises their opposition: "Their 'civil disobedience' would be justified in a system of repression that destroys people and restricts freedom of expression... These journalists are creating a climate of popular revolt which all lovers of democracy are supposed to join. Those who refuse, express doubts or - God forbid - believe that the disclosure of the past is necessary are indelibly labelled corrupt writers for the Fourth Republic." (10/03/2007)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Medios de comunicación impresos, » Historia, » Polonia
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Patricia Benecke portrays Afro-Caribbean playwright Debbie Tucker Green, whose short plays have caused a sensation in London and are soon to go on show in Berlin and Munich. One of her works only lasts 20 minutes. Benecke writes about Tucker Green's most recent play, which was performed at the Royal Court in 2005. "It deals with distinctly African problems. An HIV-infected couple fight each other to death over the single prescription for AIDS medication that is available to the family; a child soldier slaughters his way through the story with his machete, and Mary is condemned to death by stoning. Under the direction of Marianne Elliott these three plots are only partially tied up with each other and the actors sometimes have a hard time with Green's fragmentary, disjointed volleys of text. Nonetheless, it certainly poses in a very vivid manner the question of what Europe would do if confronted with the problems that Africa faces." (12/03/2007)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Patricia Benecke