The hard-fought approval for the austerity package in the Greek parliament saw the markets rally on Monday morning. But unlike German Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler (Free Democratic Party) and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (Christian Democratic Party) are still discussing the possibility of Greece going bankrupt or exiting the Eurozone. For this reason the adopted reforms must be quickly implemented to avoid bankruptcy, the left-liberal daily Ta Nea demands: "Nothing has been conclusively settled yet. We still have a long way to go, with new and even more painful sacrifices than those already made. But we still have hope of success. We must look forward. But we must also learn from the mistakes of the past two years: there must be an end to the relapses we saw with the first austerity package. The major reforms must be implemented so that the international community receives the message it needs. And most importantly, drastic measures must finally be taken against tax evasion. … The people don't object to making sacrifices, but they want justice." (13/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, grecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka finansowa, » Niemcy, » Grecja, » Europa
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

The Greek MP's vote in favour of the austerity package was forced and in most cases goes against their convictions, the liberal-conservative Neue Zürcher Zeitung comments, doubting that the reforms can be enacted in their current form: "Notwithstanding the approval of the package, in the two main parties, Pasok and Nea Dimokratia, there wasn't even a consensus on what should be done to save the country. For this reason alone, the measures stipulated by the creditors can't really make an impact. And neither deploying an EU budget commissioner nor setting up a blocked account will help when it comes to servicing the debts. Then there's the fact that the package is widely regarded as a dictate from abroad, and this will allow the politicians to place the blame for mistakes and omissions elsewhere. The initiative for fundamental change must come from within and be backed by the Greek people. Greece, however, is a long way from such a national act of unity." (14/02/2012)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka finansowa, » Grecja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Cyrill Stieger
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

The main threat to democracy in Greece isn't the violent protests against Athens' austerity policies but the people's unwillingness to accept lower incomes, writes the liberal daily Sme: "Traditionally Greek politics has always had strong extreme-right and extreme-left currents that make no bones about resorting to violence to further their goals. But even more worrying is that the interests of today's extremists overlap with those of the strong public-sector unions. The protesters are the very people who have profited most from the abuse of European subsidies, a distorted market and an ineffectual economy. One can understand these people's disgruntlement at the idea that their incomes could by cut by half, or even more if they're forced to pay taxes. But it's only then that their incomes will correspond to the country's actual economic performance. The real danger comes from the people's unreadiness to make do with less money." (14/02/2012)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polityka finansowa, » Sprawy socjalne, » Zamieszki / rozruchy, » Grecja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Peter Morvay
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

Europe clearly bears partial responsibility for Greece's plight, writes political scientist Giorgos Prevelakis in the conservative daily Le Figaro: "Is it not unwise to pit Europe and Greece against each other as if they were two clearly separate entities? That would be to forget that thirty years of mutual cooperation in the European Union and sixty in Nato have weaved close bonds between the Greeks and the entire European-Atlantic region. Greece's shortcomings are only too aparant today, ranging from an oversized state to clientelism, corruption, administrative incompetence and lacking competitiveness. But are the Greeks the only ones to blame? Have we not tolerated, not to say encouraged, the cronyism and the distribution of European subsidies to avoid political excesses that would have jeopardised Greece's role in the Western military structure?" (14/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Sąsiedztwo UE, » Polityka, » Grecja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Giorgos Prevelakis
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

Even if the scenes of burning streets are enough to make you shake your head in wonder, to adopt a superior attitude towards Greece is inappropriate, the conservative daily Svenska Dagbladet writes: "Can't they understand anything? The money is gone. The state revenues are too low, the spending too high. Without emergency loans they face a chaotic national bankruptcy. … At the same time we shouldn't get on our moral high horses. Sweden is different, but that doesn't rule out mismanagement or protests against austerity measures. Nevertheless the sacrifices made during the Swedish crisis of the 1990s were a mild breeze in comparison to the storm facing the Greeks for many years to come. Salaries, pensions, taxes: nothing is being left untouched. No wonder people are looking to the future in despair (however it's unfortunately typical that the incendiary Left is exploiting the situation). But the Greeks also deserve our sympathy." (14/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, szwedzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka finansowa, » Zamieszki / rozruchy, » Grecja
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

