Dziennik newspaper sees Ukraine as the big loser in the gas dispute with Russia. "The new phase of the gas conflict gives an insight into the deeper nature of European politics. Ukraine is becoming isolated in the conflict with the Kremlin. This is the first clear and practical proof that not only the country's economic situation, but also - and above all - its geopolitical situation has worsened. ... Not only will Ukraine not join the EU, Europe's political show of solidarity with Kiev since the Orange Revolution is so weak that it has not even survived the first test." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Energia, » Ukraina, » Rosja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jan Rokita

The liberal weekly Magyar Narancs says Ukraine has only itself to blame for its present predicament and calls for more political pressure from the EU. "All Ukraine has to do is sign long-term contracts in accordance with European principles and start paying more for Russian gas in a transparent way - of course only gradually - and Russia would go along with this. If it took this course of action and launched a comprehensive energy reform - entailing a break with the wasteful and irrational policy of using gas as the main energy source for its industry and people - it would come a step closer to Europe. It won't help that Ukraine is more democratic than Russia if its political elite is incapable of acting according to European principles. ... Instead of giving Ukraine money the EU should insist on its adhering to the European system of values and offer Kiev the prospect of membership coupled to strict and binding conditions. Otherwise Ukraine will remain a grey area." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, węgierski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka UE, » Energia, » Ukraina, » Rosja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Balázs Jarábik

According to the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Russia is using the gas conflict to weaken Ukraine because it refuses to accept Ukraine's sovereignty: "Russian diplomats have repeatedly, even publicly, toyed with the option of bringing about the internal destabilisation or even the division of Ukraine, which Moscow sees as an 'artificial' state. An east Slavic orthodox nation, a sister nation whose poets (Gogol, for example) the Russians see as their own, and which despite their joint history has rejected the authoritarian Russian model of democracy and opted for openness; a former key province of the empire wanting to join the EU and Nato - this is unacceptable for Russians like [Russian prime minister Vladimir] Putin, who once described the collapse of the Soviet Union as a 'catastrophe'. He has already proven in Georgia that he knows how to make the best of an opportunity. Now he has Ukraine by the throat." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, duński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Energia, » Ukraina, » Rosja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Konrad Schuller

For the daily Der Standard, the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine is a struggle for zones of influence: "It may seem surreal that almost 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Central and Eastern European leaders still travel to Moscow with their pleas. ... Europe's dependence on Russian gas and Ukrainian transit routes has led both sides to play out a power game over the EU. It is pure chutzpah when Putin now says that Kiev is blackmailing Europe. Moscow is doing exactly the same - with the purely accidental result that those Westerners who dispute his 'natural' zone of indluence are being given a lesson similar to Georgia's, this time with gas instead of tanks." (15/01/2009)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Energia, » Ukraina, » Rosja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Josef Kirchengast

Demonstrators in Riga have hurled paving stones at the parliament and inflicted huge damages in the centre of the city in anger at the repercussions of the international financial crisis in Latvia. Latvijas Avize newspaper is shocked: "January 13 will go down in Latvian history, because not even during the struggle for independence did Latvians resort to violence in presenting their views. And they have always proved immune to provocation. But now it has happened, and even if it sounds banal: we have crossed a threshhold comparable to 9/11 in the United States. Just as the the authorities in Washington did not take warnings seriously back then, we too ignored information about potential provocations. And our government now has a pretext to tighten the thumbscrews, which means restricting democracy and the recourse to political action." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, łotewski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Polityka finansowa, » Polityka gospodarcza, » Łotwa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Māris Antonevičs

The weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur reports on growing tensions between Muslim and Jewish communities in France as a result of the Gaza conflict. "The idea that the country in Europe with the largest Jewish and Muslim communities could escape tensions arising from the Middle East conflict was simply absurd. And that no one bothered to consider this is simply irresponsible. ... The media bear a huge resonsibility, and it is their duty to reflect the complexity of this curse afflicting the Middle East. A short while ago representatives of the major religions finally took the iniative and called on all of their followers to refrain from any form of violence. And the intellectuals also have a crucial - and clear - role to play in this test. They must show Arab opinion that there are many French Jews who oppose Israel's invasion, and they must make it clear that there are many French Muslims who hate Hamas." (14/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, francuski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Mniejszości, » Francja, » Bliski i Środkowy Wschód
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jean Daniel

At the beginning of the week the Italian communist MEP Giusto Catania introduced a resolution in the European Parliament granting homosexual couples an equal status to heterosexual marriages. Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper writes: "Catania is convinced that people's fundamental rights ... are not always respected in the European Union. According to him - supported by the vast majority of representatives - the states of the EU should make things easier for homosexual couples by according them privileges that are also valid in other EU countries - independently of whether they are legally married or not. The radical Right in the European Parliament (especially the Polish MEPs of the conservative Law and Justice party), have all protested. ... 'The European Parliament has passed the most dangerous document I have seen in my term in office', says the Polish conservative MEP Konrad Szymański." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Mniejszości, » Polska
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Konrad Niklewicz

