Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister who has been sentenced to seven years in prison, has made the headlines with her hunger strike and poor health. But in an article published in the conservative weekly Heti Válasz, Jarosław Gizinski , editor of the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita, isn't convinced by what he calls her attempts to play the martyr: "Yulia Tymoshenko is a contradictory personality. She has been described as the 'Ukrainian Jeanne D'Arc', as the 'gas princess', 'Iron Yulia' and the 'last man in Ukrainian politics'. Now languishing in jail, Tymoshenko has become a symbol of Ukraine's bankrupt democracy. … Ukraine is still far from reaching European democratic standards. But to portray Tymoshenko as someone who always defends democratic values is wrong. She herself didn't understand the laws of democracy, human rights and the free market. Back in the mid-90s she didn't enter politics to build a democratic society in her home country, but to protect her own interests and her business empire. In this respect she is no different to all the other Ukrainian oligarchs." (24/05/2012)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, węgierski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka, » Ukraina
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jarosław Giziński

A good two weeks before Euro 2012 kicks off in Poland and Ukraine, the imprisonment of Ukrainian opposition figure Yulia Tymoshenko is putting a strain on Kiev's relations with the West. The West should opt for a twin strategy regarding Ukraine, the Polish publicist Adam Krzemiński writes in the left-liberal weekly paper Polityka: "It is certainly laudable to pressure President Yanukovich to treat Tymoshenko fairly. Nevertheless there is a danger that boycotting Euro 2012 would only worsen the situation, pushing Ukraine further into the camp of authoritarian Russia. ... So what is to be done? On the one hand we must refrain from making any brotherly gestures, on the other we should nevertheless talk with Kiev. And we shouldn't be too quick to cancel meetings like the planned summit in Yalta. Because more was at stake than just a photo with Yanukovich. The problem is not that the meeting in Yalta has been put off, but that Warsaw and Berlin have not been able to agree on a common strategy regarding Kiev." (23/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Stosunki międzynarodowe, » Polska, » Ukraina
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Adam Krzeminski

The financial and economic crisis has led to a new protest movement in Europe and the US. But the angry youths behind the Occupy movement are less idealistic than their parents who took to the streets in the 1960s and 70s, writes columnist Zorniza Ilieva in the daily Novinar: "Young people today are more pragmatic, more adaptable, far better informed and aware that music can't change the world. In the last century, clever boys sang songs about politics and we all sang along with them - and still do today. But today these boys would seem ridiculous, because they have no place in our modern world. Today young people are storming the parliaments, founding parties, delivering inflammatory speeches and intervening in top-level politics. Once in power, however, they quickly become just like their predecessors. Their speeches become more and more smooth and moderate and they lose the fire of protest and the energy that comes with newness." (22/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, bułgarski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Ruchy społeczne, » Demografia, » społeczeństwo, » Europa, » USA
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Zorniza Ilieva
Aktualne debaty » Oburzeni wyszli na ulice

In his new book Europa braucht den Euro nicht (Europe doesn't need the euro), former Bundesbank banker Thilo Sarrazin takes aim at the wobbly single currency. The liberal-conservative daily Die Presse publishes an excerpt from the book, which went on sale on Monday: "Greece, Portugal, Italy, Spain and all those countries in Southern Europe should be glad that they have the euro and can spend euros. But those euros should be earned, not received as a gift or loan from the countries of the North - through whatever indirect channel that may be. Government transfer channels which are not limited to EU structural funds undermine this principle: they create a divide between givers and takers and fuel aversion and reservations among nations. If a country can't or doesn't want to live with the discipline required by the single currency it should be free to return to its national currency whenever it wants to." (22/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka finansowa, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Thilo Sarrazin
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

The Greeks are receiving preferential treatment in Europe simply because 2,500 years ago they invented democracy and the Olympic Games, columnist Berthold Seewald complains in the conservative weekly Welt am Sonntag: "But the ensuing 2,500 years are ignored: the fact that after the Greek, Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, Avarian, Bulgarian and Turkish invasions, there was hardly anything left; that Greek Orthodoxy has developed neither a monastic work ethos nor commitment to public welfare; that the clan and clientele structures left over from 400 years of Turkish rule are still very much alive. …Two key words determine the rhetorical impact of the problem: democracy and sustainability. Democracy was invented 2,500 years ago in Greece, while sustainability is linked to the realisation that at some point we need to find a balance between the available resources and our needs, because as we all know, our planet's resources are limited. … Greece stands as a reminder of the most important political experiment in history and of the surrender of a society in the distribution of privation. The one is a glorious past, the other a tormented future." (20/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Kultura pamięci, » Europa, » Azja Środkowa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Berthold Seewald
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