Former Greek prime minister Giorgos Papandreou apologised for the rampant corruption in his country in an address to parliament on Sunday night. Jean Quatremer finds such self-criticism commendable in his blog Coulisses de Bruxelles: "'Our political system is collectively responsible for all the bureaucrats we hired through favouritism, for the privileges we accorded by law, the scandalous requests we granted, the unionists and businessmen we favoured and the thieves we failed to put behind bars.' These excerpts from his address were brought to our attention by Greek Internet users. No doubt there are more, but curiously there is no trace of them in the dispatches of the news agencies, which is unfortunate. Because it's not every day that a former head of government solemnly recognises the collective responsibility of the political elite for the turmoil in his country and the widespread corruption of public morals. ... Poor Greece!" (14/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polityka, » Grecja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jean Quatremer
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

Around 500 Syrians have fled to Belgium to escape the bloody fighting in Syria so far. But their applications for asylum are not being processed owing to the unclear situation in the country, the liberal daily De Standaard reports, explaining the dilemma faced by the authorities: "Is the uncertainty a disgrace? Is it inhumane? At first glance, yes. But the matter is more complex. Countries who we trust more when it comes to immigration, like Norway and Sweden, are doing the same. Once the applications of the Syrians are processed officially this will mean that those who can furnish enough evidence will be allowed to stay, while the rest are sent back. Judging by the unclear situation in the country, the latter group will not be a small one. But to send people back would be completely inhumane. Until we can make clear decisions, processing the applications for asylum will have cruel repercussions. … Years ago the special status of limited residency was created when a similar situation arose with the former Yugoslavia. … It seems the time has come to do the same for the Syrians." (14/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niderlandzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Belgia, » Syria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Guy Tegenbos
Aktualne debaty » Świat arabski walczy o wolność

According to Finnish media reports, Russia wants to build its first final storage facility for low-level and medium-level radioactive waste, and also store small quantities of highly radioactive plutonium there. The facility is to be built 80 kilometres west of St. Petersburg at the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant in the town of Sosnovy Bor. The Finnish nuclear supervisory authority is relieved, but many questions remain unanswered, the liberal daily Turun Sanomat notes: "Both the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and the environmental organisation Green World, which participated in the environmental impact assessment, are far more sceptical. They would build the storage facility further from the Baltic coast and store all highly radioactive materials separately. The organisation's attitude testifies to distrust based on past experience. In the Soviet era the Russians authorities were negligent regarding nuclear controls, to say the least. This legacy is also seen in the fact that the question of the final storage of highly radioactive nuclear waste in Russia has still not been resolved, although the spent fuel pools at the nuclear power plant in Sosnovy Bor are almost full to overflowing." (14/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, fiński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Energia, » Polityka, » Finlandia, » Rosja
Aktualne debaty » Atom na cenzurowanym

After the weekend's anti-Acta protests, doubts are being voiced in Lithuania about the wisdom of the copyright agreement even though the government already signed it at the end of January. In Lithuania all too often people act first and think later, the business paper Verslo žinios laments: "Now even Justice Minister Remigijus Šimašius has expressed doubts about the Acta agreement. The measures for the surveillance of Internet users it foresees need to be analysed more carefully. … Lithuania's transport and communications minister, Eligijus Masiulis, has said that the states that signed Acta either didn't understand the text or failed to comprehend the repercussions of the agreement. … Laws have often been passed behind closed doors in Lithuania. … This time it's not too late to stop the train: prior to the ratification of the Acta agreement in the Seima the MPs should discuss it with representatives of society and only make their decision once they've heard all the arguments and considered all the consequences."   (14/02/2012)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka medialna, » Handel, » Ekonomia mediów, » Litwa

