Bulgaria's ex-prime minister Boiko Borisov wants to challenge the results of the parliamentary elections held on May 12 and schedule new elections once again. He explained his decision on Thursday saying that serious violations of regulations took place the day before the vote. In view of the deadlock with two equally-sized blocs on the left and the right, new elections are indeed the best option for the country, the daily Standart writes: "Independently of whether one approves of Borisov's initiative, new elections are in fact the only solution. ... A government comprised of socialists, nationalists and the Turkish party [the three strongest parties after Borisov's Gerb] would be unacceptable. Why does everyone, including our European custodians, believe that we should subject ourselves to such a perversity? Is it really necessary for everyone to come to power just so that a government can be formed at all costs? That is clearly no solution, and we should steer clear of this option before it's too late." (16/05/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Elecciones, » Europa del Este, » Bulgaria
Todos los textos disponible de » Georgi Daskalov

Germany announced this week that it is abandoning its plans to build Euro Hawk drones. The public radio broadcaster Deutschlandradio Kultur demands that someone claim responsibility for the millions that have already been wasted on the project: "It sounds like a major cock-up. Five surveillance drones were to be built for the German military at a total cost of 1.2 billion euros, half of which has already been paid to construct the first sample, and then it turns out that this ill-starred bird won't even get a permit for European airspace because its US manufacturer isn't willing to let the authorities take a peek at its hi-tech cards. ... Several hundred million euros. Such an astronomic sum has to be repeated again and again. Particularly in view of the German government's policy statement [on Thursday] on the reform of the armed forces. A reform that is being justified with the need to cut spending. ... If no one assumes political and personal responsibility and bears the consequences, this will send a fundamentally wrong message to the soldiers, the representatives of the people, and all of us." (16/05/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » , » Alemania, » EE.UU.
Todos los textos disponible de » Klaus Remme

After four days of hearings, the Munich trial of the extreme right-wing terror cell NSU has been recessed for three weeks over Pentecost. Until now the legal content of the trial has not been addressed, as the proceedings have been dominated by applications and other formalities. Much rides on the trial for Germany, the left-leaning daily Pravda comments: "The trial is a test of how effectively the Germans have come to terms with the Nazis' ghastly deeds since World War II. Until now the democratic model of the Federal Republic has been upheld as exemplary around the world. ... But with the revelations over the NSU, many people have lost their faith in the constitutional state and are shocked that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution worked hand in hand with right-wing extremists. The judges can't answer all the questions.  Until now they haven't given the impression that they're in control of the situation. And [with its numerous applications] the defence is currently making the trial look like a big circus." (17/05/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Historia, » Justicia, » , » Alemania
Todos los textos disponible de » Karin Rogalska

The Latvian parliament is currently giving a second reading to a draft law that would ban the public use of symbols from both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. These continue to show up in independent Latvia, above all in demonstrations. The Russian-language daily Vesti is unhappy with the initiative: "Clearly the Latvian members of parliament have nothing better to do. They waste their precious time and taxpayers' money on this question. ... The national-conservative party Nacionālā apvienība, which is part of the governing coalition, even wants to ban the use of Soviet symbols in public. Well, what about public toilets? Or will the Latvian nationalists go even further and ban Soviet symbols in private homes? Who knows, perhaps some people in this country take disloyalty to the point of sleeping with a Soviet flag under their pillows and singing the Soviet anthem to rock themselves to sleep." (17/05/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Historia, » Cultura conmemorativa, » Letonia, » Europa del Este

EU Economics Commissioner Olli Rehn said last week that the reunification of Cyprus would give the Cypriot economy a major boost. The liberal English-language daily Hürriyet Daily News calls for reconciliation between the two sides: "There is more than one bitter irony here, the main one being that EU officials are now looking to Turkey as one of the ways out for a crisis-stricken member. This must be hard to swallow for Greek Cypriots who are said to be extremely wary of current calls for a settlement to the Cyprus problem, believing that the Turkish side will take advantage of their woes. ... [But] they will most likely find an interlocutor in Turkey that is not a 'blackmailer,' but rather is cooperative, since an equitable settlement on Cyprus also serves the interests of Ankara and the Turkish Cypriots. The hope is that once their trauma is over this will become more apparent to Greek Cypriots. ... Otherwise, it will be a case of, 'You go your way, and I'll go mine,' which would be of no benefit to anyone." (16/05/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política de la UE, » Economía, » Chipre, » Turquía
Todos los textos disponible de » Semih İdiz

