Ta Nea, a daily newspaper critical of the government, sees the riots as an expression of the desperation in Greek society: "The death of the student was only the catalyst. It was the fuse for the great explosion. The explosion conceals a compressed desperation. ... Many young people live with the unbearable knowledge that there is no future, that the future is a bricked-up window. Somewhere out there a blind fury is lurking. Citizens are hiding in their homes and watching on TV the war that is raging on their very doorsteps. The Internet is breaking through this isolation. It conveys ... differing views, and the result is a balance of terror. ... Not violence, but desperation appears to be the origin of our story." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, grecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Ruchy społeczne, » Grecja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Fotini Tsalikoglou

The left-liberal daily La Repubblica ascribes the riots in Athens to the economic crisis, and warns of renewed violence. "The storm of riots that has convulsed Greece for the past two days is the first violent reaction in the West to the economic crisis and the inadequacy of government measures to combat it. ... The tragic episode on Saturday ... must be seen in the context of the crisis and the fears it has stoked among weaker segments of society. In addition, the explosion of violence is taking place against a background of extremely weak institutions. Kostas Karamanlis has a majority in parliament of just one vote, and has been suspected in recent months of numerous severe financial delicts. The unions have called for a general strike on December 10 to protest the steady decline of working conditions. This Wednesday could be a decisive day for Greece: the first major gale with which the economic storm has hit the West." (08/12/2008)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, włoski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Ruchy społeczne, » Grecja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Sandro Viola

La Tribune de Génève sees a deep crisis in Greek society at the root of the unrest: "This violence testifies to a profound unease. Greek society is in crisis - an economic and a moral one. ... People have lost their faith in the country. Hardly a year and a half after being voted in, Kostas Karamanlis' conservative government must face one scandal after the next. ... Yesterday all parties ... condemned the conduct of the police. ... In the wake of the riots both the Left and the movements for human and civil rights took part in demonstrations in Athens and Thessaloniki. The unions are calling for a 24-hour general strike on Wednesday, and everyone is tensely awaiting this day. The city council of Athens has already cancelled the celebrations for lighting the christmas tree." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Grecja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Caroline Vallois-Yotis

The riots in Greece could put the Greek government in an extremely awkward position, writes the German daily Frankfurter Rundschau. "You couldn't really accuse the Greek police of being trigger-happy over the past few years. Particularly where the autonomists who every couple of months find a pretext to start throwing Molotov cocktails and make Athens' city centre an unsafe place are concerned, they have shown considerable forbearance. ... The defensive police strategy had been effective in as far as no one had been seriously injured up to now. That's why the death of a 15-year old through a police bullet now comes as such a shock. That this is a tragic isolated case hasn't made it any less explosive. The riots that are beginning to spread across the country like wildfire are forcing a government already plagued by scandal into a very difficult position. If the riots continue they are likely to hasten the resignation of conservative Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Ruchy społeczne, » Grecja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Gerd Höhler

Today, Monday, the EU will launch its first maritime missions against the pirates operating off the coast of Somalia. The Dutch daily De Volkskrant fears that the Europeans' ships will do little to improve the situation: "The romantic aura that sometimes envelops pirates can barely conceal the fact that the border between modern piracy and terrorism is razor-thin. This is certainly true of the background of the kidnappers, virtually all of whom come from Somalia. ... A country that is at the mercy of warlords and Muslim militia of all colours and stripes is just as attractive as a base for terrorists as it is for pirates. ... The real solution is not at sea but on land. There is little chance that the weak government which rules Somalia only on paper will be able to reassert its authority. Nor are the chances of the international community intervening much greater. Earlier, largely unsuccessful attempts to fill the power vacuum come quickly to mind." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niderlandzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Polityka UE, » Afryka, » Europa

Notwithstanding two devastating election defeats, the Czech Republic's main ruling party, the liberal-conservative ODS, has re-elected Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek as its leader at its party conference. But the liberal daily Sme predicts that Topolánek nonetheless faces difficult times: "Mirek Topolánek's lucky star has not deserted him. But the old adage: 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger' doesn't apply to him. Even this impressive show of confidence at the party conference does nothing to change the fact that he is a weak prime minister who owes his survival as leader of a minority government partly to the aid of defectors from other parties. A defeat in the general elections of 2010 would put a merciful end to his misery." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, słowacki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Czechy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Peter Schutz

