"Just over a week before Serbia's parliamentary elections take place, the European Union has forged a bridge with the Balkan state but blocked off access for the present," Frank Herold writes. "The association agreement which the foreign ministers have hesitantly signed after much deliberation is tied to a condition. No one says this openly, but the agreement will only take effect if the 'right', pro-Western forces rallied around President Boris Tadic win. If the nationalists win, which seems highly probable at present, access to that bridge will be blocked. ... Serbia faces its most important elections since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic. The decision it faces is not between the EU and Kosovo, because Belgrade has already lost Kosovo forever. It must choose between joining Europe and isolating itself. The partnership agreement is the EU's belated attempt to make this decision easier for the Serbs." (30/04/2008)

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

"The Commission thinks that selling an agreement with no substance will help the pro-Europeans at the polls," explains Ramón Lobo. "This delusion is proof of a lack of information and realism: corruption and the economic crisis, even more than Kosovo, drive the radicals. There is an absence of any real European strategy... Serbia has not gone through its catharsis yet. Its people are unaware of the crimes committed in their name. However, they do believe that only the Serbs have paid so dearly for the Balkan wars in the 1990s. Their sense is that Croatia has been judged by different standards and that Bulgaria and Romania have been rewarded without really deserving to be. What is required to change that sentiment are brave leaders who will tell the people the truth; and an EU which does not engage in political zigzagging and lends its unconditional support to that section of the Serbian population that feels truly European." (30/04/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Rozszerzenie UE, » Polityka UE, » Europa, » Serbia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Ramón Lobo

The daily comments on the consequences of the agreement the EU has signed with Serbia. "The EU thereby hopes to influence the elections by encouraging Serbian voters to support parties favouring a European vocation for their country, in which eventual EU accession is envisaged. This agreement would allow greater freedom of travel to EU states, and increasing economic and trade relations with them in an effort to stimulate employment opportunities. Given the deep isolation experienced by Serbia's 7.5 million people since the violent break-up of Yugoslavia, this is potentially a very attractive package. ... But the anti-EU Radical Party and the extreme nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia of outgoing prime minister Vojislav Kostunica both denounced yesterday's agreement, accusing President Boris Tadic ... of high treason for doing so. The scene is therefore set for an intensely emotional final stage of the election campaign." (30/04/2008)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, The Irish Times)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Rozszerzenie UE, » Polityka UE, » Europa, » Serbia

The EU has dropped one of the most important requirements for an agreement for opportunistic reasons, Cyrill Stieger points out. "They can say whatever they like to justify it, but Brussels is putting rebellious Serbia on the fast lane and rewarding it for not handing over General Ratko Mladic, the man chiefly responsible for the genocide in Srebrenica, to the UN tribunal in The Hague. ... The EU has given up its most important instrument for exerting pressure on Belgrade. This makes it even more unlikely that Mladic and Karadzic, the two men chiefly responsible for the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, will ever be called to account for their crimes before the Hague tribunal. Who will want to hand them over now? The EU's decision is a slap in the face for the victims." (30/04/2008)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Neue Zürcher Zeitung)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rozszerzenie UE, » Polityka UE, » Europa, » Serbia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Cyrill Stieger

In an interview with Guy Duplat, Belgian thinker Raoul Vaneigem assesses the legacy of May 1968. "In 1968 what expressed itself with the lucidity of a sudden, brutal revelation was nothing less than the refusal merely to survive in the name of life. The sacrosanct table of patriarchal commandments was definitively shattered. ... I am not making an appraisal, I am talking about an ongoing experience, one which does not care about commemorations. All it demands is greater vigilance, greater awareness, a greater sense of solidarity with the living. We need to refound ourselves in order to rebuild on human foundations a world that has been ruined by the ubiquitous inhumanity spread by a mercantile mindset and the worship of short-term profit. ... How can what was unbearable in 1968, when the economy flourished, be any more bearable today? Is there any need to play at prophets to foresee that the will to live, like a wave, will sweep away the ruins of this world, where all feel as if they are vegetating in the absurdity of their existence?" (30/04/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Historia, » Francja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Raoul Vaneigem, » Guy Duplat