Critics of the direct presidential elections passed by parliament on February 8 fear that in future a "grey mouse" could occupy Prague Castle. After Václav Klaus' presidency that wouldn't be such a bad thing, writes the left-leaning daily Právo: "It would do our country's politics fundamental good if the Czech president looked more like our highest-ranking bureaucrat and less like a political superman who in addition poses as a messiah on the international scene. Do we really need a president who travels around the world spreading his words of wisdom on non-global-warming and throws a spanner in the works of European integration out of personal conviction? A 'grey mouse' resulting from a direct election would be far better than what we get from all the behind-the-scenes haggling when the president is elected by parliament." (14/02/2012)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Wybory, » Czechy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jiří Pehe

The rating agency Moody's lowered the credit status of six EU states on Monday night: Italy, Portugal, Spain, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia. For France, the UK and Austria, which still have the top AAA rating, the prognosis went down from "stable" to "negative". But the agency's marching orders can go straight into the bin, the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore concludes: "The downgrade is nothing but a tardy adjustment to the ratings of the other agencies. The reasons given are nothing new; they simply repeat old arguments, and what's more are outdated in view of the latest market trends. Because the contradiction between stringent austerity programmes and growth put forward by Moody's has already been resolved: monetary policy must now take the reins. The European Central Bank (ECB) is decisive in this phase. Perhaps it could do more - and above all say more - to assuage the doubts of the markets. But it's indisputable that its initiative [supplying the banks with money] has proven effective, and without causing worrying inflation. So it's all the more surprising that Moody's makes no mention whatsoever of the ECB." (14/02/2012)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, włoski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka finansowa, » Rynki finansowe, » Banki, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Mario Platero

Roughly 300,000 people demonstrated in Lisbon against the conservative Portuguese government's austerity drive on the weekend. Although the Portuguese are in a similar position to the Greeks they will overcome the crisis because they act and demonstrate in unison, writes the left-leaning daily taz: "How different things are in Greece. A real mass demonstration has never taken place there because the employees' camp is too divided. Private sector employees envy the public servants, who earn so much more. And each sector is mainly concerned with its own interests. The ferry workers went on strike - and paralysed the tourist branch - without consulting other trade unions. It's every man for himself in Greece. … The Portuguese, on the other hand, are not only demonstrating collectively, they are tackling the reforms collectively. Government and opposition are working together to get the country back on its feet. What would be unthinkable in Greece works without a glitch in Portugal: when taxes are raised, they're collected too, and that's that." (14/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Grecja, » Portugalia, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Ulrike Herrmann
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

According to recent data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS) Polish exports rose by 15 percent year on year, reaching a total of 130 billion euros. This shows how stable the Polish economy remains despite the euro crisis, write the conservative daily Rzeczpospolita: "Polish firms that export their products did well thanks to the weakness of the złoty. Furniture manufacturers even had the best year ever. And there's another factor that shows how strong the foundations of Poland's economy are: direct foreign investments have risen considerably, amounting to almost ten billion euros. That's almost 50 percent more than in 2010. And what will the coming year bring? There won't be any good news until the end of June, because the Eurozone is expected to enter a recession." (14/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Handel, » gospodarka, » Polska, » Cały świat
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jacek Kurasz

After several years of debate the Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora has declared itself the Centre of the Universe in a bid to attract tourists and investors. The daily Trud supports this unusual idea: "It may seem exaggerated and crazy, but before we dismiss it we should take a look at how the rest of the world deals with such ideas. Argentina calls itself 'The End of the World' and Portugal holds a patent on the 'End of Europe'. … So what's wrong with Stara Zagora declaring itself the Centre of the Universe? Nothing. At any rate not before the scientists officially prove the contrary. One thing is for sure: Stara Zagora can make money with the idea. As the Centre of the Universe the 8,000-year-old city could finally arouse tourists' interest. Even if they only come for lunch it would still boost the economy."  (12/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, bułgarski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Turystyka, » gospodarka, » Bułgaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Emilia Karaabova