The internationally renowned Spanish judge was barred from office for eleven years by the Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday. The left-liberal daily El País criticises the judgement according to which Garzón was guilty of authorising illegal recording of the conversations of defence lawyers with their clients: "The eleven-year disbarment for perversion of justice ends the career of a judge who has performed great services to society in the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime. … Garzón's conduct can be justified by the fact that he acted to prevent the crimes of a criminal organisation with ample means to disobey the law, including the complicity of well-paid lawyers. But instead the most foolish, absurd and even insulting argument prevailed: Garzón tried to foil the 'defence's strategies' to the point of lowering the 'Spanish penal process to the levels of a totalitarian system'. With this argument the desired effect was achieved: to put Garzón out of the running as a judge." (10/02/2012)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Sądownictwo, » Hiszpania

According to reports in the media, more than 50 people were killed on Thursday in the western Syrian protest stronghold of Homs. The West must decide now whether to arm the rebels, demands the liberal-conservative daily The Times: "The limits of Western rhetoric are now becoming increasingly apparent. A powerful alliance is emerging, led by the Arab League but including the United States, France and the UK. If the calls to help the rebels end even with the provision of arms, a threshold will have been crossed into a conflict. The West will have taken sides. This is a momentous decision and it cannot be taken casually or reactively. It needs a considered plan and it is now past time that the American and French Presidents and the British Prime Minister met the Arab League, at a place of the latter's choosing, to hold a summit on Syria at which they lay out their plans for action." (10/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polityka bezpieczeństwa / Kryzys / Wojna, » Syria
Aktualne debaty » Świat arabski walczy o wolność

The Romanian parliament confirmed the cabinet of Prime Minister Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu on Thursday with the votes of the ruling coalition. The opposition for the most part boycotted the vote, with the Liberals even failing to turn up at all. But the voters don't like such radical gestures, writes Elena Vijulie on the blog portal Voxpublica: "True, people want radical change. But what [the leader of the Liberals] Crin Antonescu has obviously failed to understand is that Romanian politics can only change when the politicians stop doing radical politics or making radical gestures. The people want to go about their work and look after their families in peace. They want a good, predictable future, so they need predictable politicians. … Romanians want their politicians to think before they open their mouths. … This is why the people took to the streets and managed to persuade even the arrogant [ruling party] PDL to begin thinking about what it does." (10/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, rumuński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Wybory, » Rumunia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Elena Vijulie

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's campaign support for French President Nicolas Sarkozy - including a joint interview on French television on Monday - has been met with heated criticism from the opposition in both countries. But Merkel's help can only advance the European idea, writes the liberal business paper Financial Times Deutschland: "The good thing about Merkel's intervention in the French election campaign is that by stirring up a direct cross-border conflict of opinion she has made European politics more exciting for voters. By hashing things out in the open she has aroused voters' interest in the future of the EU. … For far too long political leaders - Merkel included - have protected the European construction from wide-ranging controversies. … The subject of what direction the EU is to take in the future is well worth a sincere, open public debate. And not just in the French campaign. The same goes for the Greek and Italian elections, as well as those in Germany in 2013. With interventions from across the EU. Because arguments from abroad now concern everyone." (09/02/2012)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Wybory, » Niemcy, » Francja, » Europa

The right-wing conservative Republican Rick Santorum emerged the clear winner from the primaries in the US states of Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado on Tuesday. His competitor Mitt Romney nevertheless remains favourite, writes the liberal daily The Irish Times: "With Iowa, taken by a hair's breadth only after a recount, Santorum, a conservative Catholic who has made his name campaigning against abortion and gay marriage, now has won four states ... to Romney's three. Like [rival] Gingrich before his recent ascent, he has not yet, however, been the subject of the sort of media scrutiny or negative ads that have been thrown at ... each of the conservative frontrunners in turn. His turn will come. Santorum's challenge will now be quickly to turn the fair wind of his surge into cash and organisation on the ground. On both counts he trails Romney badly. And yesterday a Reuters/Ipsos poll had Romney ahead in the race nationally with 29 per cent, with Santorum's support up five percentage points in the past month, to 18 per cent. It's still uphill all the way." (09/02/2012)

