For Ralf Sotscheck the expulsion of Russian diplomats is an example of British "shop-window diplomacy": "Brown and his Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, are obliged to put on a fireworks display of initiatives during the first hundred days of their term in office to announce the arrival of a new era following Tony Blair's resignation. But the expulsion of diplomats is a blunt weapon. The alternative, already hinted at by Russia, would be to trade Lugovoi for London-based Russian dissident Boris Berezovsky, who is accused of money laundering and wants to topple the Russian government. However, Great Britain rejects this solution, arguing that Berezovsky wouldn't be given a fair trial in Moscow. But would Lugovoi be given a fair trial in Great Britain? After all, recent British history is peppered with cases of miscarriage of justice." (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Wielka Brytania, » Rosja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Ralf Sotscheck

Pierre Rousselin considers that "the evolution is worrying. We must not exaggerate its thrust by referring constantly to the Cold War, a period very different to the one we live in today. Neither must we cover our eyes, as was the case during the last summit in Kennebunkport [on July 1st], in the United States, where, between fishing outings, George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin wanted to demonstrate that their relations were excellent. ... The truth is neither in this official pointless optimism nor in excessive alarmism. Russia is no longer the partner we dreamed of. Neither is it the enemy that it was during the Cold War. To avoid Russia regaining this role, we must bring our Russian discourse in line with reality, and, above all, stop any irreversible escalation." (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Rosja, » Cały świat
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Pierre Rousselin

Writer Alex Goldfarb, who knew Litvinenko, considers Russia's handling of the affair as madness. "Despite being caught practically red-handed performing an act of nuclear terrorism in their ally's capital, the Russians took the confrontational path. ... The discovery, by British detectives, of polonium-210 as the murder weapon was an unexpected mishap in an otherwise perfect murder. And so the Kremlin is holding firm; in its eyes, the slightest si gn of weakness would be exploited to the peril of the country and its system of power. ... So Britain must stand firm, and talk tough. Letting the polonium constituency get away with murder would be perceived as weakness and embolden the would-be Stalins in post-Putin Russia. Britain can't do it alone. It would require the common resolve of the whole of the Western alliance to make an impact." (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka UE, » Wielka Brytania, » Rosja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Alex Goldfarb

No state should allow murder on its own soil to go unpunished, writes Christoph Prantner. "This applies to Great Britain and would also be endorsed by the Russians had the murder taken place in Moscow rather than London and the victim been a critic of the British government instead. There's no doubt that in Great Britain the principles of the rule of law and fair conduct are observed. In Putin's Russia, on the other hand, one can't be sure of this. This is why it's time for the EU to make the transition from 'closely observing' the conflict to taking action. The Litvinenko affair is one of those cases where it's not about business or other interests, but about principles. Even though the British are often clumsy within the Union, they have earned our full support." (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Wielka Brytania, » Rosja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Christoph Prantner

Interviewed by Luc Le Chatelier, French architect Patrick Bouchain explains his vision of heritage. "Heritage, it's all that leaves a trace, that tells us what we depend on. Cathedrals, castles, but also factories and housing projects. ... Instead of enshrining beautiful things that are no longer useful, better we transform them so that they can continue to have a function. That which is done for palaces and prestigious monuments, I would like to see done for the rest of them. Rather than bulldoze factories and concrete buildings from the 50s, let's recuperate them to create offices, cultural spaces ... . And if they really need to open up some ground, let's take them apart and recuperate the materials that can leave a trace and use them in the new construction, without denying the past, like we do when we demolish things with dynamite, which is in fashion these days with our politicians." (18/07/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Télérama)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Architektura / Miasta, » Francja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Luc Le Chatelier, » Patrick Bouchain

