Following Kosovo's independence, the fall of the Kostunica government is the first good news in a long time for many people in Serbia and abroad, Peter Potocnik writes. "It's surprising that the Serb Prime Minister, who ruled without the support of the voters, was the one to propose the dissolution of parliament and early elections to Serb President Boris Tadic. ... Although the elections are tantamount to a referendum on the EU, they won't provide a long-term solution. ... The election campaign, which basically begins now, will be a decisive phase for those who want a pro-European Serbia." (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, słoweński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Serbia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Peter Potocnik

"If the obstructionist policies of the nationalists succeed in the parliamentary elections, it will be a defeat and damaging for Serbia," Frank Herold writes. "They are already having an impact on the economy. Hundreds of millions of euros in foreign investments have already been withdrawn, and as a result inflation and unemployment are on the rise. If things go on like this, the national bank warns, there will be social protest in two to three months - precisely when the elections are due to take place. But in the end, a victory for the radicals would also mean a temporary defeat for the European Union. In no country of the west Balkans has the EU invested so much political energy, and no other country in the region has received as much aid and investment as Serbia over the past few years. A victory for the nationalists would show to what extent the 'European project' has lost its appeal." (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rozszerzenie UE, » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Serbia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Frank Herold

"The Serb government hasn't survived Kosovo's independence," Andrej Ivanji writes. He doubts whether the pro-Western contingent will be successful in the elections. "President Boris Tadic's advisers are mainly excellent marketing experts, but whether they will be able to turn the tables in Tadic's favour in the election campaign is questionable. So far Tadic has played along with deep conviction in the patriotic game about preserving Kosovo. Now he will have to resort to radical populist measures and somehow convince voters that Serbia's joining the EU would not be tantamount to a tacit recognition of Kosovo's independence." (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Serbia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Andrej Ivanji

The Spanish daily recalls the fact that, in February, "The Serbian presidential election had shown the country was torn between two irreconcilable choices: on the one hand, partisans of the European path, who considered this option could get them out of the nightmare which post-communist nationalism had got them into, on the other hand, those still suffering from the wounds that were precisely considered to have been caused by Europe and who sought protection from Russia. ... Following the trauma of the declaration of Kosovo's independence, it is likely that the division will be accentuated. ... Early legislative elections may lead to a situation still worse and more unstable than prior to the dissolution. The EU should renew its offer of an adequate status within it for Serbia, because this would be the only reasonable solution for all concerned." (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rozszerzenie UE, » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Serbia, » Kosowo

In an interview with Andreas Breitenstein, the Romanian author Mircea Cartarescu talks about communism, the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and corruption in today's Romania. Unlike many leftist intellectuals, Cartarescu does not see capitalism as harmful: "I do not share the belief that money is destructive. It creates and injects energy. Money is like blood: when it's infected the whole body becomes sick but when it's healthy the body thrives. A society based on money gained through honest work experiences a lightness of life which is the basis for intellectual and artistic achievement. Culture is a luxury. In the course of history intellectual life has generally thrived in those places where the economy was healthy." (08/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Literatura, » Polityka kulturalna, » Rumunia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Mircea Cărtărescu, » Andreas Breitenstein

Last weekend, Polish President Lech Kaczyński described the expatriation and deportation of around 15,000 Polish Jews 40 years ago as "shameful". Talking to Cezary Michalski, historian Paweł Machcewicz claims Poland rather than the Soviet Union was responsible for the anti-Semitic campaign that started in March 1968. "The anti-Zionist campaign of 1968 was autonomous. There is no evidence that Moscow stipulated either its form or its intensity. Moscow simply demanded that the entire bloc position itself on the right side in the conflict with Israel. The campaign was carried out with enormous zeal by the party apparatus of the Polish communists. Of course the government was not democratically elected because the state was not sovereign at the time, but they were still Poles." (08/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Religia, » Historia, » Polska
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Pawel Machcewicz, » Cezary Michalski

The American sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein doubts that freedom and democracy are universal values. Interviewed by Olivier Doubre, he suggests that their promotion is a form of imperialism. "The excuses given by [Spanish theologian] Sepúlveda, in the 16th century, to justify conquering Indian land [In South America] are, word for word, the same as those given today for what is termed interference. ... Sepúlveda's arguments are the following: the others are barbarians, we have to protect the innocents (massacred by the barbarians) - the constant justification for all kinds of interference-and, finally, universalism and supposedly universal values must be given free circulation. At the time, it was a question of the evangelisation and expansion of Christianity. Today the values are 'freedom and democracy'. But actually this is the same thing". (06/03/2008)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Europa, » Cały świat
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Immanuel Wallerstein, » Olivier Doubre

The outgoing Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (PSOE, Socialist Party) has won the legislative elections held on March 9th in Spain. The daily comments: "As has been happening since 1977, the electorate has offered a second term to its leader Zapatero, who won the election in 2004. But unlike his predecessors, González and Aznar, Zapatero hasn't won an absolute majority, though he has won the best result in terms of votes cast in the history of the PSOE: he will have to continue working with outside collaboration. ... No matter what, the head of government has an opportunity to continue pursuing the essentials of his program, above all in economic and social matters. ... In the evening of March 9th, Zapatero promised to rectify 'mistakes' made during his first four years. He has committed quite a few, which no doubt prevented him form obtaining a bigger majority. But this time he shouldn't fail." (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Hiszpania

In the first round of the municipal elections in France on March 9th, the Socialist Party [PS] won the majority vote in numerous towns, notably Paris, Lyon and Lille. For the editorialist Laurent Joffrin, the success "is the result of an historical evolution in the city-dwelling electorate. In large cities, the middle and upper classes are sensitive to ecological and housing issues, two points that are a handicap for the right. ... There is another factor too. If they are winning in big cities and elsewhere, it is also because the socialists, by force of circumstances have united teams that are led by a chosen ringleader with clear plans. Municipal, local socialism is an old left-wing phenomenon that has had considerable success, constrained as it is to realism and imagination, to coherence and unity - precisely the things that the national left lacks." (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Francja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Laurent Joffrin

In a referendum held in Hungary yesterday, a clear majority voted in favour of repealing recent reforms in the country's health and education systems. A 50 percent voter turnout ensured that the results are binding for the Hungarian government. Péter N. Nagy questions whether the result is indeed, as opposition leader Viktor Orban claims, a vote of no confidence against the government: "The questions posed in the referendum make it impossible to distinguish between the healthy egoism of the people and an anti-government attitude. The result of the referendum is therefore unknown. So if the fate of the government wasn't the key point, this story ends here. In this case the referendum has produced new facts, but not a new government." (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, węgierski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polityka finansowa, » Zdrowie, » Węgry
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Péter N. Nagy

On March 9th, Romano Prodi announced his resignation from Italian political life. Edmondo Berselli looks back on the career of the man who, twice head of government, never managed to reach the end of his mandate. "Barely two years have passed since his last electoral campaign against Silvia Berlusconi. Everything at the time seemed to promise him and his coalition, great success and confidence in governing for a long time. Nothing has happened as expected. The success was wobbly. The government experience has come to a bad end and Prodi has swiftly found himself brushed aside. He was eclipsed by the leader of the Democrat Party Walter Veltroni. ... It is true that 'Prodism' was ... above all an alternative to 'Berlusconism'. Facing the hedonism of the centre-right, Prodi offered a certain sense of ethics, civic spirit and respect." (10/03/2008)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, La Repubblica)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Włochy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Edmondo Berselli

The European Commission has ruled that American automaker Ford paid too little for a Romanian car plant in Craiova and should now hand over an additional 27 million euros. Ford had promised to maintain all the jobs in Craiova in return for paying such a low price for the plant, but the European Commission says this was tantamount to illegal government aid. While the EU sanctions have found no sympathy in Romania, Andreea Vass approves of the EU's stance: "We must adhere to the rules of a free and efficient market where state aid is allocated according to clear criteria. ... There are three awkward questions: Why did Ford accept this gift, which violates European regulations? Why did the Romanian competition council give its tacit consent at the time of the signing of the privatisation agreement in September 2007? Why didn't the privatisation committee of the SC Automobile Craiova assume responsibility for violating the rules and why did it fail to inform either the Romanian Cartel Office or the European Commission?" (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, rumuński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Przedsiębiorczość, » Polityka gospodarcza, » Europa, » USA, » Rumunia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Andreea Vass

Several cases of corruption have prompted the EU to stop payment of subsidies for Bulgaria's agricultural sector. Funding for several other programmes (Phare, Ispa) has also been frozen. Ognan Mintchev comments: "It's very difficult for the Bulgarian state to comply with the EU's institutional rules and procedures. The economic elite and its oligarchic involvement in national institutions has taken on criminal proportions in its self-enrichment using the nation's capital. ... This trend was evident throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the process of privatisation of state property. But unlike in Bulgaria, once the property had changed hands in the other countries, the new economic elites there agreed to use the money in an orderly and legal fashion in future. The Bulgarian oligarchy has refused to do this." (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, bułgarski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Bułgaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Ognjan Minchew

The columnist Joana Pitman comments on 'The Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art', an exhibtion at the Barbican in London until May 18th. "The premise of this extravaganza is as follows: Martians have arrived on Earth to find earthlings obsessed with this thing called 'art'. They study the phenomenon and remove a number of objects which they take back to Mars and arrange in a museum for the education and enjoyment of Martians. ... Is it all worth it ? For a start they could have got hold of some better conceptual art. I would have liked to see what the Martians made of Tracey Emin's bed or Sarah Lucas's fried eggs and kebab. But perhaps they're giving other artists' egos a spot in the sun for a change. Perhaps they have succeeded in making foreign what had seemed familiar, in making us think afresh about this thing called conceptual art. It's good for a laugh as long as you don't get too caught up in the intellectual theorising behind it ... ." (05/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Wystawy / Muzea, » Sztuki piękne, » Wielka Brytania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Joana Pitman

"Today is Commonwealth Day. Not many people know that, or care, it seems. No doubt there are those who consider this to be an anachronism, a hangover of Empire, an embarrassment now we are fully fledged members of the European Union" considers columnist Philip Johnston, who is dismayed by a green paper calling for the abolition of the ancestry visa that garantees UK Entry to Commonwealth citizens with a grandparent born in the United Kingdom. "For good or ill, we are members of the EU and it is part of the deal that all its citizens have an unfettered right to travel to this country, as we do to theirs, to work and settle permanently. But we are so keen on emphasising our European credentials that we are in danger of turning our backs on our own people, who twice in the last century helped rescue Europe from the tyrants who wished to run it." (10/03/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Historia, » Wielka Brytania, » Europa, » Cały świat
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Philip Johnston