Should a Tunisian who allegedly planned to assassinate a Danish creator of Muhammad cartoons, Kurt Westergard, be deported? The Danish public has been debating this question for several weeks. The daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten comments: "The question is pretty simple. Since the Danish authorities have declared him persona non grata and since two courts and three examinations of material gathered by the [security police] PET have classified him as a dangerous person, such views must be justified. But after all this the refugees' committee has declared that he can't be deported because he would risk torture in his home country. This puts the constitutional state of Denmark in a position in which it is forced to keep the man here because the state is under the obligation not to hand people over to states where torture is allowed. What a crazy end to the debate! ... This makes a mockery of the very Declaration of Human Rights which they are bound to respect." (12/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » Denmark

Romanians will elect a new parliament on November 30. Whereas electoral finances are made public in the US, things are different in Romania, writes the weekly newspaper Dilema Veche: "In Romania the financing of electoral campaigns has no place on the public agenda. People only discuss financing once the elections are over. ... The auditing authority often discovers irregularities, money shows up on party accounts that has no business to be there. But reports about such cases are only heard sporadically. This year more attention should be paid to such matters, because electoral campaigns will be more cost-intensive than ever. Private broadcasters, for example, will demand money for candidates' electoral spots for the first time. ... 'Classic election presents' (corn, cornmeal and cooking oil) are to be distributed, especially in rural areas. ... This spring in the communities of Sintesti and Stefanesti there were voting irregularities and accusations that votes had been purchased. On November 30 the scandal could take on far bigger proportions." (12/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Romania
All available articles from » Luca Niculescu

It is high time that the leaders of Hungary and Slovakia curbed the nationalist agitation in their countries, writes Die Presse newspaper: "The culprits are out there in both countries. On both sides of the Danube politicians are stirring up hatred against the other side. Nationalist extremists - some disguised as football fans, others in black Nazi uniforms - block roads and provoke fights in stadiums. National flags are burned, signs marking towns are smeared. ... It is high time that the leaders of the two countries met and agreed to call a halt to the agitation. Hungary's task is to curb its notorious nationalist rowdies. Slovakian agitators like [the leader of the radial Slovak National Party] Slota deserve to be muzzled, and President [Ivan] Gašparovič must be reminded of his bipartisan role. The conflict over Slovakian school books, for example, should be resolved objectively and without emotions. Because we are in the heart of Europe, and this is the autumn of 2008." (12/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » Hungary, » Slovakia, » Europe
All available articles from » Burkhard Bischof

Accompanied by protests, the eleventh transport of nuclear waste from the French nuclear reprocessing plant in La Hague has arrived at the intermediate storage facility in Gorleben. The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung predicts that nuclear energy will be a major issue in the parliamentary elections of 2009: "It looks good when a democracy strictly observes the right to demonstrate and takes a relaxed stance on non-violent forms of civil disobedience. ... The basic conflict is and remains unsolvable ... . Atomic energy is a form of energy that requires ... complex security systems and people are sometimes unable to deal with this complexity. But it is also rational to recall that so far the only accident with serious consequences was Chernobyl. ... But whichever way you look at it Gorleben remains the symbolic site where opposition to nuclear energy coalesces. ... Neither the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) nor the Social Democratic Party (SPD) have the desire or the courage to initiate an open-ended search for a final disposal site." (11/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Energy Policy, » Germany, » France
All available articles from » Wolfgang Roth

A majority of political players in the Netherlands reject the country's liberal policy of tolerating soft drugs. While the sale of hashish is allowed, trafficking and growing it are banned. But a ban on drug sales would not help combat crime, writes De Volkskrant newspaper: "A ban may sound logical, but it would be short-sighted. Of all people the dealers would be the only ones to really profit from a crackdown on soft drugs. That would push prices up, and the traffickers know all too well that bans only stimulate consumption. ... Criminality is not a result of drugs, but of our strange policy of toleration which pushes people into crime. I know it almost sounds old-fashioned, but let's finally just legalise the stuff! Now that the state is once more at the centre of things, there are no more obstacles to a hashish monopoly. ... And if people abroad find that funny, too bad for them." (11/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Netherlands
All available articles from » Bert Wagendorp