Today's crisis of the EU is not just about economic interests, and just as much a crisis of democracy, the journalist Annika Ström Melin writes in the liberal daily Dagens Nyheter: "If the EU is to survive, the influence of the citizens must be strengthened at both the national and EU level. ... The Union will never be a completely democratic state structure with an elected government, common taxes and a joint security and defence policy. Nevertheless, despite its democratic weaknesses there is every reason to defend and develop the legacy of Robert Schuman [one of the founding fathers of the EU]. Ultimately it is a modern form of cooperation for independent democratic countries to join forces and seek solutions to common problems in a democratic way while continuing to exist as independent states. However the supranational rules must be strengthened regarding human rights. If you consider the extreme parties that are currently gaining ground with the EU crisis, it's good to know that the member states are not entirely free to do as they please." (15/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, szwedzki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Annika Ström Melin

In Spain, the protest of the "indignant" began on 15 May 2011 (15-M) with a major demonstration at Madrid's Puerta del Sol Square against the austerity policy and corruption in politics. To mark the anniversary of the protest, tens of thousands of demonstrators are once again gathering in Spanish cities. They want to regain their sovereignty as the people, and it is their legitimate right to do so, writes political scientist Ramón Cotarelo in the left-leaning daily Público: "Sovereignty rests with the people, not because the constitution says so but because this is the way it is regardless of what the constitution says. Of course it's better that the constitution recognises this, but even if it didn't it wouldn't mean that sovereignty rested with anyone other than the people. … The people can transfer this sovereignty to a representative institution, or if they believe that the institution is not fulfilling its role they can retrieve it. And this is precisely what spontaneous movements like 'Democracia Real Ya' [real democracy now'] and 15-M, which agree that they want to change the political, economic and social system in its totality and revise the social contract, are now doing." (14/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, hiszpański)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Ruchy społeczne, » Hiszpania
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Ramón Cotarelo
Aktualne debaty » Oburzeni wyszli na ulice

Europe's economy needs growth, but not at the expense of future generations, writes political scientist Claus Leggewie in the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, proposing a green growth pact for southern European countries: "Instead of strangling Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy with austerity dictates the EU could for example draw up a Marshall Plan for expanding renewable energy sources in Southern Europe and North Africa. What these countries need is public and private investments in new and sustainable infrastructures rather than repairs on existing energy and transport infrastructures or burrowing holes with job creation schemes only to fill them in again afterwards. … Political ecology must become the benchmark for the governments of both Germany and France. Chancellor Merkel has reiterated her commitment to climate protection and resource efficiency. Now, together with François Hollande and other partners of a 'coalition of the willing', she should develop this into a maxim for European development." (15/05/2012)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, niemiecki)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Środowisko, » Polityka gospodarcza, » Niemcy, » Francja, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Claus Leggewie
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

Viktor Orbán's right-wing conservative government has completed the first half of its term of office. Taking stock of the first two years in the left-liberal weekly Élet és Irodalom, political scientist Attila Ágh draws a parallel with the Bolshevist parties before the fall of communism: "In truth the ruling party Fidesz hasn't even really begun governing. Instead it has been busy cementing its grip on power and filling the most important posts in the state. It is now finished with the latter so that all the key posts are occupied by Fidesz clones. … Fidesz most resembles the Bolshevist-type parties. There are striking similarities between the Orbán government and the former sole ruling parties which established a centralised one-party state back then. Today's Fidesz presents itself as a Bolshevist party that is even more tightly organised than the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) in the 1980s. And just like the MSZMP at the end of that decade, Fidesz is also showing signs of internal collapse. … The breakdown of parties of the Bolshevist type follows its own logic; at first it's a gradual, barely noticeable process but then it gathers speed, ending in complete collapse." (14/05/2012)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, węgierski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Węgry
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Attila Ágh
Aktualne debaty » Resistance to Hungarian government

The elections in France and Greece have shown that far from being a passing phenomenon, populism has become a force to be reckoned within Europe, the liberal daily Kaleva writes: "One after another the countries of Europe are running into difficulties, making day to day life harder for the man on the street while uncertainty mounts. This is where the populist movements draw their force from. Even if they can't offer a credible political alternative, they allow the people to give the well-off decision-makers a lesson in humility. ... Typical for populists is that they simplify complex things. If you look at what's happening in Europe's economy and try to predict what will come next, it's difficult to find a common strand. The populists react to this state of affairs with slogans the simple people can grasp hold of. ... The classic party landscape is at the end of its tether in Europe. Populism shakes up rigid power structures. The traditional parties are now racking their brains for ways to deal with the new situation. Sweden has chosen the path of isolation. Many other countries are asking how populists can be included in the government and tamed as a result." (14/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, fiński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Wybory, » Polityka, » Francja, » Grecja, » Europa
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia