"The resignations of two well-known Polish ministers within a week raise the question of how stable Jaroslaw Kaczynski's government really is. Perhaps more stable than its opponents suspect. The Prime Minister is bringing his cabinet into line - and sacrificing quality in doing so," writes Ulrich Schmid. "The nation honours the fact that since the Kaczynskis took over office there have been no financial scandals and much fewer affairs than during the times of the leftist government. In this respect, the twin brothers - Lech is head of state - have been able to preserve their frequently disputed credibility. But the departure of politicians who had proved their worth remains a problem." (09/02/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Neue Zürcher Zeitung)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polska
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Ulrich Schmid

A nation of 38 million citizens in the heart of Europe has the right to know what the government's plans are and why two ministers have resigned, writes Tomas Lis, director of programmes at private TV broadcaster Polsat. "This is chaos, grotesque - a theatre of the absurd. … Those who govern Poland are behaving as if they were trapped in a castle under siege. They can't see that they are not under siege. They can't see that the moat consists of their own complexes, traumas and obsessions. ... The Kaczynski brothers must return to the nation to which they owe everything they have; to their nation, which consists not of their subjects, but of their superiors." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polska
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Tomasz Lis

Following the resignation of two ministers within days of each other, Jacques Schuster is alarmed by the situation in Poland. "The twin brothers Lech und Jaroslaw Kaczynski are getting ready to liberate their country from the network of communism. Their goal is a IV Republic in which there are no more 'rag liberals' (to use the phrase of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski), in which the 'great pests' of the people have been eliminated and the 'quadrangle of secret service, politics, lobbies and the economy' has been pulverised. The choice of words of the Prime Minister and his followers derives from the years they claim to have left behind. And worse still, like communism, their leadership is characterised by an appalling lack of tolerance, humour and composure. Mercy is regarded as a weakness; leniency as giving up territory to the dark powers. … The Kaczynskis won't rest until they have built up their new state. What this state will be like no one knows, because unlike their models of the pre- and inter-war period of the last century, they lack ideas, concepts and answers to the challenges of the present." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polska
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jacques Schuster

The weekly ponders the context of the resignation on Monday February 5th of Radek Sikorski, the country's defence minister. "The main battle is about who controls military intelligence. Mr Sikorski has been wrestling for months with Antoni Macierewicz, a close ally of the Kaczynskis who was installed as deputy defence minister to oversee the liquidation of Poland's WSI military-intelligence service. Depending on whom you believe, this was a nest of traitors and gangsters, a decent outfit full of professionals, or a mixture of the two. Mr Macierewicz certainly takes the first view. He has replaced the WSI with two new services, one for spying, one for spy-catching. He claims to have rooted out scores of secret WSI collaborators in the media, business and officialdom, and is about to publish a list - maybe as soon as next week - which will expose their malign influence over the past 18 years of post-communist Poland." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polska

As the EU prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the Spanish political scientist José Ignacio Torreblanca wonders if the European edifice would have been built the same way today. "If we could start afresh, we would start Europe by defining our objectives, not our means. Otherwise said, we would first of all ask ourselves what we want to do (political decisions), then how we want these decisions to be taken (the institutions)and finally how to finance them (taxes). This way we would first and foremost identify the priorities and aims. These would then be submitted to public discussions and national Parliaments who would subsequently be asked to write a short text, clear and comprehensible, listing the Union's capacities, the rules of the institutional game and its budgetary resources. This would avoid the trap into which we have fallen: we know what we want, but cannot achieve it for the lack adequate institutions and sufficient budgetary resources. Would we create Europe again ? Yes, but the other way round." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » José Ignacio Torreblanca

"Every week, a bland announcement confirms the sale of another major British institution to a foreign predator and, bizarrely, no one is complaining", considers the British author Tom Bower after an American company bought the Liverpool Football Club. "The compounded effect of all these foreign takeovers cannot improve British society. Corporate chiefs in Tokyo, Paris and Madrid care little for the fate of British schools, civic institutions and probity in public life. ... Britain's economic fate is best reflected by developments in English football. Indisputably, the Premiership is the world's best club competition, but the sale of Liverpool and six other clubs portends disaster for the national game. Premiership clubs are already dominated by foreign players and the new owners have shown no interest in nurturing English talent. ... Hungry for big bucks to repay their investment, foreign owners will continue to buy players from across the world. Why should they care about England's fate?" (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Przedsiębiorczość, » Sport, » Wielka Brytania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Tom Bower

On Sunday, February 11th, Portugal will hold a referendum on the legalising of abortion. José Antonio Teixeira, the daily's Editor-in-Chief, looks back on the campaign that has unfolded over the past few weeks. "Public debate, which mobilised numerous political and social forces, has had the advantage of questioning the principles of civilisation that belong to us. ... In the political battle and in the arguments advanced, a fundamental cleavage has become clearer: religion. The campaign was essentially divided between those who consider themselves rooted in the country's Catholicism and those who proclaim secularism. This is not an ultimate fracture, because there are Catholics who will vote 'yes' and defenders of secularism who will vote 'no', but the dominant tendencies stem from this cultural positioning. ... What happens after the referendum will depend on the meaning we attach to our response. But for the time being, what counts is to vote, whether 'yes' or 'no', with our hearts, souls and consciences." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, portugalski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Ruchy społeczne, » Portugalia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Antonio José Teixeira

With a two-thirds majority, the Latvian parliament has authorised the government to sign a border treaty with Russia. The border defined in the treaty is identical to the borderline which once ran between the former Soviet Republics of Russia and Latvia. This means that despite all the protests of the nationalist conservative parties, the former Latvian town of Pytalovo will pass into the hands of Russia. "One reason why Latvia gave in on this point is the possibility of improving economic relations with its neighbour. This will strengthen Latvia's geopolitical position between Europe and Russia. In this way, Latvia is opening up the option of being allowed to participate in the gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany, with the construction of a gas storage facility in the Dobele district in central Latvia." (08/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, estoński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Energia, » Handel, » Łotwa, » Rosja

"Russia and the US are quarrelling about the construction of a missile defence system and stirring up suspicion in doing so," Frank Nienhuysen writes. "According to Washington, the Americans' plans to station part of their missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic are chiefly aimed at protecting Europe against attacks from Iran. But now Russia feels offended, and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov is retaliating. First he talked of an 'unfriendly gesture' and now he has pointedly announced the modernisation of Russia's missile arsenal and is even threatening to reconsider the country's relationship with NATO. … The missiles should not be allowed to trigger a new arms race or a break in the relations between NATO and Russia. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, it has taken many years of effort to build a still fragile foundation of trust. The tone adopted in the dispute between Moscow and Washington must be moderated, and Europeans can play a key role in achieving this." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Rosja, » USA, » Cały świat
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Frank Nienhuysen

Syp Wynia, editorialist of the conservative weekly, is harshly critical of the (centre-right) future government's idea of regularising the status of those without residency and work permits, who have been dismissed after having requested asylum before April 2001. He considers that this measure, which would concern 30,000 people, "is suddenly giving hope to new applicants who are currently desperate. This no doubt involves serious issues, but the fact is that, at the end of the day, the Netherlands shines out on the globe as one of the most attractive countries for obtaining residency papers under the pretext of asylum seeking. ... All these measures and intentions together form a lethal cocktail. More than ever, we will see the undereducated from around the world pour in to take work away from the Dutch undereducated." (08/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niderlandzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Migracja, » Holandia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Syp Wynia

To conform with European standards on its accession to the EU, Bulgaria had to close down two blocks at its Kosloduj nuclear power station. Bulgaria fears this could lead to an energy crisis and now wants to continue with the construction of the Belene nuclear power station, which began in 1987 with Russian aid - regardless of the consequences, according to Ljuboslava Ruseva: "The most disgusting thing is how the Bulgarian state is putting the pressure on Europeans. On February 1, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov warned the European parliament in Strasbourg that the region was facing a 'serious energy crisis' which could lead to 'economic and political instability in the region'. In other words, the Bulgarian head of state threatened Europe with a new war in the Balkans if it failed to go along with Russia's game of patience in the region." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, bułgarski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Energia, » Bułgaria

"If political journalists were to behave like some sports journalists, we might well wonder whether we are not after all living in a dictatorship", writes the sports historian Pierre Morath, who regrets excessive complicity between journalists and actors in the sports world. "Of course, in a country like France, the fact that society's major problems (violence, racism and all kinds of cheating...) are increasingly gate-crashing sports-grounds has recently generated a real awareness in sports reporting. Principally in the written press, numerous in-depth inquiries are appearing. These are rigorous, objective, sometimes even politically engaged. In our country [Switzerland], however, real investigative journalism is struggling to exist in the sports world, where people are too often contented with more or less biased commentaries and purely factual information ... . Sports journalism still seems a long way away from securing the profession's top accolades." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Media audiowizualne, » Media drukowane, » Sport, » Szwajcaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Pierre Morath

"There is no need to draw a picture: it is highly probable that the satirical weekly 'Charlie Hebdo' is going to escape any thunderbolt from Paris's criminal court", comments the editorialist Jacques Camus after the closure on Thursday, February 8th, of the trial hearing of 'Charlie Hebdo, accused of public defamation' by several Muslim organisations for having printed the caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. The prosecutor called for acquittal, with adjudication due to be announced on March 15th. "The Grande Mosquée de Paris and the Union des Organisations Islamiques de France (UOIF), made a mistake. By placing the debate in a legal arena, these organisations contributed to a confrontation of major principles that could not have been turned to their advantage. Freedom of expression was being attacked. In a secular republic it would be impossible to accept infringement of democratic values." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Media drukowane, » Mniejszości, » Francja

Following the murder of journalist Hrant Dink and the death threats he has himself received, the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk has fled to the US. This should be a source of great concern, the newspaper writes: "When someone who has killed a journalist is regarded as a hero in Turkish security circles; when a man like Pamuk - who is as closely associated with Istanbul as Alfred Döblin with Berlin, James Joyce with Dublin or Woody Allen with New York - no longer dares to remain in his city of birth, this should be a cause of concern for more people than just his compatriots. Can a country in which 'dark powers' openly defy the government really be considered for EU membership? An unsympathetic tone has crept into the discussion in many countries. They say that a country with a predominantly Muslim population can't be European. Such prejudices must be put to one side. However, gaps in the democratic and judicial system cannot be ignored. The EU is not a Christian association, but it is very much a democratic one. For this reason Turkey should not become an EU member for now." (09/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, szwedzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Literatura, » Turcja

The film 'La Vie en Rose', that retraces the life of the French singer Edith Piaf [1915-1963], was screened on Thursday, February 8th, opening the 57th Berlin film festival, the Berlinale. Carlos Boyero, the daily's correspondent, did not appreciate the treatment rendered by the French film-maker Olivier Dahan's. "This biography is not only predictable, but quite boring too. This is what happens with nearly all film biographies of musicians and singers. The latter have inevitably suffered trauma in childhood and adolescence, they feel lonely, vulnerable and unloved, they try to send their demons to sleep and improve their art with barrels of alcohol and hard drugs, they have been worn out by falling in and out of love, they give their very best performance just when everybody thought they were finished, they repent or leave the world behind them in the most tragic conditions. The pattern is invariable, apart from a few miraculous cases." (09/02/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, El Mundo)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Film, » Muzyka, » Niemcy, » Francja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Carlos Boyero

Jan Sulc bemoans the lack of support given to Czech literature by the country's publishing houses. Talking to Daniela Ivashita, the publisher and literary critic asserts that many publishing houses avoid publishing prose. This, he says, is a great shame, because it has been a long-standing tradition for Czechoslovakian publishers to take authors under their wing so that they could develop their talent. "I know several publishing houses in which authors don't even receive royalties and have to cover the costs of publishing their books themselves. For many, this is the only way to get their books published." Sulc describes the atmosphere in the literature branch as "poisoned". "Nowhere in the Czech Republic is there more envy than between two young Czech poets, prose writers, critics or journalists. It's enough to drive you to despair." (08/02/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, czeski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Literatura, » Wydawnictwa, » Czechy