Owing to the presence of Russian troops in Georgia the EU had temporarily broken off its talks with Russia. Now the negotiations are to be resumed, among other things to ward off the threat of Russian energy supplies to Europe being cut off. The daily La Voix du Luxembourg criticises Europe's bowing to Russian pressure in the gas dispute: "The first taste of winter cold has sufficed to make Europeans put on their woolly hats, cover their faces with scarves - and give in to Russia. They didn't want to risk the gas tap being turned off. But if we sacrifice European ideals for the sake of keeping ourselves warm it will be difficult to intervene in the Congo and justify the arrest of a top aide to Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Germany ... or to cite international law as justification for future interventions." (11/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Enlargement / Neighbourhood Policy, » Russia, » Europe
All available articles from » Thierry Labro

In France November 11 is a public holiday commemorating the armistice that ended World War I. Le Monde newspaper writes that it's possible for a country to have too many days of remembrance: "Within the space of half a century the number of days of remembrance in France has doubled. A committee led by the historian André Kaspi has warned about this 'remembrance inflation' and proposed retaining only three national days of remembrance: November 11 (anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I), May 8 (victory against the Nazis) and 14 July (French Revolution). This provoked an immediate storm of protest. On the contrary, new remembrance days should be introduced to take account of recent developments in French society. That's right. Then we would have a really impressive number of public holidays. ... But how can we squeeze in all these dates? 365 day will hardly suffice." (11/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Cultural Policy, » History, » France
All available articles from » Robert Sole

The Cyprus problem and the occupation of the northern part of the island by the Turkish army should be a central issue in the election campaign for the upcoming European Parliament elections, writes Andreas Agelides, an MP for the Democratic Party (DIKO). "It is an obligation that will lead to our rights ... being better understood, because it [the Cyprus problem] will give the public a subject for discussion and judgement. ... Cypriot-Greeks and Greeks who study, work or have taken up residency in an EU state, ... can exercise pressure by sending written petitions to the EU parliament ... or taking the necessary steps for reasons of personal interest or through a collective movement." (09/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » EU Policy, » Cyprus
All available articles from » Andreas Angelides

The conservative daily Magyar Nemzet reflects on what Barack Obama's election means for the Roma minority in Hungary: "Following the election of Obama to US president a Hungarian opinion research institute carried out a provocative survey asking Hungarians whether they would like to see a member of the Roma minority as prime minister. The question was poorly formulated. It leaves the majority no way out. For all the latter has seen is that since the political change of 1989/90 the Roma policy has only worsened the situation of the Roma, pushed the country's crime rate to an intolerable level and made normal coexistence between the majority society and the Roma minority a sheer impossibility. Meanwhile among the Roma, instead of producing people like Attila Lakatos [the 'Roma chief' of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county in north-eastern Hungaria] it has aided opportunistic and corrupt politicians." (10/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Hungary, » U.S.
All available articles from » Töhötöm Tóth Szabolcs

The introduction this year of semi-annual and annual toll stickers for all cars in Slovenia has met with anger primarily among foreign drivers passing through the country. Now European subsidies for the construction of Slovenian motorways have been frozen, because Brussels is demanding toll stickers for a shorter period of time. Primož Cirman explains in Dnevnik newspaper why Slovenia cannot win against Brussels. "Firstly, because Slovenia went into this 'war' unprepared. The toll stickers were introduced hastily, and no studies were carried out on the consequences of the stickers on public finances. And we also acted without the support of the lobby in Brussels, which in the worst case would have 'bought' us one or two years' reprieve. ... Secondly, the experience of the EU member states shows that the European Commission is not in the habit of giving in on questions of road charges. ... Thirdly, by the time proceedings in the European Court of Justice came to an end Slovenia could suffer major damage. What should the new government do? In the long term, it should come up with a strategy for road charges that is valid for more than half a year." (10/11/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Slovenia, » Europe
All available articles from » Primoz Cirman