In the UN Security Council, USA, Britain and France have put forward a revised plan for the future of the Serbian province of Kosovo, but Russia is continuing to exercise its veto. But Stefan Kornelius firmly believes in independence for Kosovo - no matter when it comes. "The Kosovo conflict is not frozen. It is subject to its own dynamics, because the prospect of an end to the Balkan conflicts is looming after one and a half decades of painful separatist wars. Statehood is a necessary, but also temporary station on this path. Temporary because ultimately the patch of land that is Kosovo has as little chance of prospering as places like Macedonia or Montenegro in the long term. Only slowly are people in the Balkans coming to the realisation that a region as religiously and ethnically divided as the Balkans can only function if it adopts a common leitmotiv. This leitmotiv has a name: Europe. Only the prospect of closeness to or even membership in the European Union will bring stability." (18/07/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Rozszerzenie UE, » Polityka UE, » Mniejszości, » Europa Południowo-Wschodnia, » Serbia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Stefan Kornelius

In an interview conducted by Oscar Caballero et Josep Massot, Amerian philosopher Arnold I. Davidson describes that "philosophy, as a spiritual exercise, is practiced on oneself, a changing action I perform on myself. ... This implies a transformation, an attempt to link personal ethics and practices. It's an aesthetic of existence, in order to live a new and beautiful life. ... Philosophy must enter into daily life to transform all its aspects. ... Writers have understood this better than philosophers. ... In 'If this is a man', Primo Levy demonstrates that the concept of good and evil always supposes a context, but in a concentration camp, there is no readily available context, and as a result we have to imagine the world differently. Primo Levi ... shows us the world from another point of view. Philosophy must relearn this task by following the example of novelists, poets, artists, musicians." (17/07/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, La Vanguardia)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Sztuki piękne, » Filozofia, » Cały świat
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Arnold I. Davidson, » Oscar Caballero, » Josep Massot

The EU's interior ministers last week paved the way for the expansion of the Schengen zone to cover eight additional Central and Eastern European countries as of 2008. According to Luboš Veselý, although this will give the citizens of the countries in question more freedom of movement, there's a downside: "Last year the ministers already agreed to increase the visa fee to be paid by citizens of non-Schengen states [on the EU's outer border] from 35 to 60 euros. Tourists, students and entrepreneurs from the states of the former Soviet Union will have to pay this sum, which represents a considerable portion of these people's monthly income, to get into the EU. Although the European Union has explained that it is interested in the democratic development of these countries and wants to bind them to Europe, its behaviour signals the contrary. After the expansion of the Schengen zone a new iron curtain will appear." (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, czeski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rozszerzenie UE, » Polityka UE, » Europa, » Europa Wschodnia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Luboš Veselý

The Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány will take part in a Finnish-Ugric summit in the Russian town of Saransk tomorrow. Estonia's head of government Andrus Ansip won't be attending, despite the fact that Estonians are also Finno-Ugrics, because the Russians didn't invite him. Gyula T. Máté comments: "This summit has little to do with the aspects historians, ethnologists and Finno-Ugrics find interesting because the current Hungarian head of government is about as interested in the Finno-Ugric past as Putin is - namely not at all. By excluding Estonia from this summit Russia wants to demonstrate that it has the power to isolate the Estonians from their 'historical' partners... Hungary is economically dependent on Russia. The summit in Saransk highlights the dilemma of Hungarian foreign policy: How can we move closer to Russia without harming our Euro-Atlantic integration?" (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, węgierski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Rozszerzenie UE, » Węgry, » Finlandia, » Rosja, » Kraje Nadbałtyckie
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Gyula T. Máté

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation released a report on Tuesday, July 17th, which details the growing gap between rich and poor in Britain. Deborah Orr argues that efforts to improve the situation have failed due to a hostile attitude toward a 'lack of ambition' demonstrated by the poor. "I think it might be time to start asking whether 'lack of aspiration' might be something we can learn to accept and even to value. ... Conservatives and Labour alike despise 'lack of aspiration' and both seek to be punitive towards those who display it. These punitive attitudes ... manifest themselves in the idea that leaving school at 16 is so shameful that it's going to be banned … Yet we are crying out for people who are 'lacking in aspiration' to do simple jobs well, with commitment and pride, and without complaint. But at the same time we are convinced that 'lack of aspiration' is the scourge of our age." (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Wielka Brytania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Deborah Orr

