The Lithuanian Interior Minister Dailis Barakauskas promised on Monday that the construction of the national stadium in Vilnius, which was begun in 1987, will be completed by 2016. The liberal daily Lietuvos rytas comments satirically: "So far no hero has managed to end this millennium project, whose skeleton that rises up to the heavens symbolises a disgrace for the state. But Barakauskas talks about the fight against this dragon as if for him it were as easy as a child's magic trick is for an experienced magician. Roughly 270 million litas [77 million euros] are still needed for this monument to corruption and disorder. Where are they to come from? Europe! And after that the sun will rise not only for Lithuanian football and singers, but also for local governments and ministries who will hold their official celebrations in this 30,000-seat stadium." (21/05/2013)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, lituano)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Deportes, » , » Lituania
Todos los textos disponible de » Vytautas Bruveris

Czech President Miloš Zeman apparently turned up drunk for the opening of the crown jewels exhibition in Prague last week. His office, by contrast, claimed that he was "getting over a cold". A storm of indignation then broke out, above all in the social networks. The liberal weekly Reflex comments ironically on its website: "The president of a democratic state must not try to come across as some kind of saint. On the contrary, he's got to be a man of the people. ... The Czechs have the second-highest alcohol consumption in Europe. If the president really does want to represent his country, well then, he's going to have to drink and smoke. Because let's not forget, every normal Czech suffers from 'a cold' twice a week. So in fact we should be praising the president, not attacking him hysterically. The only thing he needs to be the perfect representative of his people is to insult someone and steal some small object or other on his next official visit abroad." (15/05/2013)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, checo)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » La República Checa, » Europa del Este
Todos los textos disponible de » Jiří X. Doležal

The Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Agriculture in Romania signed an agreement on Monday according to which village priests are to inform their parishioners about assistance programmes for farmers at the end of mass. Better harvests thanks to the Church? The blog portal Voxpublica scoffs at the idea: "The village priests are called on to preach about the use of modern tractors and family-run farms. And what's more, according to the agreement the priests are also to inform their congregations about EU funding and government subsidies - at the end of the service of course, in case it comes to discussions. ... But the minister of agriculture could have made things easier for himself. He could have made a deal with the fire brigades, which as recent surveys show enjoy the greatest amount of trust among the population (86 percent). ... The fire brigades can irrigate the fields, the army helps with the work in the fields, the priests chat away in the pubs [which they already do] about the advantages of modern agriculture - and voilà! Romania would be saved." (14/05/2013)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, rumano)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Religión, » Economía agrícola, » Sociedad, » Europa del Este, » Rumania
Todos los textos disponible de » Viorel Dobran

One week ago the Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta planted trees in a park in Bucharest to celebrate International Workers' Day. It would be of more use to build motorways, entrepreneur Marian Dusan writes in the conservative weekly business magazine Capital, because according to Eurostat Romania is last in the EU, with only 2.4 centimetres of motorway per capita: "Spain's motorways are 13 times as long as ours. All Romania has to show is 530 kilometres, and half of that is full of potholes. That represents a loss of investments, lost jobs and lost money that could have been used to revive the economy. A few years ago the major firms said to us in no uncertain terms that they wouldn't invest as long as we don't build up the infrastructure. So it's simple: to create new jobs, the Ponta government has to put motorway construction at the top of its agenda. ... In future I want to hear announcements about motorways, not about trees." (08/05/2013)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, rumano)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Infraestructuras / Tráfico, » Industria, » España, » Europa del Este, » Rumania
Todos los textos disponible de » Marian Dusan

The Romanians fear for the future of their grilled ground beef sausages, called Mititei. Because they are traditionally held together by baking powder, according to an EU guideline they may no longer be sold as of June 1. Now the Romanian government wants to have Mititei declared a traditional speciality so as to benefit from an exemption. The liberal daily Gândul comments ironically: "A Mititei ban could have even more explosive repercussions on the population than the crisis. Without their favourite food, the Romanians will fall into depression and harbour grudges about the EU out of pure frustration. Morally destroyed, with nothing to look forward to other than boring weekends and empty wallets, they will work even worse than they do now and curse all the more. ... Taking away our Mititei but leaving us with the American burger would be tantamount to discrimination. We need our ground beef roll, because it is our small victory in the fight against globalisation and food colonialism." (03/05/2013)

» ir al artículo completo (enlace externo, rumano)
Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Salud, » Rumania
Todos los textos disponible de » Rodica Ciobanu