IMF boss Christine Lagarde has advised the Greeks to focus on helping themselves by paying their taxes. The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung can't understand why this has caused such outrage: "If the Greeks reacted as fiercely towards those responsible for the debt crisis as the political elite is reacting to the plain words of Christine Lagarde, they would put an end to the Greek elite's dastardly game of collective tax evasion. The boss of the International Monetary Fund has only dared to say out loud what everyone in Athens and every real estate agent in Zurich or London already knows: as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Greece's elite avoids paying any taxes and sends billions abroad - and every Greek government lets them get away with it. Naturally there is a lot of anger on the streets of Athens about the cutbacks for normal people. But the anger of taxpayers in the creditor countries is also growing when they see that the bailout money just passes through Greece and is ultimately used to save financial investments elsewhere or drive up house prices." (29/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Podatki, » Grecja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Holger Steltzner
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

The representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Mursi, and the last prime minister to serve under Hosni Mubarak's rule, Ahmed Schafik, will face each other in the run-up vote for the Egyptian presidency on June 16 and 17. They each obtained roughly a quarter of the vote in the first round of the election, which had a turnout of just 46 percent. This highlights how little support they have among the people, writes the Christian-social daily Trouw: "Now the two extremes are pitted against each other: the Islamism of the Muslim Brotherhood and the secular autocracy of the old regime. But it would be wrong to reduce the political climate in Egypt to these two extremes. If you look at the results of the candidates who ranked first to fifth in the first round there are some surprising insights. More than 55 percent gave a secular candidate their vote. … So above all for the younger generation, the second round is simply a choice between a rock and a hard place. And it is to be feared that many will stay at home. This should be a warning to Mursi and Schafik. … The power base of the new head of state will certainly be a narrow one." (29/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niderlandzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Wybory, » Egipt
Aktualne debaty » Świat arabski walczy o wolność

The government of the Republic of Cyprus is considering the option of seeking assistance from the EU bailout fund. So far the country has been able to keep its head above water only thanks to a loan from Russia. Cyprus has learned nothing from the crisis in Greece, the conservative daily Simerini complains: "It's a myth that an economy can solve its problems through arithmetic feats. … The bailout mechanism would neither solve our problems nor even be good for us unless a strict programme of fiscal discipline with less state intervention is implemented and economic growth boosted beforehand. The introduction of higher taxes is not the solution. They would kill the market and the economy! And they create the conditions for a troika [of creditors] that subjects us to the same harsh and degrading treatment as the citizens of Greece have received." (28/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, grecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka finansowa, » Cypr, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Giannos Charalampidis
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

The new Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić is not just coarse and aggressive in his manner but is also under suspicion of having committed plagiarism, writes Attila Árpád Pásztor, an expert on Serbia, in the left-liberal weekly Élet és Irodalom: "Nikolić's popularity is by no means unvarying. Many millions of Serbs find the new president's brutish and aggressive style repellent. His coarse behaviour was above all apparent during his time as a parliamentarian. … Compared to psychologist and university lecturer Tadić, Nikolić is certainly uncultured. A president's suitability for office doesn't depend on his degrees or his English skills, but Nikolić lacks both. The latter can quickly be remedied with a good language course, but the allegations of plagiarism can't. … And there are reports that Nikolić's dirty record goes further than his diploma thesis … Only recently Nikolić sued the daily newspaper Blic for two million euros in damages for writing that his fellow students had no recollection of him studying with them." (25/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, węgierski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka, » Serbia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Árpád Attila Pásztor

The former Romanian agriculture minister Ioan Avram Mureşan will spend seven years behind bars for corruption after Romania's supreme court upheld a judgement without further appeal, thus ending legal proceedings that have gone on for eight years. Mureşan will be the first Romanian ex-minister to actually go to prison, the daily newspaper Gândul writes jubilantly: "The sentence sends a warning to other dignitaries who are either under investigation or already standing trial on charges of corruption. It is a signal to all those who still believe that with time they will be able to wriggle out of their responsibility and that the judiciary has forgotten them amongst the thousands of other pending cases. ... Clarifying the facts in major cases of corruption is difficult; the procedures are lengthy, and one of the parties in the dispute always has an interest in delaying judgement. ... But even the opponents of Daniel Morar [the boss of anti-corruption authority DNA] and [chief public prosecutor] Laura Codruţa Kövesi must see that the public prosecutors are industrious and are getting things moving in the complex legal system. Even if they work slowly - sometimes they deliver fitting judgements." (29/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, rumuński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Przestępczość, » Sądownictwo, » Rumunia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Rodica Ciobanu

