Thomas Schmid
Thomas Schmid (b. 1945) has been chief editor of the Welt Group since 2008 and its publisher since 2010. In the 60s/70s he was part of Frankfurt's student movement and along with Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Joschka Fischer one of the founders of the “Revolutionary Struggle” group of socialist students.
Updated: 21 April 2011
The trial of the neo-Nazi NSU group is being dubbed one of the most important trials of the post-war era in Germany. The media circus around the five accused, however, is hiding the true scandal of this affair: that the NSU was not discovered earlier. 
In the name of serving the greater good of the EU, Brussels claims it is forced to strong-arm its members. Examples from Romania, Hungary and Italy, however, reveal something quite different: civil society and local cultures are sometimes being sacrificed. 
The Hungarian government and the Finnish electorate have demonstrated a desire to break with the European consensus. One of the reasons for this crisis could well be that member states are constantly told that there is absolutely no alternative to the European project.