Fabrice Martin-Plichta compares the destruction of culture in the Czech and French capitals: "Both in Prague and in Paris, it's conservative politicians who are attacking theatre people in the name of liberalism. And this although artists in both cities agree that funding for culture can't be unrestricted and that there must be rules for its fair distribution. Unfortunately, artists are always the first victims of economic measures. Yet public investment in culture increases the intellectual and spiritual capital of a society - not to mention the positive impact it has on the social climate and the face of a city. Without culture Prague would be little more than an open-air museum which offers nothing but superficial, mindless entertainment." (30/04/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, czeski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka kulturalna, » Francja, » Czechy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Fabrice Martin Plichta

Paolo Franchi looks back at the recent defeats suffered by the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and suggests some ways in which it might find out who it is. "To judge by all the comment churned out about the thousand and one reasons why the centre left lost both the parliamentary and Rome mayoral elections, one might think that no catastrophe had ever been more of a foregone conclusion. Yet the vast majority of commentators failed to foresee it. They even believed the opposite. ... Tens of thousands of Roman electors voted for the Democratic Party's Nicola Zingaretti to head the province [of Rome], but chose right-winger Gianni Alemanno as mayor quite simply because the left never really gelled. Which leaves the overwhelming, unresolved question of the PD's identity. ... An identity that is no longer communist, or socialist, or social-democrat, or labour, yet is nevertheless left in the true, simply reformist, sense." (30/04/2008)

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

The Italian authorities plan to adopt a tougher stance against Romanian immigrants. In future Romanians will need a visa to enter the country and will have to prove they have a monthly income of at least 970 euros. Eliza Francu criticises the measures: "The Italians apparently approve of these measures but they contravene European norms. They violate the EU regulations on freedom of movement. Normally this would be a case for the European executive to deal with. ... When it joined the EU, Romania was assured that it wouldn't be a second-class member. Now the rights of this country are being ignored. The other members of the EU clearly want to keep Romanians as far as possible from their job markets." (30/04/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, rumuński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Migracja, » Włochy, » Europa, » Rumunia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Eliza Francu

On his state visit to Tunisia French president Nicolas Sarkozy declared on April 28th that "the space for freedoms is gaining ground [in Tunisia]". For the French daily the statement "is untruthful. No NGO, no observer, whether Tunisian or foreign, can seriously deliver such a judgement. In a country where the president is ensconced in power for life, has his opponents beaten up by thugs, imprisoned, even tortured, and tolerates only slavish media outlets, the 'space for freedoms' is losing ground. Nobody asked Mr Sarkozy to behave, as he said, 'as a giver of lessons'. He could have chosen to remain silent, which would have been decency of a sort. But the clean bill of health he has given the Ben Ali regime is indecent for Tunisia's brave democrats." (30/04/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Francja, » Afryka

Local elections take place in the United Kingdom on May 1st. "We wait to discover whether a real contest - such as the London mayoral election is shaping up to be - has the same effect on turn-out that recent 'real contests' had in Poland, France and Italy", writes Mary Dejevsky. "Judging by the number of my acquaintances belatedly checking that they are on the electoral roll, we may even face queues at the polling station. Of course, those who genuinely find it hard to go to vote – because of disability, for instance – should have the option of a postal vote. Being away for business or on holiday, I would submit, is a marginal reason. It does not require a Mensa-level IQ to understand that extending postal voting to all risks compromising the process. The spate of electoral fraud cases , at least 42 convictions in the past seven years, is something I never thought to see." (29/04/2008)

