euro|topics - Helmar Dumbs

21/11/2008

English
Deutsch
Français

Español

Dumbs, Helmar

5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Die Presse - Austria | 16/07/2008

Who will protect the peacekeepers?

The International Criminal Court in the Netherlands has issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir while at the same time the UN is withdrawing its troop of 200 Blue Helmets from the war-torn province of Darfur. This inconsistent approach only strengthens the position of al-Bashir and Sudan's protector, China, writes the daily Die Presse: "Darfur urgently needs each and every UN worker it has, if not for protection then at least to keep a record of the war crimes. ... This is undoubtedly crushing proof of powerlessness. ... Encouraged by its 'success', Sudan's protector China is banking on the UN withdrawing the Criminal Court's charges. ... However, if Bashir carries through on his threat to escalate the violence perhaps the Western states will soften their stance. It would be the last piece in the puzzle called 'The failure of the international community in Darfur'."

Die Presse - Austria | 11/02/2008

Turkey eases the ban on headscarves

"The state has the right to forbid its employees to wear religious symbols, but it does not have the right to expect female students as 'customers' of the university to remove their headscarves when they enter the campus. This piece of fabric cannot bar admission to higher education," writes Helmar Dumbs. "The dangers are elsewhere, for example in the mounting reports that Erdogan favours civil servants whose wives wear the 'turban.' This is what undermines the foundations of a state that is officially neutral on religion. For how secular is a state whose religious authority even interferes in Friday sermons? De facto Islam is the state religion in Turkey, while the Christian Churches are subjected to official harassment. This is not the separation of state and religion, it is total control of religion by the state."

Die Presse - Austria | 10/09/2007

A common European policy on Kosovo?

Helmar Dumbs admonishes Europeans, pointing out that at least the US has a clear stance on Kosovo: it has announced that it will recognise Kosovo's independence. "Eight years after the war in Kosovo, Serbs and Albanians have a right to know where they stand. They know what the US standpoint is and they know what Russia's is - the latter has given independence a resounding 'nyet'. But Kosovo is not in the US or in Russia, it's in Europe, and it's about time EU states finally grasp what that means: that they simply can't afford not to have a common position on Kosovo... If they can't reach a consensus on this within the EU, they needn't waste their time trying to establish a common foreign and security policy."

Die Presse - Austria | 07/08/2007

No end to the Polish government crisis

"After months of mud-slinging, Poland's ruling parties are blaming each other for the breakdown of the coalition," Helmar Dumbs writes. "Anyone who finds the bickering of the Viennese coalition amusing should take a look at Poland: for months now the alliance of Kaczynski's PiS, a right-wing extremist (Roman Giertych) and a boxer who has done time (Lepper) has been giving a spectacular mud-slinging performance. And whenever the focus has shifted to foreign policy it was often owing to proposals like that of striking Goethe from the required reading list for senior classes. Thanks to this government, Poland's credibility has reached rock bottom. If the situation wasn't so serious we would nominate the entire troupe for a theatre prize, the play in question being 'It's the Other Side's Fault.' Thanks to its miserable performance, polls indicate the coalition has no chance of a rerun. And that's no mean achievement considering Poland's excellent economic statistics."

Die Presse - Austria | 10/07/2006

Poland - a family business

Helmar Dumbs is appalled by the dismissal of Polish prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. "When after months of paralysing tactical games, Jaroslaw Kaczynski finally forced his party into a coalition with the extreme right and a political hooligan, people thought it couldn't get any worse – but they were wrong. With an unerring instinct for making the worst possible impression he has now deposed the front man he installed as prime minister and taken over the post himself – betraying the electorate in so doing. He had promised again and again that 'under no circumstances' would he become head of government while his brother Lech was still president. How long did he keep his promise? Not even a year.

» Index of Authors

Bookmark this page at