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

In its semi-annual report on Bulgaria published on Wednesday the EU Commission pointed to serious shortcomings in the judicial reform and lacking success in the fight against corruption and organised crime. Worse than the criticism from Brussels, however, is the government's reaction, writes the daily Kapital: "The interim report doesn't tell the Bulgarians anything new. They have daily experience of the lack of professionalism on the part of the prosecution and the police, as well as the unscrupulousness and lack of transparency of the highest courts regarding personnel decisions. But much more surprising was the government's reaction. Prime Minister Borisov blamed the NGOs and opposition for the unpleasant criticism from the Eurocrats. Their favourite pastime, he said, was to send letters of complaint to Brussels and put their country in a bad light. Yet Borisov neither criticised nor refuted the progress report's conclusions in his statement. The question remains as to who bears the blame: those who create the problems or those who complain about them?" (08/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, bułgarski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rozszerzenie UE, » Polityka UE, » Sądownictwo, » Bułgaria

The President of the Czech Republic will in future be elected directly by the people. Following the house of representatives the senate, the country's second chamber of parliament, voted on Wednesday in favour of a corresponding change to the constitution. The business paper Hospodářské noviny says the decision marks a turning point for voters: "The fears of the opponents of direct elections, namely that the people could elect some superstar or another, failed to sway the senators who are themselves directly elected. The parliamentarians wanted first and foremost to give the people what they want, as voters have been calling for direct elections for some time. The powers of [President] Václav Klaus' successor will neither be stronger nor weaker than the those of Klaus himself. Nevertheless the people have yet another opportunity to go to the polls, and the presidential elections will at least be among the most entertaining." (09/02/2012)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, czeski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Wybory, » Czechy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Martin Jašminský

The heads of government of the Baltic and Scandinavian countries as well as the UK convened for two-day talks in Stockholm on Wednesday. At the Northern Future Forum they are discussing how to face mutual challenges in the future. The meeting should not be allowed to increase the rift in Europe, the liberal daily Dagens Nyheter warns: "There is a danger that David Cameron is challenging Brussels with this cooperation. The UK rejected the EU's new fiscal compact. Sweden and other countries that rely on free trade and minimum regulation need the British by their side to defend and expand the single market. Europe would be better served if it managed to maintain its unity. … We can only hope that today's summit won't deepen the divide within Europe." (09/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, szwedzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Wielka Brytania, » Europa
Aktualne debaty » Europa dwóch prędkości

The Prime Minister designate of Romania, Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, has named his new cabinet without including a single minister under former prime minister Emil Boc. The parliament will vote on the new government today, Thursday. Commenting on the blog portal Hydepark.ro Mircean Marian is satisfied with the new cabinet: "It's a good thing that the [governing party] PDL has distanced itself from the team under Boc and taken the time to form a cabinet comprising young people who have  no problems with the Anti-Corruption Directorate DNA or the National Integrity Agency ANI. In some cases, like Interior and Finance posts, the differences with the predecessors are immediately obvious. However certain other names can only be viewed with extreme scepticism. ... Some of the new ministers have no experience whatsoever in the area of competence they are now responsible for, and it will take months before they can take the initiative. Nevertheless this cabinet is certainly an improvement on Boc's government." (09/02/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, rumuński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Rumunia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Mircea Marian

Anyone who is caught evading more than a million euros in taxes in Germany must reckon with an unconditional prison sentence, the Federal High Court rules on Tuesday. The decision is a just one, the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung applauds: "Evading one million in taxes = prison. That may sound brutal but it's quite normal. It only sounds brutal because until now harsh penal justice has mainly been reserved for the little man on the street: fare dodgers, petty fraudsters and drug addicts. It may be that the jubilation over the ruling on criminal sentences for tax offences is motivated by envy: most people lack both the means and the possibilities to evade a million euros or more in taxes. But the penalties for tax evaders are being made more severe not because of the social envy of the low earners, but to correct an existing imbalance." (08/02/2012)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Podatki, » Sądownictwo, » Niemcy
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Heribert Prantl