After the discord of recent weeks, Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Ferenc Gyurcsány have met in the southern Slovakian border town of Komárno, and issued a common statement condemning extremism and neo-fascism. Nothing but lip service, writes Der Standard newspaper: "With their public appearance, both prime ministers were simply catering to their home clientele. Fico is dependent on his nationalist coalition partner at least until the next elections. Clearly he also owes his popularity to duplicity: he distances himself from the verbal excesses of Ján Slota, leader of the Slovak National Party, but at the same time he holds firmly to the coalition. Gyurcsány, for his part, has his back to the wall and believes the only way he can stand up to the pressure of the right-wing nationalist opposition is by playing the national card. Regardless of their motives, both prime ministers have knowingly fallen into the nationalism trap. And the meeting in Komárno shows just how difficult it is to get out of it again." (17/11/2008)

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All available articles from » Josef Kirchengast

With an eye to their own parliamentary elections in 2010, the Swedish parties followed the US election campaign closely and now plan to make more use of electronic media. "But the parties are forgetting a few important aspects," writes Abraham Staifo in the daily Göteborgs-Posten. "A blog can't make a policy and YouTube can't make a man. ... The parties' greatest miscalculation is that they are attributing too much importance to the blogosphere as a place for winning votes. ... What is important for Sweden's parties is not which medium they use, but what message they want to convey. Moreover, it would be wiser to take conditions in Sweden into account rather than becoming fixated on those in the US. Sure, young voters can be best reached through the Internet. And the party that has the best chance of winning is the one that can pull its own [Barack] Obama out of its sleeve. On the other hand, copies are never as good as the originals." (14/11/2008)

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All available articles from » Abraham Staifo

The European Commission presented a new strategy for securing Europe's energy supplies on Thursday. The daily newspaper Postimees praises the new strategy, which is intended to strengthen Europe's position vis-à-vis gas suppliers like Russia: "Up until now it was mostly the case that it was up to each individual EU member state to work out how and where it got its energy from. The new strategy, on the other hand, can be summed up as follows: the member states build up a common supply network and exercise joint control over consumption. For Estonia and the Baltic states the implementation of this plan would represent a huge step forwards. If, for instance, Russia decided to turn off the tap or increase prices without justification, the others would step in to help through the common network. True, it will be years before this strategy is actually implemented, but the important thing is that this project is not allowed to fail owing to the national interests of individual members." (14/11/2008)

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A trial over police attacks on antiglobalists in Diaz School during the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001 has come to an end after three years. More than half of the 29 people accused of abuse of authority and criminal assault have been acquitted. In La Repubblica newspaper Giuseppe D'Avanzo has harsh words for the judgement. "Just like in the Bolzaneto trial [another location of violence during the G8 summit], this is a poor judgement. Above all it is careless and dangerous. ... Just as with Bolzaneto, the judges should have cleared up how and on whose authority a legal black hole can exist in a democracy where the rule of law and constitutional guarantees are annulled and naked life ... is subjected to arbitrary and bloodthirsty violence. ... Seven years after the attacks that were justified as emergency measures by the government [of current prime minister Silvio Berlusconi] back then, nothing has changed. Far from soothing the situation, the judgements on Diaz and Bolzaneto only disturb us. Rather than healing wounds, they only make them bleed more." (14/11/2008)

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All available articles from » Giuseppe d'Avanzo

Diário Económico writes that in changing the EU marketing requirements for a number of different fruit and vegetables, the EU Commission is considering only the interests of producers and not those of consumers: "Making the sale of fruit and vegetables dependent on size and form has led to enormous waste and price increases for these products. So what? Does this now mean the end of this EU guideline? No, not at all. The EU Commission now formats Europe according to the size and shape of votes and the interests of the large producing countries. Instead of doing away with the requirements completely, now only a few select products will no longer be subject to its dictatorship. And this despite the fact that abolishing this guideline would lower prices considerably for consumers. But why should Brussels be interested in the costs to consumers when these prices bring in so many millions for producers and middlemen?" (13/11/2008)

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All available articles from » João Paulo Guerra

