According to Mario Deaglio, "there is a hazy idea circulating among some Italians that all Romanians are Romani people and all Romani people are criminals, at least potentially. As a consequence, all Romanians are potential criminals. This simplification of a far more complex reality has led a very large number of Italians, including a large proportion of politicians, to the conclusion that by driving Romanians out of the country, Italy will retrieve joy and tranquillity ... . The extreme attention given to the Romanian perpetrators of petty crimes is accompanied by a total lack of interest in what is actually working for Italy in Romania, no doubt the Eastern European country that is closest to Italy, not only because of its linguistic ties, but also thanks to its economy. There exists an extraordinary integration between the two countries: Romania is the only country in the world where small and medium Italian businesses have found a favourable terrain for their growth." (08/11/2007)

» ir a la página de inicio (enlace externo, La Stampa)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Ampliación de la UE, » Italia, » Europa, » Rumania
Todos los textos disponible de » Mario Deaglio

According to Daniela Weingärtner, the Prodi government's express decree violates the European treaties. "This is because the free movement of goods, capital and persons is one of the cornerstones of the European single market. Each individual case must therefore be examined and each deportation justified. A generalised assumption that Romanian slum-dwellers represent a threat to public security is not enough. ... Prodi should withdraw his decree before the European Court of Justice rules against it. It would be no problem to find a plaintiff who has the court examine whether Italy's government is violating European anti-discrimination laws or inciting racism. The self-appointed accusers could soon find themselves in the dock." (08/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, alemán)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política interior, » Minorías, » Italia, » Rumania
Todos los textos disponible de » Daniela Weingärtner

Journalist Otto Neumann comments on Italy's move to deport EU citizens classified as a security risk: "Make-shift camps are breeding grounds for crime and therefore not an option. Perhaps it was the Italian authorities who made the greatest mistake by failing to prevent this kind of 'settlement'. But now one of the fundamental rights of all EU citizens is in jeopardy: freedom of movement. Even worse is the fact that ethnic criteria are being used to explain criminal tendencies. In this way an entire group can be held responsible for individual crimes - with Romanians and Roma as the victims in this case." (08/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, húngaro)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Migración, » Integración, » Minorías, » Italia, » Rumania
Todos los textos disponible de » Ottó Neumann

"Italian and Romanian Prime Ministers [Romano Prodi and Calin Tariceanu] have adopted a series of measures to try and calm the crisis provoked by the murder of a woman in Rome committed by a Romanian", explains the daily. "The emotional repercussions of this story have led the Prodi government to urgently adopt a bill giving police discretionary rights to expulse EU and non EU citizens according to the same criteria. This text, which invokes motives of security and incompatibility within cohabitation, appears to have been written especially for the gypsies from Romania. It has provoked the anger of Bucharest, which accuses Italy of racism in the middle of Europe. ... Italy cannot criminalise a group because of crimes committed by some of its members. The police and judges should deal with criminals, whether Romanian gypsies or Italians. Any other approach is indecent political opportunism." (08/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, español)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Desarrollo demográfico, » Italia, » Europa, » Rumania

Eighteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, the German Bundestag is to vote on the construction of a monument to "unity and freedom". Brigitte Fehrle questions why all that was a genuine reminder of those times has been torn down in the years since the collapse of Communism. "Long before the West realised with what kind of a country it had reunified, the symbols had disappeared, beginning with the Wall. Naturally it had to come down, but was it right to tear it down completely? Then there's the Lenin Monument in Berlin. What could serve better to illustrate the fatally misguided direction the GDR took? Or the Palace of the Republic - a place that could have showcased life the rise and fall of the GDR, now reduced to a sombre steel skeleton. And the drive to obliterate continues. Many would love to see the Stasi records authority with its unique archive disappear. Yet this institution, with all its faults and shortcomings, is the most vivid monument to the GDR and the glory of unification." (08/11/2007)

» ir a la página de inicio (enlace externo, Die Zeit)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Historia, » Alemania
Todos los textos disponible de » Brigitte Fehrle

The Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo considers that "any questioning of the superiority of capitalism over any other economic system has become unthinkable. ... In order to debate the legitimacy of capitalism some knowledge of economy is necessary. Philosophers are rarely qualified to intervene on these subjects. The cultural industry has turned intellectuals into the middle class. Middle as in average income that so many 'Bohemians', artists, writers and other thinkers in the past never dreamt they would obtain. Middle because they function as mediators, go-betweens 'lubricating' the system, creating consensus, indeed medium as in 'media'-friendly. ... The media tends to stir-up the emotions of the masses, rolling them into one big homogenous 'television audience'. Critical intellectuals are being wiped out as a consequence." (08/11/2007)

» ir a la página de inicio (enlace externo, Libération)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Filosofía, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Gianni Vattimo

The political crisis Belgium is going through, without a government since the June 10 election, was aggravated on November 7th when Flemish members of parliament voted in favour of a law that reduces the rights of French-speakers in the Flemish periphery of Brussels. "Strengthened by their demographical weight, the Flemish have decided to make things budge, no matter the cost", comments Laurent Moyse. "Seeing as negotiations on the community front were increasingly bogged down, they took the bull by the horns yesterday, by imposing their view on the French-speaking minority who now consider the 'Belgian pact' that calls for the respect of different communities, has been broken and are crying casus belli. Does this signify the renunciation of the Blue Orange (Christian-democrat and liberal coalition) and the brushing aside Yves Leterme, who was supposed to lead it ? ... Nothing could be less certain. ... Bartering continues and thus Belgium still exists." (08/11/2007)

