The Financial Times demands more honesty from French politicians concerning the genocide in Rwanda: "The suggestion that French officials knowingly connived in preparations for genocide might not withstand scrutiny. But there is substance to Rwanda's accusation that France allowed the conditions for genocide to develop by supporting a client regime even after it started committing war crimes. Paris has still to acknowledge its errors and issue any form of apology to Rwanda - a source of immense grievance to survivors of the massacres. ... This was the nadir of France's relationship with client states in Francophone Africa. President Nicolas Sarkozy has almost admitted as much, but he needs to do more. Many leading political figures in France have been outspoken in criticizing Turkey for its failure to examine whether the massacre of Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman empire amounted to genocide. They cite this as a reason Turkey does not belong in the European Union. They need to be honest about their own behaviour in Rwanda." (07/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » France, » Africa

The daily Dagens Nyheter calls for a detailed investigation into France's role in Rwanda: "Many aspects of France's conduct in Rwanda remain unclear, not least the question of where the boundary between colonial delusion and criminal inhumanity lies. This question can only be answered by a thorough investigation. There is a precedent for this: the 1999 investigation into the UN's conduct in Rwanda, which was led by [former Swedish Prime Minister] Ingvar Carlsson on the instructions of Kofi Annan. France is unlikely to be willing to publicly delve into its colonial past of its own free will. But the world, and also the UN, should make it clear that only an independent inquiry can eliminate all the question marks." (07/08/2008)

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"The French have still not honestly faced up to their policy of injustice in Africa", writes the left-wing newspaper die tageszeitung. "Rwanda continues to be taboo in Paris. At best you hear talk of 'errors', which is roughly comparable to Radovan Karadžić calling the massacre in Srebrenica a slip-up. Even today the officials in Paris would prefer to be rid of the report by simply ignoring it, instead of facing up to the facts. The people in Rwanda, whether victims or perpetrators, deserve more. They want to know why their country went through an apocalypse. The [Rwandan] report provides a positive example. Now those named in it should face up to the past in an honest manner." (07/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » France, » Africa
All available articles from » Dominic Johnson

In an interview with the weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur, war reporter Jean Hatzfeld analyses France's responsibility in the Rwandan genocide. "France was present at every stage of the genocide, yet it is not to blame. You can bear responsibility and yet remain innocent. ... France had nothing to gain from this destruction. Nevertheless French politics has often had devastating consequences, notably in the Balkans. Often its aim has been to bolster La Francophonie and favour the most reliable, most legitimate regime, regardless of whether the person in power was a dictator. ... What I find positive about the report is the fact that the West will be confronted with its responsibility. ... It is incredible that there has been no condemnation of the French military in The Hague. One gets the impression that international justice is reserved for local wrongdoers." (06/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » France, » Africa
All available articles from » Valérie Auribault

On the eve of the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games the National Court in Madrid has admitted a suit brought by Tibetan non-governmental organisations against China for crimes against humanity. High-ranking politicians, including two ministers currently in office as well as army generals, stand accused. The daily El País comments: "Logically, the first reaction to the news was disbelief: is the Spanish court to listen to the testimony of Chinese ministers and generals and then sentence and punish them? Surely not. But it was just as unbelievable when the [Chilean] ex-dictator [Augusto] Pinochet was arrested in London after the [Spanish] judge Baltasar Garzón issued an arrest warrant. And it happened on 16 October 1998. ... Certainly, the timing is inconvenient, but the Spanish government has had no choice but to ... swallow its feelings, put on a poker face and explain that it respects the independence of the law." (07/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Social movements, » Crime and Law, » Spain, » China

In its leader the daily Le Monde criticises French Minister for Integration Brice Hortefeux for putting France's migrant organisations under pressure: "Apparently Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux wants to put a spoke in the wheels of organisations that work to help the 'sans-papiers' [illegal immigrants]. ... On August 5 Hortefeux ordered the prefect of [the department of] Seine-et-Marne to ban a demonstration planned to take place on Saturday in front of the Mesnil-Amelot deportation centre. ... The minister has also ordered the police force to monitor the 'activities of splinter groups' more closely. ... No doubt some of these groups are led by left-wing extremists who are using the protection of the 'sans papiers' as a pretext to fight a political battle against the government. But this is only part of the reality and does not reflect the joint action and the general motivation of those who support the 'sans papiers'. By acting like this the executive is certainly not contributing to soothing the mood. On the contrary, it is exposing itself to increased criticism without resolving the political and humanitarian problem that the fate of the 'sans papiers' represents for all European countries." (06/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Migration, » France

Several days after the 17th International Aids Conference in Mexico City, Le Soir newspaper complains that most of the world's states are neglecting their Aids information campaigns: "The complex menace of Aids continues to hover over the world. 25 years after the discovery of the virus, the disease must be combated more relentlessly than ever. ... In the last ten years the life expectancy of patients has increased by roughly thirteen years. ... Partially or entirely blinded by the good news from the research labs, governments have slackened their information and prevention campaigns. ... In focusing the bulk of ressources on medication, we have no doubt forgotten the need to bear in mind the causes of the disease and to support a broad prevention campaign, ... and forgotten that - unfortunately - until the end of time we must repeat that before making love, a few simple gestures are necessary to avoid death." (06/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Health Policy, » Global
All available articles from » Fréderic Soumois

