Presseurop |

Who’s afraid of Germany? (5) | Europe - an awfully wonderful family (Die Zeit, Hamburg)

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:21:48 +0100

A family with strict parents, black sheep and tough love: that’s today’s Europe, says an editor at Die Zeit, who sends out a call to defend the historically unprecedented culture of solidarity. (Article)

Hachfeld | The terrorist knocked-out | Cartoon (Neues Deutschland, Berlin)

Mon, 02 May 2011 17:41:02 +0100

(Cartoon) (Cartoon)

Terrorism | Bin Laden's legacy (Le Monde, Paris)

Mon, 02 May 2011 16:12:12 +0100

Symbolic as the death of the al-Qaeda leader is, it does not mark the end of the fight against terrorism, nor of its consequences for our way of life, writes Le Monde. (Article)

Restless holidays | Editorial

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:18:22 +0100

Can we really talk about a return from the easy, slow-news days of summer holidays at a time when it seems that the whole of Europe was unable to shut down for even a weekend? Between saving Greece, the government negotiations in the Netherlands and Belgium, the debate on the proposed energy tax in Gemany, the raging fires in Russia, the floods in Central Europe and Pakistan (where the EU was very last at jumping in to help, unusually), and of course the issue of the "voluntary repatriations" of Romanian and Bulgarian Roma from France, this summer has been anything but idle. Except, perhaps, in the case of European Council president Herman Van Rompuy, from whom we have heard nothing for the last month, notes La Stampa.

And things might well continue at the same pace. Following the summit of the "Big four" European powers set for 6 September – that the Belgian EU presidency threatens to boycott, fearing that its real purpose is to legitimise France's expulsions of the Roma – there will be a meeting of foreign ministers, who are to discuss, among other topics, the issue of Kosovo (Berlin has suggested to Serbia that they would have an open door into the EU if they recognised Kosovo's autonomy). There is also the (less than inspiring) state of justice in Bulgaria and Romania, both trying to be a part of the Schengen zone. Next up are the referendum on the presidential election in Moldavia (a requisite condition for pursuing negotiations toward an eventual membership in the Schengen area), as well as one on Constitutional reforms in Turkey (ditto), not to mention the legislative elections in Sweden. Which leaves a lot on the plate of the Union's unusually quiet Belgian presidency, whose first hundred days will soon be coming to an end.

Iulia Badea Guéritée

(Editorial)

Humanitarian aid | The problem with Pakistan (Presseurop, )

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:24:54 +0100

Three weeks after the Pakistan floods claimed their first victims, Europe is finally reacting. Is this a case of complacency or prejudice, or is there a deeper malaise? (Article)

Pakistan | How hard is your heart, Belgium?

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:11:27 +0100

“Belgium turns a deaf ear to Pakistan's cries for help,” headlines De Morgen. The daily takes issue with the attitude of the Flemish and federal governments, neither of which “have tabled projects to allocate emergency aid” beyond the two million euros sent by the country’s humanitarian aid fund. The newspaper quotes a UNICEF spokesman who points out that “the number of people dependent on emergency aid for survival now exceeds the combined figure for three major natural disasters in recent years – the 2005 tsunami, the earthquake in Pakistan the same year, and the recent disaster in Haiti.”

(News in brief)

Pakistan | Why is Europe so slow to react?

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:50:52 +0100

"Umoved by this," reads the De Standaard headline over a photo of a young Pakistani half covered in mud. The report in the daily takes issue with the lack of a committed response from Western countries to the catastrophic floods in Pakistan. NGOs are reluctant to launch fundraising campaigns because it appears that public opinion has not been sufficiently mobilised. "The degree of solidarity is determined by four factors" explains the Brussels based newspaper: "timing, the significant scope of the catastrophe, the level of shock that it engenders, and the level of affinity with the people concerned. Pakistan meets just one of these criteria: significant scope." In the UK, the Independent also wonders "Why is the world unmoved by the plight of Pakistan?" The British daily compares the amount of international donated to help the flood survivors during the first ten days following the catastrophe – 40 million euros or less than one euro per victim – with the 575 million euros collected for the earthquake in Haïti, and argues that politics have played a major role: in particular, recent statements made by Prime Minister David Cameron, who has accused Pakistan of being "an exporter of terrorism," and " negative publicity over President Asif Ali Zardari's failure to return from his European trip." In view of this context, the Independent points out that we should not be surprised to find that survivors are seeking help from Islamist groups. It is also for this reason that the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, has announced that plans for long-term aid to Pakistan will be on the agenda at a meeting of European foreign ministers scheduled for 11 September, reports the EUObserver.