The counting of the votes has started in Egypt after the presidential elections. The country has taken a big step in the direction of democracy, praises the left-liberal daily Frankfurter Rundschau: "For the first time in the history Egyptians had the choice between several candidates, and at least it seems as if the election was relatively fair and free of fraud. Also new was the good organisation. ... The same holds for the electorate. Wherever you look these days people are talking about politics. ... And the next lesson? It will come when the new president takes office. Many Egyptians dearly hope that a strong man will take the reins of power once more and bring calm to the country. But how is that supposed to happen? ... The government will never be able to satisfy everyone, and there will be further protests. The next lesson is therefore: 'Forget the big leaders!' ... Egypt is still a long way from becoming a functioning democracy. But the presidential elections - regardless of how they transpire - have brought it one big step forward." (25/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Wybory, » Egipt
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Julia Gerlach
Aktualne debaty » Świat arabski walczy o wolność

The Russian President Vladimir Putin named the cabinet of his political protégé Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, reserving many key posts for his own trusted followers. Putin has once more shown who's wearing the trousers, writes the news portal Alfa: "The fact that the Russian president of all people has the last word in forming the government illustrates the true balance of power in Moscow very clearly. And Medvedev found himself once again on the fringe of important processes - as so often during his four-year presidency which has just come to an end. ... Putin profited much from Medvedev's liberal image during the transitional period, protecting the Russian 'hero' who has retreated to the post of prime minister from Western criticism. Illusions that Medvedev can stimulate economic reforms and improve the human rights situation had spun the heads of numerous analysts and political commentators. ... Now however it should be clear to everyone that the 'little bear' is no danger to anyone, least of all the true ruler of the Kremlin." (24/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, litewski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Prawa człowieka, » Rosja
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Antanas Manstavicius

The talks in Baghdad over Iran's nuclear programme ended without results on Thursday after only two days. The next meeting is set to take place in Moscow in June. But just talking won't be of much help, writes the left-liberal daily Der Standard: "No one expected a breakthrough in Baghdad. Nevertheless both sides also know that there will be no more talks just for the sake of talking. Perhaps this is really the last chance for the time being. Iran sees that there's nothing more to be gained simply from being willing to sit down at the table. But its negotiating partners are also working on borrowed time and have to reach an agreement among themselves on what a deal is worth to them." (25/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Nauka/ Badania naukowe, » USA, » Bliski i Środkowy Wschód, » Iran
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Gudrun Harrer

Portugal's economics minister last week referred to the country's record unemployment figures as "that thing" in parliament. With such an attitude the liberal-conservative government is trivialising one of society's worst evils, the business daily Jornal de Negócios criticises: "Europe increasingly resembles the Eurovision Song Contest: a genuine freak show. Our economics minister could perform there, too. Unemployment has long since ceased to be a collateral 'thing' and become an evil that is destroying our society. It's surprising how perplexed our government appears to be by this phenomenon. It's about time someone explained to it that without work, nothing works. Balancing the budget is crucial. But this goal can't be attained by turning Portugal into a tax-collecting nation where people earn even less than the Greeks. This obsession is beginning to turn into militant abuse." (24/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, portugalski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka gospodarcza, » Praca, » społeczeństwo, » Portugalia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Fernando Sobral

The Slovenian Health Minister Tomaž Gantar put the country's largest drugstore chain Lekarna Ljubljana under administrative supervision in mid May owing to bookkeeping irregularities and ethically questionable sales strategies. On Wednesday it became known that the mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, tried to put in a good word for his friend, the boss of the drugstore chain Marko Jaklič, with the health minister. Deplorable behaviour, the conservative daily Delo writes: "The voters should have asked the mayor what he's more worried about: Jaklič's profits or the health of his citizens? Common sense tells us you can't have it both ways. Or is this sort of behaviour usual among the 'boys'? … Given the most recent revelations about his affairs the mayor's anxiety is understandable. More than any kind of political payback everything points to the simple fact that every seed eventually bears fruit. In this case one of them happened to be Jaklič." (24/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, słoweński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » gospodarka, » Słowenia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Milena Zupancic