In view of the increasingly serious situation in Zimbabwe, The Times argues for a military intervention on the part of the states of Africa: "Enough. While the world stands by, the people of Zimbabwe are dying. ... It is a crucial moment for Zimbabwe, for Africa and for the international order. Self-determination and sovereignty are cornerstones of the Wilsonian system of independent nation-states. But in its state of misrule, Mr Mugabe's regime has forfeited legitimacy. Proposals for African-led military intervention are right and urgent. The UK Government should join those calls. ... More than 20 years ago, Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, identified a duty to intervene when human rights were abrogated by a literalist stress on state sovereignty. If his argument applies anywhere, it applies to Zimbabwe." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Afryka, » Cały świat

A judge in Romania has classified the former activities of a party leader in the Romanian Securitate, or secret police, as not warranting punishment, arguing that in a totalitarian state the man could not have acted otherwise. Gabriela Stefan criticises the judgement: "This sentence creates a dangerous precedent. ... Certainly, this does not mean that all judges would decide the same way in similar cases, but without doubt this judgement establishes a position that cannot just be ignored. ... In a broader sense it means that no run-of-the-mill informers and no one who abused their power or their office in the communist era can be sanctioned legally or morally, on the grounds that that's just how things were back then. ... But I know that hundreds if not thousands of people suffered because of the secret police and its informers. Some of the victims were left jobless, homeless, without a family and ultimately without a life. Some are still alive. For this reason it seems to me that this judgement is an insult both to history and to common sense." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, rumuński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Historia, » Rumunia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Gabriela Stefan

Despite harsh criticism from China, the Dalai Lama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy came together for a meeting in the Polish city of Gdańsk. The daily Le Temps comments: "For years Paris has pursued a policy of maintaining good relations with the Chinese dictatorship. ... Sarkozy's lack of a clear stance towards China and his manoeuvrings have provoked China into putting him under pressure. The meeting in Gdańsk explains China's irritation. The Chinese authorities know the power of symbols. The Solidarność scenario has been made the subject of profound study at the school of the Chinese Communist Party in an attempt to prevent the fall of the regime. The harsher tone from Beijing could [moreover] turn into a new political battle within the party's highest authorities in the face of the looming crisis." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Francja, » Azja, » Chiny
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Frédéric Koller

In El País newspaper José Ignacio Torreblanca analyses the consequences of the EU's weariness with enlargement. Some countries are focusing more on accession to Nato than accession to the EU of late. This, he points out, has implications for relations with Russia: "Many Europeans quite rightly fear that Nato expansion will only further polarise ties with Russia. On the other hand it is just as easy to understand the desire of these countries to join Nato as it is to find arguments against such a move. It's obvious that this Russia, which is so fond of threats and aggression, cannot be allowed to decide who becomes a Nato member and who doesn't, and that Nato cannot tolerate zones of influence or regimes with restricted sovereignty. It would be a different matter if the European Union functioned as it's supposed to and was in a position to tell the US: Thanks for the offer, but we'll take care of things. But yet again it will be the US that makes the decisions and Europe will simply be left to deal with the consequences if Europeans are unable to reach an agreement and take the issue of relations with Russia into their own hands." (08/12/2008)

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

In times of crisis ideologies come to the fore, writes Julian Popov in the daily Dnevnik: "In the streets of Sofia there are rumours of a spectre haunting Europe - the spectre of socialism. ... Capitalism cannot deliver the prosperity for which people have been waiting for 19 years. Now it's clear what the problem was: We took the wrong direction, we turned right and ended up in an abyss instead of left to the fields of plenty. ... The great economic menace, which unfortunately is no phantom, has enflamed society's imagination with visions of Right and Left. ... The talk of a renaissance of the socialist idea is just as harmful as swearing allegiance to the ideology of the Right. Bulgaria is not on the brink of a crisis that demands a solution from the Left or the Right. It is facing two crises: that of the collapse of its reputation, which requires resoluteness, openness and transparency, and an economic collapse which people in Bulgaria are simply trying to ignore and which makes no allowances for waste. If someone tries to win elections through a left or right-wing ideology, he will no doubt attract sleepwalkers from Left and Right. If we try to meet the crisis with left or right-wing rhetoric, this is highly likely to destroy both the economy and Bulgaria's image." (08/12/2008)