» ir a la página de inicio (enlace externo, La Voix du Luxembourg)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Bélgica
Todos los textos disponible de » Laurent Moyse

"On the strike of 2.30 p.m. last November 7th, a certain idea of Belgium passed away", writes Béatrice Delvaux, editor-in-Chief of the daily, after the Flemish majority voted in favour of the division of the Brussels-Hal-Vilvorde constituency. "This is the end of the country where compromise was built into an institution - attracting the admiration and interests of the whole wide world - and where the collective interests of a country surpassed the individual interests of a community. ... The tremor runs extremely deep in two ways: first, psychologically. The Flemish have transgressed a taboo and may now develop a taste for this unilateral exercise of their power. As for the French-speakers, they have suffered a humiliation and will hitherto exist as victims of the broken Belgian pact. Secondly, on the political front, the vote on Wednesday is no epiphenomenon or the result of special circumstances. It is the consequence of deep antagonism now openly declared between the Flemish and the French-speakers." (08/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, francés)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Bélgica
Todos los textos disponible de » Béatrice Delvaux

Confronted by a big movement of popular dissent, the Georgian president Mikhaïl Saakachvili declared a state of emergency on November 7th. For the columnist Daniel Vernet, "the good international image of President Saakachvili cannot conceal the popular discontent, the scope and depth of which were displayed in the Tbilissi demonstrations. There are several causes for this unrest. First of all a natural distrust of central power among Georgians, which is swiftly transformed into rebellion. ... Also the allergy to all critical dialogue with those who do not believe the president is always right. ... The tendency to criminalize political adversaries makes one wonder about how seriously committed to democracy Georgia is. The leadership's reaction appears to be more a settling of scores between clans than the exercise of the peaceful democracy desired by Georgians who would like to be Europeans." (07/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, francés)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Europa del Este
Todos los textos disponible de » Daniel Vernet

According to Anna Krasteva, Bulgaria's immigrants fall into two categories: the first group consists of the less educated who don't speak Bulgarian, most of whom are refugees. The second group is made up of businessmen from the West aiming to expand their activities here. Both groups are being ignored by the Bulgarian authorities: "Is the Bulgarian government incapable of implementing an immigration policy? We are experiencing a paradoxical situation: there are tens of thousands of migrants but no state organ responsible for their integration. ... There is no migration policy for workers, which is the most common form of migration and has the greatest economic impact. There is no network for putting Bulgarian employers in touch with immigrants. Journalists, NGOs and academics are dealing with these problems, but not the state institutions. One thing must be clear: without integration there can be no democracy." (08/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, búlgaro)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Integración, » Economía política, » Bulgaria
Todos los textos disponible de » Anna Krastewa

Stavros Lygeros ponders the complex issue of naming the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). "That country's Slav-Macedonian leaders were never willing to accept anything other than plain 'Macedonia.' ... Trapped in its untenable position of 'neither 'Macedonia' nor a derivative thereof,'... Athens was satisfied with the temporary solution provided by 'FYROM,' which became a sort of fig leaf. ...If it [Athens] had allowed FYROM to join NATO under that name, it would have committed a national crime by default and relinquished its only weapon. ... Greece will need to have its own proposal ready for a composite name that refers to the geographical factor, such as 'Upper Macedonia'. This would provide a framework for UN mediator Matthew Nimetz, who seems to be heading down the slippery slope of a dual-name solution." (07/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, inglés)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Grecia, » Sudeste de Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Stavros Lygeros

A joint manoeuvre led by the EU's Nordic Battle Group in northern Sweden has reached completion. The newspaper comments that as a non-Nato member, Sweden's security is based on military cooperation with other democracies. "This final manoeuvre was conceived as an operation for the surveillance of democratic elections in foreign countries. That's a realistic goal. At the same time the association practised armed battle, which is also important for Sweden's defence. But the most important aspect was establishing international ties: Norway, Finland, Ireland and Estonia also participated and Sweden worked together with the United Kingdom on the strategic management of the operations. Of all the money we've spent since 1989 on our armed forces, this was the best investment." (08/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, sueco)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de seguridad / Crisis / Guerras, » Suecia

The euro is strong, but the Czech crown is even stronger. For years now the Czech currency has been hitting record highs. "Yet the Cabinet still hesitates to take the logical step of facilitating the access of Czech companies to the international market by converting to the common European currency," Petr Fischer notes. The government led by the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) has yet to fix a target date for its accession to the monetary union. "But why? After all, we're talking about those advantages of a single market that the ODS cherished even at those times when Eurosceptism was most intense. But for conservative EU critics the common currency represents more than just a common market. It's proof that Europe can be more deeply and permanently united than through traditional cooperation between individual nation states. The strongest governing party is struggling to avoid this because to a certain extent it would represent the failure of its own ideology." (08/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, checo)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política financiera, » La República Checa
Todos los textos disponible de » Petr Fischer

"The European commission and justice and home affairs (JHA) council of ministers have rightly begun to place a high priority on curbing radicalisation and recruitment into terrorism, particularly on the Internet", notes researcher Johnny Ryan. "The new round of proposals, due to be voted on at the imminent 8-9 November 2007 council meeting, indicates that the commission may be continuing to edge towards unwarranted and impracticable restriction of cyberspace. ... It is likely that a censorship system would (through human or technical error) block some other material, creating ... injury to free speech, and degrading the value of the internet to users in the European Union. Filtering systems, while expensive to operate and maintain, could also have significant costs for the economy by introducing complexity into what is currently a straightforward and reliable information system." (06/11/2007)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, inglés)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de seguridad / Crisis / Guerras, » Medios de comunicación online, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Johnny Ryan