For Peter Vandermeersch, "the most important conclusion to be drawn from this war of nerves is that there can be no federal reform without an in-depth reform of the State. It should be clear to everyone that nothing can be achieved without a large-scale agreement on the new balances in this country. If this country wants to guarantee the well-being of its citizens -in the Flanders region, the Walloon region, and in Brussels-, it is necessary to engage at once in forming an emergency social-economic government, as well as a vast agreement on reforming Belgium. ... The Flemish representatives at the drawing board will have to clearly show that the survival of Belgium is not open to discussion. And the French-speakers will have to clearly show that an empty 'no' is not an option for finding any new balance." (03/12/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, De Standaard)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Belgia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Peter Vandermeersch

Hannelore Crolly portrays the Belgian King Albert II, who is to act as a mediator in the current state crisis. "It's true that the two squabbling ethnic groups have nothing in common - apart from their king. The universally popular 73-year-old monarch Albert II plays a key role in Belgium's unity. Without him and the royal dynasty, which is equally respected by the Flemish and the Walloons, it would be absolutely impossible to get through the state crisis more or less unscathed. ... But the father of three and grandfather of 12 hasn't been all too successful so far. Since the chief negotiator Yves Leterme threw in the towel again last Saturday, the country is in a stalemate. The sixth king in the history of Belgium could now risk an unusual move: if he grants the government which has been voted out of office but is provisionally managing government business more powers, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt could remain in office until the regional elections in 2009. To postpone the dispute would be to end the crisis." (04/12/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Belgia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Hannelore Crolly

On Monday, December 3rd, following the resignation of Yves Leterme, the King of Belgium asked the outgoing prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, who has been managing current affairs for the past six months, to find a way out of the political dead-lock. Interviewed by Olivier Mouton, the Belgian political scientist Pascal Delwit, describes the dangers inherent in the current situation. "The main risk lies in a phenomenal rise in apolitical thinking. Things are incomprehensible for a number of observers as well as Belgian citizens. Even political authorities no longer understand what is going on! This is a fact. And it must be understood that such an increase in the apolitical will affect everyone except for the far-right. This must be seriously taken into account. And frankly, it is going to be very hard to explain an enlarged Verhofstadt III government to the citizens. That would really be stretching our pedagogical capacities too far." (04/12/2007)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Belgia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Pascal Delwit, » Olivier Mouton

Facing the current political stalemate, Laurent Moyse considers that Belgium should think up some new scenarios. "One solution would be to resort to a large coalition bringing together Flemish and French-speaking Christian-democrats, liberals and socialists. Other countries have chosen this compromise, despite deep ideological divergence separating the main protagonists. This is notably the case in Germany where great rivals, the CDU-CSU and the SPD have formed an ad hoc alliance which does not avoid the gritting of teeth. In other countries the refusal to resort to a big coalition to save the situation has led components to join forces with far less palatable movements, often in the far-right. Austria and Poland have for example experienced this, while Slovakia stands out for having united left wing ministers and deeply nationalist representatives in the same government ." (04/12/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, La Voix du Luxembourg)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polska, » Słowacja, » Austria, » Belgia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Laurent Moyse

Czech writer Tereza Brdečková responds to those in Germany and Austria who warn that the expansion of the Schengen area in three weeks' time comes too soon. "Today's Europe is not the Western Roman Empire, but the attitude is the same: 'We must be on guard against the barbarians who don't share our values'. We, the Czechs, the Slovaks, the Poles and the Hungarians, also think this way. We are more xenophobic than all Western Europeans put together and are fearful that the 'barbarians' will invade our countries. ... The Iron Curtain used to preserve a certain balance: the stability of the dictatorship of terror here; the stability of the boom in the West. But the stereotype of the 'musty East' is now outdated. ... The expansion of the Schengen area is the best thing that could happen to the West." (04/12/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, czeski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rozszerzenie UE, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Tereza Brdečková

In an interview conducted by Stefano Montefiori, the French philosopher André Glucksmann, who supported Nicolas Sarkozy in his presidential campaign, makes no secret of his disappointment now that Nicolas Sarkozy has congratulated Vladimir Putin for winning the legislative elections with his United Russia Party on December 2nd. "Putin stopped at nothing [during his campaign] not because he is omnipotent, but on the contrary because he is living in panic. Only the western heads of state have failed to see this, even Sarkozy. There are two reasons for this panic. Putin has yet to get over the trauma of the Orange revolution in Ukraine, which for him represents the heart of the country. ... He has not managed to stabilise Russia. ... Europe should form a common energy policy and present a united front to the Kremlin. But on the contrary, all the European leaders are racing to Moscow, trying to beat one another there.” (04/12/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Corriere della Sera)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Francja, » Rosja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » André Glucksmann, » Stefano Montefiori

Conrad Seidl notes with disapproval that Europe's foreign and defence ministers have at best only a rough idea of what the EUFOR mission in Chad is supposed to achieve. They have sent the soldiers on a journey into the unknown, he writes. "No one can predict today what the security situation will be in Chad one year from now. We only know that there are tens of thousands of armed men in the region who are very much interested in making sure that it is not stabilised, because in a confused situation they have a greater chance of securing strategic advantages for their own group. And this interest probably won't change over the next two to three years, because the fact that the EU has deployed 500 soldiers doesn't mean they will establish peace there - the conflicts continue. Moreover, EUFOR is a new actor in the region, and anyone who chooses to can use it as a target." (04/12/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Polityka UE, » Austria, » Afryka, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Conrad Seidl

The new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is making his first official visit to Brussels today. Andrzej Talaga comments: "Tusk wants to show Europeans the new Poland that is free of the unruly temperament of the Kaczynskis - and Europe will breathe a sigh of relief. ... It's nice to be popular, but we shouldn't attach too much importance to the feelings of our European partners. It's much more important that they take our needs and fears seriously. And still more important is that we ourselves know what we want to achieve in the EU. ... Poland is too weak to form its own lobby within the EU, but too strong to be an uncritical member of a camp. We need the support of all the major EU members. The principle of preserving as much sovereignty as possible appears to be the most effective for achieving this at present." (04/12/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polska, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Maciej Stasinski

13 MPs belonging to the National Movement Simeon II (NMSS), which is a partner in Bulgaria's coalition government, have left their party. Their resignation came after party leader and former King Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha expelled five party members owing to disagreements over the future course of the party last week. Emil Spachiyski comments: "It's a platitude, but freedom is the fundamental principle behind liberalism, and freedom requires above all the free competition of ideas. The events of last week dispel the myth that the NMSS is a liberal party. It has become clear that only the king enjoys freedom - namely the freedom to do whatever he pleases. Simeon disguised himself as a liberal but he thinks and acts like a king. I'm glad that Bulgaria is no longer a monarchy. Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha governed for four years. Now he is history." (04/12/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, bułgarski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Bułgaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Emil Spachijski

In an interview with Vincent Remy, the political scientist Dominique Andolfatto explains why French trade unionism has developed through protest, not negotiation. "One of the obstacles to negotiations is our interventionist fortress State and its elites sitting snugly in their certitudes. This State, which acts at its will, without consulting unions or intermediary bodies, does not encourage a form of trade unionism centred on professional questions. Some trade unionists who consider employers as class enemies turn to the State as soon as a problem arises in work relations, which further complicates things. They seek a political answer to professional questions. Thus, unlike in Germany and England, a powerful trade union movement has been put at a disadvantage in France." (28/11/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Télérama)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Ruchy społeczne, » Francja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Vincent Remy, » Dominique Andolfatto

Following Russia's parliamentary elections Björn Mansson asks whether the country will always be undemocratic. "In a historical and international context there are a number of models for explanation and comparison. The French Revolution ended one era of despotism only to pave the way for another. On the other hand, whatever else you may say about the development of the US, democracy has survived there uninterrupted for 230 years. China is said to be too big to be ruled democratically, but India is living proof of the contrary. And smaller former socialist countries have managed the leap to democracy. However if we only take Russian history into account, could it be that the chaos of the Yeltsin era was only a brief democratic parenthesis between two dictatorships, similar to the government of Alexander Kerensky in 1917?" (04/12/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, szwedzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Historia, » Rosja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Björn Mansson

Art critic Adrian Searle is delighted to inform us that the British artist Mark Wallinger has won the 2007 Turner prize for contemporary art. "He showed his three-year old film, Sleeper, in Liverpool rather than new work. Sleeper, which had the artist pondering the world in a bear suit, has gained an unexpected resonance this past week. But he won for more than 20 years of paintings, sculptures, videos and films, which have displayed both enormous variety and an utter consistency. ... Wallinger has over the years taken Jesus, Tommy Cooper, the 1966 World Cup, the first world war, racing, poetry, passion and unseemly goings-on inside a pantomime horse as his subjects, in his examinations of Britishness and national identity, wealth and breeding, religion and politics. His work is as accessible and funny as it is deadly serious. ... 2007 has really been Wallinger's since State Britain, his copy of Brian Haw's one-man anti-war protest camp in Parliament Square, opened at Tate Britain last January." (04/12/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Sztuki piękne, » Wielka Brytania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Adrian Searle

In an interview with Annett Müller, Romanian film director Cristian Mungiu talks about the success of his film "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" and the film scene in Romania, a country with only 35 cinemas. "Before 1989 people went to the cinema because there were no other possibilities for entertainment. The state television channel broadcasted a two-hour propaganda programme every day, and why would anyone want to watch that? Nowadays, for the price of a cinema ticket you can watch any number of channels with cable TV. Since the fall of communism we have had an onslaught of entertainment, and the more options there are, the smaller the audiences at cinemas. So the cinemas fell into decay and the audiences failed to turn up - as did the profits the producers had expected to make." (04/12/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Film, » Rumunia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Annett Müller, » Cristian Mungiu

The writer Maurice Druon, member of the Academie Française, virulently responds to the American magazine 'Time', which announced the 'death of French culture on the front cover of a recent issue of its European edition. "Every four of five years, the United States is overcome by an anti-French fever about which one of its major publications informs the universe. ... The author [Donald Morrison] has a completely false and muddled mind, as does most of his readership. He throws Proust, Monet, Piaf and Truffaut under the same heading and considers France is dead because we have no celebrities of the same calibre at the moment. ... Culture is not determined by the week's box-office. Culture is exercised over time. ... And the fact that creators from all over the world are welcomed in France is not a weakness but proof that this land is a land of culture, as it has been for centuries and, let it be hoped, will be for centuries to come." (04/12/2007)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Literatura, » Styl życia, » Francja, » USA
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Maurice Druon

"The Archbishop Christostomos II was right. Prayers bring rain. The drought that had weighed upon Cyprus for four years, over which it virtually never rained, ended this week-end", explains the daily. "[On November 26th] the archbishop of Cyprus had sent a circular letter to parish priests requesting them to exhort their congregations to prey together for 'almighty God to put an end to the drought'. Some of our readers had smiled at the time, whilst being aware that such a water shortage had not been noted since 1998. . ... The Sunday service had just begun [December 2nd] when the rain came pouring down. Whether miracle or mere coincidence, the farmers were aglow with joy." (04/12/2007)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Politis)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rolnictwo, » Światopogląd, » Cypr