Liana Subtirelu notes with concern that more and more doctors are emigrating to France and Great Britain, where they earn ten to twenty times as much as they would in Romania (around 130 euros per month). "The authorities are beginning to realise that in addition to the 'strawberry pickers' another professional class is being affected by the exodus: the medical profession. Many doctors left the country even before the EU accession, but the number of emigrants was never high enough to cause concern. Now companies that specialise in recruiting professionals have been set up here in Romania. The first of these companies came from Great Britain in search of dentists. Companies from France followed... The Ministry of Health seems helpless in the face of these developments. In addition to the poor state of the system, there's the problem of a general lack of respect for doctors in their own country. No sooner had he took office than the minister for health, Eugen Nicolaescu, started talking about how corrupt doctors were." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, rumuński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Zdrowie, » Migracja, » Europa, » Europa Południowo-Wschodnia

Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary are having increasing problems with manpower shortages. Poland and the Czech Republic have reacted by opening their labour markets to workers from the new EU member states, Romania and Bulgaria, and are focusing on attracting doctors, architects and engineers. Hungary, on the other hand, has been against opening its market up to now. János Kokes and Szabolcs Szilágyi report from Prague and Warsaw: "The Czech Republic lacks 3,000 doctors, particularly in hospitals. Since the country joined the EU, between 500 and 600 doctors have left the country each year... Their motives are the same as those of their Romanian and Bulgarian colleagues who are now coming to the Czech Republic: higher salaries and improved working conditions. The same trend can be observed in other branches. Around 190,000 Slovaks, Ukrainians and Poles work legally in the Czech Republic, as do thousands of illegal workers. The unemployment rate is 7.1 percent, but there are still 100,000 unfilled positions." Warsaw wants to persuade those who have left to come back, but up to now has failed to come up with a sound concept for doing so." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, węgierski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Zdrowie, » Migracja, » Europa Środkowa, » Europa Wschodnia, » Europa Południowo-Wschodnia

Tens of thousands have left the country in search of work in Western Europe because salaries are so low in Estonia despite the country's booming economy. The Estonian newspaper criticises the country's politicians for failing to come up with a clear solution to the critical lack of manpower. It argues that attempts to attract guest workers from Ukraine, Russia and Southeast Asia are not a good strategy. "During election campaigns Estonia's political parties promise unrealistic wages, saying that the country will catch up with Western Europe. But that won't solve the problem of our low-pay jobs. The real question is: who will do them for us? We need to focus on increasing productivity and accelerating the country's technical development. Finnish workers get twice as much done as Estonian workers in the same time. Political parties should make it clear what kind of labourers they want to bring to Estonia instead of trying to fool voters with cheap solutions." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, estoński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Migracja, » Estonia

Many Bulgarians have left Bulgaria in search of work over the past few years. However, Maria Koltschagova and Silvia Georgieva point out that Bulgaria also attracts a modest number of foreign workers: "The lack of qualified labour is an acute problem. Companies are looking as far as Vietnam for employees. Are the Vietnamese really returning in droves or are employers just making it up when they claim cheap Bulgarian workers don't perform the way they should?" Up to now, however, the authors have been unable to discern a major influx of workers from abroad. They note that when foreigners come to work in Bulgaria, they mainly work for foreign firms in "shiny new offices", yet Bulgarian employers also urgently need workers. "The demand is greatest for construction workers, workers in the tourist branch, qualified engineers and IT specialists." (31/01/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, bułgarski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Migracja, » Azja, » Bułgaria

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), currently united in Paris, will present its report on Friday, February 2nd. The American economist Jeremy Rifkin, founder of the NGO 'Foundation on Economic Trends', is familiar with the contents of the report and calls for the end of "the carbon energy era" in order to move towards a green economy based on hydrogen". "The creation of a system based on renewable energy, the technology of hydrogen batteries, and intelligent electricity networks will open up the way to a third industrial revolution and should have a multiplying effect on the economy 21st century economy, comparable to the introduction of carbon and steam in the 19th century and the 20th century internal-combustion motor." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Energia, » Cały świat
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jeremy Rifkin