On the eve of the EU-Russia summit in Nice, the daily Romania libera comments on the differences between the stances of the Western and Eastern European states regarding the planned partnership agreement: "It comes as ... no surprise that the EU is advocating the partnership agreement more strongly than Moscow. Europe is dependent on Russian gas, and some states like Slovakia are entirely dependent on it. ... The majority of the EU's western states have always adopted a timid stance towards Russia. ... [Following EU enlargement in 2004] the former communist countries of the East acted far more radically than the West had expected. Countries like the Baltic states and Poland are more familiar with Russia's political mentality. Their geographical proximity and past experience enable the states of the East to decode Moscow's signals more efficiently. ... In comparison with their position, the sad jokes of [Italian Prime Minister Silvio] Berlusconi, who for some time now has systematically proposed that Russia be integrated into the EU, show how inappropriate Europe's traditional pacifist stance is today." (13/11/2008)

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All available articles from » Dan Alexe

Several days ago Sweden's discrimination ombudsman highlighted the negative treatment commonly given to Roma childern in schools and daycare facilities. Dagens Nyheter newspaper reminds readers that according to a study carried out last autumn, more than half of all Roma children in the city of Malmö attend school rarely, if at all. "Roma children were denied access to schools right into the 1960s. Now that they can go to school, they are discriminated against. And according to the study, teachers in Malmö do not seem to miss the children when they are absent. The children's position as outsiders is compounded by the fact that their parents are also situated outside society: only one in ten Roma living in Malmö has a job. Efforts to treat Roma like all other citizens - and to make the same demands on Roma children as on all other children - have only just begun. Admitting how miserably integration has failed is a good start." (13/11/2008)

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In the Italian daily La Stampa Enrico Betizza predicts a rude awakening from the Obama dream. "Obama will have to set aside his mesmerizing rock star mask and be forced to navigate his way through the traps and thorns that are the legacy of the previous government in global politics. Reconciling the unilaterality of the US with the flexibility of the Europeans will be one of the most difficult challenges he faces. The truth is that many a dozy dreamer in Europe mistook Barack Hussein Obama for a knight in shining armour out of a fairytale, whose roots are more in Africa and Asia than in America. But despite his exotic name it turns out that Obama is an all-out American and more truth than we could have ever imagined while we stood hypnotised by the shadow and light of his rise to power. We would do well to remember that he has triumphed with a programme that all things considered is less radical than that of Hilary Clinton and that the indications are that his path - at least as far as foreign policy is concerned - will not be one of momentous change. The break with the Bush Administration will thus be more a matter of form than substance." (13/11/2008)

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All available articles from » Enzo Bettiza

An upcoming meeting between the leaders of Hungary and Slovakia should help soothe the tense bilateral relations between the two countries. "Finally the Hungarian prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány has taken the hand of [his Slovakian counterpart] Robert Fico", writes the left-liberal Pravda with relief. This is not due to the mediation of Pál Csáky, the leader of the party of the Hungarian minority whose statements have so far been tactless and provocative, comments the paper: "Csáky, together with Ján Slota, head of the co-ruling extreme right Slovak National Party, has done all he could to fuel the conflict. ... No, Csáky does not deserve the titel of mediator. If anyone deserves this title it is the Hungarian minority, which forced its leadership to alter its stance. In so doing it proved that the main current of the minority is not radical or extremist, but consists of peaceable mayors, teachers and farmers who seek peace and order, and not confrontation." (13/11/2008)

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All available articles from » Dag Daniš

The Times argues for the resumption of talks between the EU and Russia despite tensions over Georgia, concluding that diplomacy is the only means for furthering Western objectives: "Russia's recent policies have been far from co-operative. It has displayed a prickly nationalism, encouraged anti-American posturing around the world, been obstructive over Kosovo and vetoed UN resolutions on Iran and Zimbabwe. On the day that Barack Obama was elected [US president], Russia chose not to congratulate him but to issue a threat to station missiles in Kaliningrad - in response to US plans for a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia must still be held to account over Georgia. But the right response, as it was when the Soviet Union was actively undermining Western interests, is diplomacy. This must be multifaceted. Arms talks were not abandoned in 1989 because of Afghanistan, nor must other Western goals, including people-to-people contacts, be set aside because of Georgia." (12/11/2008)

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