The counting of the votes has started in Egypt after the presidential elections. The country has taken a big step in the direction of democracy, praises the left-liberal daily Frankfurter Rundschau: "For the first time in the history Egyptians had the choice between several candidates, and at least it seems as if the election was relatively fair and free of fraud. Also new was the good organisation. ... The same holds for the electorate. Wherever you look these days people are talking about politics. ... And the next lesson? It will come when the new president takes office. Many Egyptians dearly hope that a strong man will take the reins of power once more and bring calm to the country. But how is that supposed to happen? ... The government will never be able to satisfy everyone, and there will be further protests. The next lesson is therefore: 'Forget the big leaders!' ... Egypt is still a long way from becoming a functioning democracy. But the presidential elections - regardless of how they transpire - have brought it one big step forward." (25/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Elecciones, » Egipto
Todos los textos disponible de » Julia Gerlach
Cobertura de debates » El mundo árabe lucha por la libertad

The Russian President Vladimir Putin named the cabinet of his political protégé Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, reserving many key posts for his own trusted followers. Putin has once more shown who's wearing the trousers, writes the news portal Alfa: "The fact that the Russian president of all people has the last word in forming the government illustrates the true balance of power in Moscow very clearly. And Medvedev found himself once again on the fringe of important processes - as so often during his four-year presidency which has just come to an end. ... Putin profited much from Medvedev's liberal image during the transitional period, protecting the Russian 'hero' who has retreated to the post of prime minister from Western criticism. Illusions that Medvedev can stimulate economic reforms and improve the human rights situation had spun the heads of numerous analysts and political commentators. ... Now however it should be clear to everyone that the 'little bear' is no danger to anyone, least of all the true ruler of the Kremlin." (24/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Derechos humanos, » Rusia
Todos los textos disponible de » Antanas Manstavicius

The talks in Baghdad over Iran's nuclear programme ended without results on Thursday after only two days. The next meeting is set to take place in Moscow in June. But just talking won't be of much help, writes the left-liberal daily Der Standard: "No one expected a breakthrough in Baghdad. Nevertheless both sides also know that there will be no more talks just for the sake of talking. Perhaps this is really the last chance for the time being. Iran sees that there's nothing more to be gained simply from being willing to sit down at the table. But its negotiating partners are also working on borrowed time and have to reach an agreement among themselves on what a deal is worth to them." (25/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política de seguridad / Crisis / Guerras, » Ciencia / Investigación, » EE.UU., » Oriente Próximo y Medio, » Irán
Todos los textos disponible de » Gudrun Harrer

Portugal's economics minister last week referred to the country's record unemployment figures as "that thing" in parliament. With such an attitude the liberal-conservative government is trivialising one of society's worst evils, the business daily Jornal de Negócios criticises: "Europe increasingly resembles the Eurovision Song Contest: a genuine freak show. Our economics minister could perform there, too. Unemployment has long since ceased to be a collateral 'thing' and become an evil that is destroying our society. It's surprising how perplexed our government appears to be by this phenomenon. It's about time someone explained to it that without work, nothing works. Balancing the budget is crucial. But this goal can't be attained by turning Portugal into a tax-collecting nation where people earn even less than the Greeks. This obsession is beginning to turn into militant abuse." (24/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Economía política, » Asuntos de trabajo, » Sociedad, » Portugal
Todos los textos disponible de » Fernando Sobral

The Slovenian Health Minister Tomaž Gantar put the country's largest drugstore chain Lekarna Ljubljana under administrative supervision in mid May owing to bookkeeping irregularities and ethically questionable sales strategies. On Wednesday it became known that the mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, tried to put in a good word for his friend, the boss of the drugstore chain Marko Jaklič, with the health minister. Deplorable behaviour, the conservative daily Delo writes: "The voters should have asked the mayor what he's more worried about: Jaklič's profits or the health of his citizens? Common sense tells us you can't have it both ways. Or is this sort of behaviour usual among the 'boys'? … Given the most recent revelations about his affairs the mayor's anxiety is understandable. More than any kind of political payback everything points to the simple fact that every seed eventually bears fruit. In this case one of them happened to be Jaklič." (24/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Economía, » Eslovenia
Todos los textos disponible de » Milena Zupancic