Mark Mazower, history professor at Columbia University, reflects on Turkey's attitude to its past and notably the mass murders of Armenians between 1915 and 1916. "Most Turkish nationalists do not so much deny the killings themselves as claim they need to be seen in the context of an all-out assault on what was left of the ottoman empire itself. It is certainly true - though Europe still ignores the unpalatable fact - that the expansion of national states, mostly Christian, was accompanied by the killing and expulsion of Muslims from the Balkans and Russia. To explain is not to justify. Yet the escalation of violence in Anatolia after 1914 was certainly linked to the upheavals that had preceded it. Franker discusssion of the Armenian genocide thus has the potential to open up an entirely different perspective on Europe's modern history as a whole. There are many ways the Turkish government can help this along." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Historia, » Turcja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Mark Mazower

The civil rights movement Charter 77 was mainly a Czech initiative, according to Slovak political scientist and former member of the movement Miroslav Kusy. He points to the content of the charter to support his statement. "In a way, the charter followed on from the position adopted by Czechs during the Prague Spring of 1968: 'First comes democratisation,' then the rest. Neither in the founding document nor in any of the following declarations is there a word about Slovak-Czech relations or the problems that resulted from the creation of a Soviet-style federation (1968). For the Slovaks, on the other hand, finding a solution to the Slovak-Czech problem had top priority. Another sensitive issue was the representation of the Slovaks in the management of the charter. In all the years of its existence, care was taken to ensure proportional representation of ex-communists, church representatives and civil dissidents within the movement, but not the proportional representation of Slovaks." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, słowacki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Historia, » Czechy, » Słowacja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Miroslav Kusy

On January 30th, the government-appointed Casino Advisory Panel recommended which UK city should have the right to build the country's only super-casino as a way of regenerating a poor area. Political commentator Steve Richards responds. "So Manchester gets the super casino. Blackpool licks its wounds. Greenwich despairs. The Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, is ubiquitous ... Yet she did not have anything to say. ... It was an independent body known as the Casino Advisory Panel that gave the go-ahead for Manchester. Ms Jowell had only received its report on the morning that the announcement was made. She was a messenger rather than a mighty elected minister. ... My concern is with the way decisions are made and who is held to account. Here was a classic example of an increasingly common phenomenon in which politicians are accountable despite having given their powers away to an anonymous panel." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Wielka Brytania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Steve Richards

On February 7the and 8th, the French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo, will be judged for republishing the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. Caroline Fourest, essayist and Professor at Sciences-Po in Paris, calls for the issues at stake in this trial to also be treated in the French presidential campaign. "[Different] questions - of secularism as well as freedom of expression; the action of the French Council of Muslim Worship; or the question of whether or not to finance places of worship - should of course be treated without saintliness or taboos, with a view to the presidential elections. Let us not avoid these subjects under the pretext that they offend. Let us rather debate them seriously. Let us stop systematically confusing criticism of the religion with racism, or the debate on secularism and good citizenship with a debate on immigration and security. At the risk of fuelling a clash of prejudices, security versus victimised, to the soul advantage of extremists." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Media drukowane, » Religia, » Mniejszości, » Światopogląd, » Francja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Caroline Fourest

As Silvio Berlusoni has had to publicly apologise to his wife for having assiduously serenaded a young woman, the chronicler Sergio Romano ponders the political strategy of the former Prime Minister. "The protests of the offended wife are in fact the same as those that many other Italians could address to the leader of Forza Italia. We know that spicy stories, flirting and gaffes are part of his repertoire. But they have entirely taken over his personality these past few months. What does Berlusconi want ? What are the main guidelines of his political strategy ? ... I can understand his rage at having lost out on a victory, but I get the impression that Italians have lost track of his discourse and are no longer able to decipher the intentions of the leader of the country's biggest party." (01/02/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Corriere della Sera)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Włochy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Sergio Romano