The Arctic Council ended its Ministerial Meeting in the Northern Swedish city of Kiruna on Wednesday. The liberal daily Aamulehti expects the Council to gain in international stature with time: "The agreement [signed at this year's meeting] on combating oil pollution in the Arctic is the continuation of the Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement. These are important international accords on the future of the Arctic, and will hopefully promote economic relations between the Arctic countries. ... It is to be hoped that in addition to the environmental issues, the Council will also deal with economic and security issues. And that the EU will show an even greater interest in the North than before. The significance of the Arctic Council as the region's central decision making organ will grow, and hopefully solutions will be reached by peaceful means. Internationally the Arctic Council is becoming an increasingly important player, and that's a good thing for Finland." (16/05/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Medio ambiente, » Energía, » Finlandia, » Europa, » Global

The Copenhagen criteria, which define whether a country is eligible for EU membership, will turn 20 in June. But as soon as a country joins, its standards on democracy, the rule of law and human rights tend to falter very quickly, the left-liberal daily Politiken criticises: "The election on Sunday in Bulgaria has shown that in some states the Copenhagen criteria are taken far less seriously once the country has become an EU member. ... In Croatia too, which will join in July, the corruption is deep-rooted. ... Corruption is not only dangerous for the economy but perhaps even more dangerous for EU-wide democracy, because citizens of corrupt countries tend to expect a superman who will clean up the whole mess unconditionally. ... To mark the jubilee the EU should develop a new edition of the Copenhagen criteria. This could fortify the member states in the fight against corruption even once the countries are safely in the embrace of the EU." (16/05/2013)

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

US President Barack Obama announced on Wednesday the resignation of the director of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Steven Miller, after the tax agency came under fire for having subjected groups that are critical of the government to tougher scrutiny than others. After several scandals in the White House, Obama's reputation has nonetheless suffered considerably, the liberal-conservative Neue Zürcher Zeitung observes: "Weak leadership in the Syria crisis, outmanoeuvred in domestic policy and humiliated in the campaign for tougher gun laws, Obama is cutting a pretty poor figure right now. So the affairs mentioned above come at the worst possible time for him. They have the potential to cast him as a president at the head of an ungovernable administration. But they will also ensure that Congress pushes for all manner of inquiries - and takes even less notice of the president's initiatives than before." (16/05/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » EE.UU.
Todos los textos disponible de » Andreas Rüesch

The EU finance ministers on Tuesday gave the European Commission the mandate to initiate negotiations for new tax agreements with five non-member states. Austria was the last to give up its resistance to the idea. The left-liberal daily Der Standard says the results of the meeting don't go far enough: "We could observe what the more than lamentable practice looks like at the most recent meeting of the EU finance ministers: for the umpteenth time they postponed the proposals for curtailing VAT fraud, the machinations with pre-tax deductions all over the EU thanks to which criminals rake in billions. ... One suspects that the EU is not really serious about its fight against tax evasion. Beyond all their big talk the only thing the leaders have been able to agree on is a mandate for negotiations with (important) Switzerland and other small non-member countries [Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino] - without any credibility within the EU. Pathetic. ... And Austria? It doesn't count for anything. The government has demonstrated that at the national level the lack of consensus can be even more pronounced." (15/05/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Impuestos, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Thomas Mayer
Cobertura de debates » Europe fights tax evasion

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected for talks in Washington tomorrow. The most important issue during his visit will be the situation in Syria, columnist Joost Lagendijk notes in the conservative daily Zaman, commenting on Turkey's changeable expectations of the US: "For me it's less remarkable that US President Obama wants to stay out of the Syrian swamp than that Ankara is so insistent on the US intervening. This shows once again how quickly and surprisingly the expectations of US policy in the Middle East can change. Ten years ago an overwhelming majority of Turks were against a US invasion of Iraq. Two years ago the Turkish government first opposed foreign military intervention then quickly changed its mind. Washington comes under fire regardless of whether it intervenes in the region (Libya) or doesn't (Syria)." (15/05/2013)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Crisis / Guerras, » EE.UU., » Turquía, » Oriente Próximo y Medio
Todos los textos disponible de » Joost Lagendijk