The upcoming elections to the European Parliament could be made more attractive If voters had more to vote for, writes De Volkskrant newspaper. "People's interest in the elections would increase markedly, for example, if the Christian Democratic parties ... clearly stated that if elected they will make sure that the Christian Democrat José Manuel Barroso continues to head the Commission. ... And the elections would draw even more attention if the Social Democrats ... presented an alternative candidate (Tony Blair?). Even if such initiatives failed because the national parties couldn't agree on a European candidate, the stakes can still be raised on the national level. The Dutch government could promise in the run-up to the elections that its member of the European Commission would come from the party that receives the most votes in the Netherlands. ... In this way voters would know that their vote not only decides who represents them in the European Parliament, but also which Dutch person will succeed Neelie Kroes in the European Commission." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niderlandzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Konstytucja UE, » Holandia, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Ben Crum

Alessandro Leto warns the West of the dangers of being too tolerant with repressive governments in the daily Corriere del Ticino. "The main prerequisites for a free and dignified life are being negated not only in those states where people are under the yoke of explicitly totalitarian dictatorships, as in the case of North Korea or Myanmar, but also in countries where certain factors lead to groups who often have a military background taking power and making major changes, also to the constitution, to ensure the permanence of their government. ... It seems to me that the time has come to make certain fundamental political distinctions, not only because it is dangerous to try to distinguish between evil and tolerable dictatorships, but also because our security - not only financial but also military - could in future be compromised by precisely those who have a totalitarian and despotic vision. ... It is distressing to see the celebration of the anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights has prompted neither the US nor Europe to stress that from now on human rights must increasingly become a discriminatory element in international relations. The more tolerant we are towards dictators, the more opportunity we give them to grow in power to our own detriment." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, włoski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Cały świat
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Alessandro Leto

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the end of Swedish rule over Finland, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt praises the relations between the two states in the daily Helsingin Sanomat. "The relations between Sweden and Finland are naturally one of a kind. They are shaped by a common language, a common history, the migration between our two countries and a large number of family ties. ... Down the centuries hundreds of thousands of Finns have had a hand in making Sweden what it is today. ... Two hundred years ago this was one of the poorest corners of the world. Today the Baltic Region is one of the most dynamic parts of the EU. ... In 1809 Sweden and Finland parted ways. Now, 200 years later, we are once more on the same path. But the bumpy trail of former years is now a broad European roadway. On it we move together, with plenty of elbowroom on either side." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, fiński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Historia, » Finlandia, » Szwecja

The daily Göteborgs-Posten examines whether the state financial aid that is a key element of rescue packages aimed at countering the economic and financial crises can really solve all the problems. "A clever government puts money aside in times of economic upswing. This won't prevent a recession, but it will cushion its impact. State debt must be limited to avoid tax increases and cuts in social benefits. Spending more and more money won't make an expansive policy aimed at fighting an economic downturn any more correct. ... What a government does with the money it collects from taxpayers is no trivial matter. On the contrary: it is imperative that the government has the political courage not to try and please everyone - even if doing so would make it more popular in the short term." (15/01/2009)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, szwedzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka gospodarcza, » Rynki finansowe, » Szwecja, » Europa, » Cały świat

The anti-government daily Ta Nea writes about the mistakes the Greek government has made in economic policy: "For five years the economic administration has been getting worse and worse. And even the real economy, on which jobs and salaries depend, has failed to do anything about it ... . The gradual decrease in lending capital which the Greek state announced yesterday is ... the official recognition of this failure. Our economy entered the Eurozone on an equal footing with other economies but is the only one to be in a worse situation now. ... Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis is responsible for this. In five years the government has not implemented a single structural intervention. It confined itself to a policy of easy loans and selling off state assets." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, grecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka gospodarcza, » Grecja

Commissioned by the Czech government to mark the beginning of its EU presidency and created by artist David Černý, the installation "Entropa" is a provocative representation of the countries of the EU. Spain is depicted as a concrete surface with a cement mixer on top. El País is delighted with this ironic twist in Czech tradition: "In creating his work Černý made use of the irony and humour that has a long tradition in Czech culture (this is the homeland of Bohumil Hrabal, Jaroslav Seifert and Kafka, even if the latter wrote in German) yet managed to avoid the tackiness or venerable banality that tends to mar this type of art. Thus, the Czech semester begins with a healthy smile. We extend it a warm welcome." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Sztuki piękne, » Literatura, » Hiszpania, » Czechy, » Belgia, » Europa

The Danish newspaper Berlinske Tidende reflects on the merits of passing a law making Danish the compulsory language at universities. Such a law is intended to prevent English from taking over entirely, the paper writes: "We must not forget in the debate pitting Danish and English against each other that other major languages such as French and German, with which we have traditionally had close ties, are limping far behind. It should be left up to the universities to choose which language they use to remain internationally competitive. Danish will not be threatened by that." (15/01/2009)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, duński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Nauka/ Badania naukowe, » Dania

Many Bulgarians fear that the EU will restrict their traditional lifestyle, the Romanian daily Romania Libera writes: "One example is what would happen to the Balkan 'mese' ritual. The word is of Turkish origin but is also used in Romanian to refer to meat and other snacks. Mese are more ... than just a snack; they're a lifestyle, providing the opportunity for friends to get together at lunch time or in the evening and chat over cigarettes, pickled cucumbers and cheese - without worrying about the time. But in today's neo-liberal Bulgaria time has become more important, particularly as the whole atmosphere has changed. Smoking is no longer allowed in most cafes. But what's a mese without a cigarette? ... People want to keep the tradition of the mese along with cigarettes, alcohol and sticky table cloths, and even flytraps hanging from the ceiling. And they have every right to do so. Europe shouldn't interfere with such trifles." (15/01/2009)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, rumuński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Styl życia, » Rumunia, » Bułgaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Dan Alexe