Piotr Stasiak sees Slovenia as the EU's "model pupil", among other things owing to an "unusually high degree of consensus among its political parties regarding the introduction of the euro". This is one of the main differences between Poland and Slovenia, Stasiak reports from Ljubljana. "Polish politicians not only lack determination, but also the conviction that introducing the euro quickly is worthwhile (we officially agreed to do so when the country joined the EU). Although the number of those who oppose the introduction of the euro in Poland is similar to that in Slovenia (around 20 percent of the population), the opponents have a much higher media profile. Up to now, the social debate on this subject has centred on fears about price increases. However, it has to be said that unlike Polish politicians, Slovenian politicians were not forced to make certain unpopular decisions... They don't have any steelworks, mines, shipyards or farms that need subsidising." (31/01/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rozszerzenie UE, » Handel, » Polska, » Słowenia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Piotr Stasiak

"Launched five years ago, the euro, having been an object of pride, is now being accused of all evils", notes the chronicler Jacques Pilet for whom the euro is not responsible for inflation, despite claims otherwise. "Those discontented vilify the euro while it is obvious that problems of inflation could have arisen just as easily with a national currency. We can see this in Great Britain: London has become one of the most expensive cities in the world. Imagine what the sterling boom would have been without the euro! Without the discipline required by the common currency, the Italian economy would no doubt be even worse off than it is today. So why does this precious instrument have such a bad image for so many people? Because this image has been fabricated by national leaders who are all too happy to discard their own responsibilities in 'Brussels', or 'Frankfurt'." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka finansowa, » Handel, » Rynek konsumencki, » Podatki, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jacques Pilet

The Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature 2006, has cancelled a trip to Germany "for security reasons". He was to receive an honorary doctorate on Friday in Berlin. Dilek Zaptcioglu comments: "The murder of his friend, Hrant Dink, served to demonstrate how close and real the danger is. As the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet reported yesterday, new threatening videos can be seen on the video portal YouTube which claim to expose the 'true character of the Armenian' Dink and show pictures of his corpse on the street together with portraits of Pamuk. Many unemployed, uneducated young Turks from Istanbul's suburbs despise Pamuk as 'someone who has become a millionaire by betraying his country'. Pamuk was accompanied by bodyguards from the airport to his home when he returned from Cairo last Friday. This seems to indicate that the Turkish security services are taking the threats on Pamuk's life seriously." (01/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Literatura, » Religia, » Światopogląd, » Turcja

The Catalan daily regrets the "political upheaval" that has been created in Catalonia by the Spanish Ministry of Education's decree imposing three hours of Castilian language lessons a week, as opposed to the current two hours. "Catalan and Spanish political life is used to useless polemics .... The irresponsibility of politicians who want to oppose perfectly compatible languages should be unequivocally denounced. The minister Mercedes Cabera has said that the decree will guarantee bilingualism. All it is doing is throwing unfounded doubt over the current Catalan education system, despite a report from the Ministry of Education itself that has shown the level of Castilian among Catalan students to be the same as among the other students of the country. This serious lack of responsibility on the part of the government, resulting from prejudice, has been echoed by Hispanophobic reactions in certain Catalan nationalist circles." (01/02/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, La Vanguardia)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Mniejszości, » Hiszpania

Romania has joined the EU, but Hungarian border controllers are not making things easier for Romanian travellers wanting to enter the country. Reporters Adrian Robert Balan and Cornel Vilau secretly filmed their harassment by border controllers at several border crossing points. "Border crossing point Turnu: in the boot of the car we have bacon and sausages. At the border crossing point, the Hungarian officers check our documents and begin a meticulous inspection of the car. 'Tires and lights are okay but not the windscreen!' They point to a five centimetre-long scratch on the left-hand corner of the windscreen. We explain that the scratch isn't a problem and doesn't obstruct our view... On Thursday morning we return with a new car without any technical problems. A different set of officers is on duty. We go through the same scene as before... This time the policeman gets nervous when he sees the bacon and sausages: 'Turn back! You can't enter the country with food.'" Adrian Robert Balan and Cornel Vilau draw the following conclusion: "All our video footage clearly proves that Hungarian customs officers are abusing their rights." (31/01/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, România Liberă)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rozszerzenie UE, » Węgry, » Rumunia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Adrian Robert Balan