The Swedish government has unveiled a scheme aimed at enabling Swedish employers to recruit workers from all over the world. Under the scheme, foreign employees would be issued documents resembling the US's green cards. The newspaper considers this a wise move: "This immigration would not only be good for the economy, it will also push Swedish integration in the right direction. Sweden needs skilled immigrants. It would also boost the self-confidence of less well-educated immigrants if they saw more of their compatriots in prestigious positions... The US is our model. For many years now it has aimed to attract the world's best and most intelligent people. Unlike in Sweden, in the US a foreign accent or a foreign-sounding name are by no means an indication that one belongs to an underclass." (18/07/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Upsala Nya Tidning)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Migracja, » Szwecja, » Cały świat

The administration of the Estonian capital Tallinn has banned this year's Christopher Street Day march through the old part of the city. A few MEPs have now promised to give the organisers of the event their support. Priit Pullerits thinks they're overreacting: "The purpose of the parade is to display eccentric behaviour so it's understandable that gay activists don't want to gather in a forest or at a lake, where they can come together without annoying others. This is about the vociferous proclamation of sexual content in public. But one's sexual preferences are a personal issue that doesn't need to be rubbed in your fellow citizens' faces. The organisers claim the parade is necessary to remind people of the existence of their homosexual fellow human beings, however I don't believe there's a single person in Estonia who doubts the existence of homosexual tendencies." (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, estoński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Integracja, » Mniejszości, » Estonia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Priit Pullerits

Yves Leterme, head of the Flemish Christian Democratic Pary (CDV), won the elections held June 10th, appears to be set to run the next Belgian government. His campaign promises to give more power to the regions worries Bénédicte Vaes. "Don't say that [Flanders, where Leterme is prime minister] wants to split or regionalise. Say that it wants to make us more res-pon-sible. A positive word, very politically correct. A word which is not suspected of being able to break down solidarity. If they accept to be financially responsible, the Wallons and the Brusselois will have to be as effective as the Flemish. If not, it will cost them. Their social security will fall. ... The Flemish have always held the reigns in regional negotiations. Every time they [the Wallons and Brusselois] get ripped-off." (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Belgia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Bénédicte Vaes

Michał Penkala and Dawid Sześciło of the University of Warsaw believe Poland should adopt the Finnish economic model. They write: "Developing an economy based on knowledge remains the only genuine solution. Finland provides us with a good example of this approach. The country has only 5.5 million inhabitants but always occupies one of the leading positions in economic competitiveness rankings... Unfortunately, in Poland's discussions about visions for its development it's impossible to find projects that encourage the adoption of Scandinavian models. In academic circles a few voices advocating such an approach can be heard, but their influence on the mentality of the political elites is minimal. Others fear that this economic model has etatistic or even socialist foundations." (16/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polska, » Finlandia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Michał Penkala, » Dawid Sześciło

Agustí Fancelli visited the exhibition on 'modern advertising posters' of the end of the 19th Century, at the Catalonian National Museum of Art. He recalls that at the time "advertising was art. It was an art that attracted the artists of the time because it allowed them to leave the darkened rooms of the museums and open up to the light of the streets and speak to everyone on equal footing regardless of class distinctions. The first mass advertisements were considered an opportunity to put old aesthetic clichés to rest, and to plunge for the first time into the unexplored territories of daily life. It was an authentic revolution, difficult to imagine today. ... Santiago Rusiñol, Ramón Casas, Alphonse-Marie Mucha and Maxfield Parris paved the way for avant-gardists: Andy Warhol existed in the same line as these visionaries and pioneers." (18/07/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Wystawy / Muzea, » Sztuki piękne, » Styl życia, » Hiszpania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Agustí Fancelli

Laurent Moyse asserts in his editorial that "for some years now, medieval festivals have multiplied in Luxembourg, particularly during the summer. ... This growing infatuation for an historical era often considered in the collective consciousness to be a sullen barbaric time could be surprising. ...[But] we mustn't forget that this period was the origin of a number of nation-states, whose identity was cemented over the course of centuries and which was enshrined in many treaties. It was during the Middle Ages that Western Europe became conscious of its uniqueness and that it was where big economic and social changes were going on. The fact that these changes were progressive ... could give us the impression that this period was only a transition without much interest. This 'return to the source' medieval indicates the contrary." (18/07/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, La Voix du Luxembourg)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Styl życia, » Historia, » Luksemburg
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Laurent Moyse