Germany
Government hobbles need for immigrants
25 August 2010
Presseurop
Die Tageszeitung 
Die Tageszeitung, 25 August 2010
"Foreign workers, never again!" proclaims the provocative headline of Die Tageszeitung. While "more than two-thirds of German companies are in need of qualified personnel, such as engineers, cooks or nursing aides, the government refuses to consider an increase in immigration to meet these specific needs in the workforce. And Germany will indeed need 200,000 to 300,000 more of these qualified workers per year". Another problem, notes the daily, is that Germany just doesn't attract the qualified candidates, who for many years have preferred to relocate to Great Britain or Norway.
As Greece pimps its ancient monuments to bring in the tourists, lovers of cultural heritage are up in arms. But the country is only doing openly what the whole of Europe is: looting historic sites to drum up more ready cash. 
Asserting national values is central to the political project of the Hungarian PM. Since the start of the year, fifteen paintings, specially commissioned for an exhibition in the Castle of Buda, have been putting this ambition on show. 
The game has gone on for nearly two years: Athens pretends to comply with the demands of its creditors and partners, and they pretend to believe in Greece’s commitments. As the spectre of default comes nearer, however, the Greek bluff cannot go on much longer, writes an El Mundo editorialist.