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

In its leading article the business newspaper Les Echos analyses the massive job cutbacks in the US resulting from the economic crisis, and compares this situation to that of France. "America lost more than 500,000 jobs in November. This is the most drastic drop in a generation and perhaps since the 1930s. ... The tendency is spreading fast. At this rate Spain could lose more than two million jobs by the end of 2009. Together these countries could lose in one year the eight million jobs that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development had forecast for the entire industrial world by 2010! In such a vortex, France with its additional 100,000 unemployed in three months comes across as almost untouched by the crisis. ... Consumption, the main driver of growth, will also suffer from the decline in buying power resulting from the cutbacks." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Przedsiębiorczość, » Francja, » Hiszpania, » USA
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jean-Marc Vittori

The Irish Times comments on Germany's attitude to the plan for a Europe-wide fiscal stimulus package: "Germany's leaders do not agree, arguing variously that this would be 'ineffective populism' or tantamount to bailing out those who did not correct their state finances during more prosperous times. That makes for an unfortunate disharmony in EU affairs. ... It is suggested that measures such as temporary reductions in VAT and targeted investments in transport, communications and environmental technology are appropriate national responses, and that some states can better afford them than others, given the differential impact of the recession. That certainly includes cash-strapped Ireland. The commission plan will be decided at this week's European Council. ... It deserves sympathetic attention and consideration. A deepening recession calls out for bold and unorthodox responses. This one is probably too timid. Germany should keep its options open and not block it." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka gospodarcza, » Niemcy, » Europa

The European Film Prize ceremony was held on the weekend in Copenhagen. De Standaard newspaper writes that despite its professionalism, the show was devoid of glamour. "It was painful to see how yet another well-run show suffered from a severe lack of stars. This had nothing to do with the quality of the films nominated. ... But language remains an insurmountable problem. A successful ceremony thrives from interesting and witty acceptance speeches. You could forget that altogether on Saturday, with five prizes for the Italian film 'Gomorrah'. The recipients brought forth no more than five words in the language of Shakespeare. ... Today - with the exception of the English - we have far fewer real European stars than in the days of Marcello Mastrioanni, Brigitte Bardot and Ingrid Bergman. Only two kinds of films make it at the box office: American hits and national films in their own country. But not those from other countries. At most we've only got ten European film stars." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niderlandzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Film, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Steven de Foer

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung argues that the German language should be enshrined in the Basic Law, Germany's constitution, as the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has petitioned it should. "Ammending the Basic Law would not constitute an unseemly attack on ethnic minorities. The planned clause by no means constitutes 'pressure to assimilate'. But it would provide an incontestable guideline for integration. The multiple rejections it has met with unintentionally indicate that the clause is widely considered both meaningful and forceful. For example, it would preclude the claim of languages which did not originate here to be put on an equal legal footing. And in these times of internationalisation and globalisation it would preserve Germany's singularity, which has formed its citizens since time immemorial and allowed its literature to develop as it has. We should not have such qualms about introducing into our constitution what so many of our European neighbours see as a matter of course." (08/12/2008)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Integracja, » Mniejszości, » Niemcy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Georg Paul Hefty

Today is a public holiday in Spain as, according to Catholic belief, the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception is celebrated on December 8. This has prompted several Spanish papers to reflect on religion in today's edition. The daily Diario Sur reports that the British Humanist Association has launched a fund-raising campaign to finance an atheist advertising campaign on buses: "I like what he [the symbolic figure behind the campaign, Oxford professor Richard Dawkins] is saying because he defends the morals of the non-religious. Religions have always tried to combat atheism with the argument that without God everything is permitted. The message was that non-believers had no morals. But the truth is that faith in God does not make a person a better person. We can see this. They are neither morally superior nor more compassionate. Perhaps they're somewhat more intolerant. There's certainly plenty of examples of that." (08/12/2008)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Styl życia, » Religia, » Światopogląd, » Wielka Brytania, » Hiszpania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » F. Chivite