Ian Burama, professor for human rights at Bard College in New York, expresses concern that the Belgian crisis could endanger European unity: "What is happening in Belgium is unusual, but not at all unique. The Czechs and Slovaks already parted ways, as did the different nations of Yugoslavia. Many Basques would like to break away from Spain, as would many Catalans. Corsicans would love to be rid of France, and many Scots of Britain. ... No doubt some of these peoples would be able to survive perfectly well on their own. But history does seem to suggest that the cumulative effect of states falling apart is seldom positive. ... Nation-states were often formed in the 18th and 19th centuries to promote common interests that transcended cultural, ethnic, linguistic, or religious differences. ... The problem now is that interests are no longer the same, or even held in common. The European Union, which actively promotes regional interests, has weakened the authority of national governments. Why rely on London, say the Scots, if Brussels offers greater advantages? ... The fate of Belgium should interest all Europeans, especially those who wish the Union well. For what is happening in Belgium now could end up happening on a continental scale. ... We know what happened when the twin pulls of blood and soil determined European politics before. Without having intended it, the EU now seems to be encouraging the very forces that postwar European unity was designed to contain." (07/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » History, » Belgium, » Europe
All available articles from » Ian Buruma

Italy's ambassador to Germany, Antonio Puri Purini, writes in the German monthly Cicero that Europe can use its cultural legacy to find a way out of the present political crisis. "Europe can only be successful if Europeans recognise the existence of common interests. Culture is a driving force behind this sense of unity. ... When we move around within the European Union we experience and enjoy the diversity that gives expression to a single cultural sphere; it leads to Europe being perceived beyond our borders as a unified whole. Therefore, to me the idea that national identity and European identity can be strengthened through culture and that the ideal Europe and the real Europe can melt into one does not seem overoptimistic. ... If we are not proud of our cultural legacy, Europe will dissolve into nothing more than an economic area; it will not be in a position to consolidate its political profile through integration. Common rules and values, provided they are supported by effective institutions, ... must forge Europe's identity in the 21st century." (30/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Cultural Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » Antonio Puri Purini

The Austrian energy concern OMV has been prevented from taking over the Hungarian oil company MOL by concerns on the part of the EU Commission that the move would infringe antitrust regulations. The daily Der Standard welcomes the decision: "Once more the manager of a corporation with close ties to the state has spouted high phrases but reckoned without his host. In this case the host is not the MOL or the Hungarian government (which went against the spirit of the free market in fighting the OMV with antitrust laws and quirky nationalistic rhetoric). The host who scuttled plans for the construction of a quasi-monopolistic Central European oil company was the EU Commission in Brussels. But this will benefit consumers, because a successful takeover would have meant higher prices. The Viennese fuel traders were only thinking about themselves and their profits, but not about those at the fuel pumps." (07/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Energy Policy, » Corporations, » Hungary, » Austria
All available articles from » Thomas Mayer

The protests staged by Bulgarian farmers who demanded state subsidies and cheap loans following the EU's decision to cut farm subsidies escalated yesterday and ended in police brutality and arrests. Now the government has promised to provide 30 million euros in state aid. The daily Dnevnik criticises the decision: "This scheme for defending vested interests has proved humiliating for both the dairy producers and for society, because it is obviously the only factor behind the government's commitment. If the subsidies that the government is now giving the farmers are not cleared with Brussels and lead to sanctions, the authorities should not have lied to the farmers back in January [when there were also protests and the same kind of aid was promised]. Moreover, the decision to help the branch at the expense of being sanctioned for it could have been made without an escalation and the use of violence." (07/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Agriculture, » Economic Policy, » Bulgaria

On Tuesday the Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti presented the latest state budget which foresees cuts in the area of culture up to 2011. At the same time cultural assets are increasingly passing into private hands. The left-wing daily L'Unità fears for Italy's cultural heritage. "Italy is declining and falling behind the industrialised countries that see culture as a social investment rather than an area that generates costs to be cut. [Through this measure] the ministry has become a perfectly futile apparatus that is destroying itself with the salaries of its employees. ... Cultural tourism has been dealt a fatal blow. This is a great step towards boosting the ailing economy of a country for which cultural tourism represents a main source of income. ... The cuts in funding for police commandos leave the door wide open for art thieves and in particular plunderers of archaeological excavation sites. ...This is the end of culture as a fundamental value for all." (07/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Cultural Policy, » Italy
All available articles from » Vittorio Emiliani

After the German-Romanian writer Herta Müller levelled criticism at the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in Berlin for inviting two former Securitate spies to a cultural event, a parliamentary enquiry has been set up to assess the quality of the ICR. Müller protests in the daily Evenimentul Zilei against the misuse of her criticism by Adrian Paunescu, head of the cultural commission in Romania's Senate, who himself was court poet to Communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu. "For me, Paunescu is the quintessence of moral bankruptcy, the personification of cultural prostitution under the dictatorship. In my opinion, the only thing for him to do after the fall of communism was to shut up for the next 50 years. It is difficult to find an artist as guilty of the moral disaster of the Ceauşescu era as Paunescu. ... My protest was not aimed at the ICR as an institution, nor at the achievements of its director. That was never my intention. ... If my protest is now to be used by Paunescu and others like him, then my message has been inverted." (07/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Cultural Policy, » History, » Germany, » Romania
All available articles from » Herta Müller

The Slovakian Radio Council has instructed the country's radio stations to observe a strict balance of opinion in their programmes: the government may only be criticised if a government representative is immediately allowed to respond. After the introduction of a controversial press law, Slovakian journalists now fear for the freedom of the media. For the liberal daily Sme, the measure "borders on censorship. ... This is a precedence case, which makes the radio and television basically incapable of broadcasting political discussion. You cannot do more for plurality than inviting people with different opinions. The idea that objectivity means giving all possible opinions exactly the same air time is absurd. If you want strict impartiality, you will also have to stop the regular interviews with the head of government. These are nothing but monologues, devoid of any balance of opinion." (07/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Audiovisual Media, » Media policy, » Slovakia
All available articles from » Lukáš Fila