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

On April 29th Greece signed up to the South Stream gas pipeline project, driven by the Russian giant Gazprom and Italy's ENI. "The time has come to assert loud and clear a fact: Greece is playing a major role in the global energy poker game. Joining the South Stream gas pipeline project ... has made Greece into a strategic energy crossroads for Southern Europe," stresses Giorgos Delastic. "The pipeline is slated to supply Europe with 33 thousand million cubic metres of gas when it is commissioned. Before he officially quit office, Vladimir Putin made a special point of ensuring the success of South Stream. That is why he made a beeline for Italy to congratulate Silvio Berlusconi last week and to offer assurances that there would be no changes to Russia's energy policy." (30/04/2008)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, To Ethnos)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka UE, » Energia, » Grecja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Giorgios Delastic

Lenka Zlámalová reports that the Czechs are envious of the Slovaks, who are likely to convert to the euro before they do: "The Slovaks have already introduced the flat tax and partially privatised their pension system. Such measures are still at the discussion stage in Prague. Even though the Czech Republic is currently experiencing a period of unprecedented prosperity, its eastern neighbour is doing much better. At the end of last year Slovakia's economic growth rate was at 14.2 percent while the Czech Republic's was only 6.6 percent. ... Only those who are prepared can make the choice between crown and euro. We aren't among the lucky ones. This is why in future we won't just travel to the West, the North and the South in the Eurozone; we'll also travel to the East for the first time." (30/04/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, czeski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka finansowa, » Polityka gospodarcza, » Czechy, » Słowacja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Lenka Zlámalová

Kornél Mundruczós' film "Delta" has been invited to participate in this year's Cannes film festival. In an interview with Gyula Varsányi and Géza Csákvári the director comments: "What's important is that people like the film. The choice of Béla Tarr's film [The man from London] last year and my work this year conveys a cultural and political message: it is a confirmation of trust in Hungarian films written and directed by the same person, in keeping with the tradition established by Miklós Jancsó, István Szőts and Pál Fejős. For us this means that tilting at the windmills pays off. Even though there are still those in Hungary who don't like this kind of film, they have firmly established their right to exist." (30/04/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, węgierski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Film, » Węgry
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Gyula Varsányi, » Géza Csákvári

Michaela Schlagenwerth portrays the British star choreographer Wayne McGregor, who combines dance and cognitive science in his work. "McGregor is the inventor of an entirely new language of movement - something that's increasingly seldom in the world of dance. His dances, in which different parts of the body twist and stretch in all directions and yet at the same time exude a robot- and plant-like air, are furiously fast. ... McGregor assigns his dancers tasks of a mathematical structure, with difficult rhythms and complicated timing. He creates connections between intuition and intellect, instinct and consciousness, and this is what gives his choreographies such an enthralling, over-alert and thus futuristic atmosphere. ... He has developed his own dance language from the machine-like, algorithm-based club music to which the body moves as if electrified." (30/04/2008)

» Strona www (Link zewnętrzny, Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Scena, » Niemcy, » Wielka Brytania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Michaela Schlagenwerth

The daily comments on the results of a recent Eurobarometer survey showing that 54 per cent of Maltese people read less than one book per year – twice as many as in the rest of Europe. "Other statistics that should be of concern are that 75 per cent of the respondents said they never visited a public library during the reference period. In contrast, 39 per cent of Danish people visited a public library at least five times in the preceding year. ... We cannot use the excuse that we are too busy with other things in life to pick up a book. Life is moving fast for all people in Europe and still they find enough time to read at least one book per year. We cannot use the excuse that the television and computer take up much of our free time. The television and the computer exist in all other European countries and they still find the time to read." (29/04/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Malta

During Soviet times, military goods such as machine guns were also produced in satellite states like Bulgaria. Now Russia has accused Bulgaria of illegally producing Kalashnikovs, because Bulgaria doesn't pay licence fees for producing new models. The newspaper comments: "It's not about the licenses because Bulgarian factories would be happy to pay them. The point at issue here is whether to recognise Russia as the legal successor of the USSR. The Czech Republic and Poland have refused to do so. If Bulgaria recognised Russia as the legal successor of the USSR, it would have to reveal to the Russians all the innovations it has made to the improved version of the AK-47. However, Bulgaria is a member of NATO while Russia is not." (30/04/2008)

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