Oskar Lafontaine, the leader of the Left Party's parliamentary group in the German state of Saarland, has pulled out of the race for the party leadership and is encouraging younger members to take the helm. The battle within the party could be its end, writes the liberal-conservative daily Die Presse: "Lafontaine's stepping down is the culmination of a self-destructive process that couldn't have been more complete if it had been planned. The euro is hanging in the balance, the battle over ways to end the crisis rages everywhere you look, meanwhile the Left Party is gleefully eating itself away from the inside. Oh, yes, from time to time [Sarah] Wagenknecht, the Madonna of the far-left sectarians, drops a programmatic word on the state of things, talking of a 'neoliberal agenda that has landed the states deep in debt'. Aha: so if Greece is so deep in debt it's not because it has been living above its means? The Greek Alexis Tsipras has shown that such theses do not fall on deaf ears. But if the only way a party can make headlines is with clownish changes of the guard, even voters on the left will turn away in horror." (24/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Elecciones, » Política, » Alemania
Todos los textos disponible de » Helmar Dumbs

A huge media circus accompanied the presentation of Thilo Sarrazin's new book on Tuesday. The former board member of the German Bundesbank has managed to launch an interesting debate on the euro, the conservative daily Kathimerini notes: "Many analysts write that he is an intellectual fire-raiser and accuse him of simply aiming to provoke. But with his views he manages to shape the agenda in his country and trigger many interesting debates. Until recently TV presenters avoided the subject of the euro because it was regarded as too dated and boring for the average viewer. But since the publishing of the book the subject has gained a new dynamic and the discussion has been revived." (22/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Alemania, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Xenia Kounalaki
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

Egypt holds its first free presidential election this Wednesday. Despite the chaos in the country this is a hugely significant event, writes the left-liberal daily Le Temps: "It takes a lot of imagination to think up a more chaotic transition phase than that in Egypt. Certain presidential candidates were excluded from the vote for more or less obscure reasons, the brand new parliament is already constantly blocked and the army is playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the Islamists where even the most patient observers have lost track. To top it all, the election begins today even though it's not yet clear what powers the next head of state will have. … And still: the passion that the Egyptians are putting into their first encounter with democracy shows that behind the scenes something very important is happening. … The Egyptians still have a long way to go, because the future of their country is at stake. But they are making the task of shaping that future all their own." (23/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Elecciones, » Egipto
Todos los textos disponible de » Luis Lema
Cobertura de debates » El mundo árabe lucha por la libertad

In the local run-off elections that took place on Sunday and Monday in Italy, the Berlusconi party PdL lost two-thirds of its municipalities while the Lega Nord lost every single one of its own. But it wasn't the Left that won the votes. Instead voters either abstained or voted for the candidates of protest groups, above all the Five-Star Movement led by political comedian and blogger Beppe Grillo. However the problem is not Grillo but the political void, the left-liberal daily La Repubblica writes: "Citizens' trust in the parties is worn out after years of missed opportunities. The citizens desperately want change, but there are no political or cultural structures to satisfy this need. … Grillo is just a symptom and at the same time a vent. The progressive draining of politics has robbed citizens of their sense of community and turned them into confused individuals: an ideal audience for a brand of politics that is all show and in which citizens are simply spectators, their participation limited to simply listening, their approval expressed merely through applause. … It this really the new politics or is it merely an extreme and paradoxical caricature of politics?" (23/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Elecciones, » Italia
Todos los textos disponible de » Ezio Mauro

The right-wing conservative government under Viktor Orbán plans to stop state funding for parties for the remaining two years of the current legislative period. The political scientist Gábor Török finds the plan anti-democratic and writes in his blog Torokgaborelemez: "The plan to stop funding for parties in the coming two years is one of the most brutal ideas the governing camp has yet come up with, because it constitutes a major blow to democratic competition. ... This bleeding the parties dry inflicts immense damage on democracy. ... If the parties receive no state funding they will have three options: 1. They pare down their activities, that is they cease to work out programmes, organise events and run election campaigns. In other words they stop behaving like political groups. 2. They continue all of the above activities but finance them through various loans and get themselves hopelessly in debt. 3. They are 'bought' by one interest group or another." (17/05/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Hungría
Todos los textos disponible de » Gábor Török
Cobertura de debates » Resistance to Hungarian government