(News in brief)

Terrorism | Somali lessons for Afghanistan (Financial Times, London)

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:18:31 +0100

Following the leak to the international press of over 90,000 documents related to the war in Afghanistan, there is precious little evidence that the country is stabilising. The west might do well to abandon its counter-insurrection strategy there, and focus instead on counter-terrorism. (Article)

Organ Donations | Study calls for universal "presumed consent"

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:06:23 +0100

"Approximately 6,800 kidney transplants – or 10% of the total number of kidney transplants worldwide – are conducted for transplant tourists, who are willing to pay prices in excess of 100,000 euros per operation," reports La Vanguardia. The Catalan daily cites a pioneering study jointly undertaken by the Council of Europe and the United Nations, which should constitute a first step towards an international agreement to halt this phenomenon. According to the study, transplant tourism is largely the result of a lack of donors: in the EU alone, 4,000 patients die every year while waiting for organ transplants. "Those who have the means seek other solutions'" in Pakistan, India, China, the Philippines, Egypt and Colombia, notes the Global Observatory on Donation & Transplantation. Rafael Matesanz, the head of the Spanish national transplant organization and one of the authors of the report, suggests that the system of presumed consent, which has been established in Spain – where the rate of donations is the highest in the world – should be applied worldwide. This would "raise the number of donations worldwide from the current level of 100,000 organs per year to one million." The European Parliament has already voiced its support for the initiative.

(News in brief)

Nobel prize | Obama comes not with peace but a sword

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:12:11 +0100

Barack Obama has just been awarded the Nobel peace prize, but this morning New Statesman’s political editor Mehdi Hasan is less than impressed with the American president’s record. Having promised a sharp break with the Bush era, Obama, Mehdi argues, has “stepped into the shoes of his disgraced predecessor,” notably on foreign policy. After announcing that he would wind down the war in Iraq, he has merely diverted US troops, spies and diplomats to the war in Afghanistan and operations across the border in Pakistan. “He has approved air strikes there that have killed more civilians in nine months than died in US bombings in the final year of the previous administration.” Reacting to today’s news from the Nobel committee, Mehdi, in a blog entitled “Is this a joke?” further adds that “the cult of Obama has elevated him to a god-like, saint-like, superhuman position on the global political landscape.” He is receiving “an award for peace before he has actually achieved peace”.

(News in brief)

Immigration | The Afghan odyssey (International Herald Tribune, Paris)

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:47:08 +0100

Thousands of Afghan boys are making their way alone across Europe, a trend that has accelerated in the past two years as conditions for Afghan refugees become more difficult in countries like Iran and Pakistan. Although some are as young as 12, most are teenagers seeking an education and a future that is not possible in their own country, which is still struggling with poverty and violence eight years after the end of Taliban rule. (Article)

NATO | A new chief for a shaky alliance (Presseurop, )

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:07:37 +0100

On August 1st, former Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen was formally invested as NATO’s new secretary general, declaring that resolving the war in Afghanistan would be his main priority. But what, wonders the European press, is the outlook for the western alliance, blighted by in-fighting and seemingly with no end in sight to its battle against a resurgent Taliban? (Article)

ex-soviet bloc | Dear Barack, just a reminder... (Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:27:43 +0100

Leading politicians from Central and Eastern Europe have sent an open letter to the US president urging him to pursue "a firm and principled policy towards Russia". At stake is America's credibility in a region it wholeheartedly embraced in the 90's, but which now, according to the signatories, it takes for granted. (Article)

France | Bombed for a backhander?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:25:13 +0100

On 8 May 2002, a suicide bomb attack killed 11 engineers and technicians working for the French state-owned company DCN (Direction des constructions navales) in Karachi. From the outset, investigators suspected al-Qaida. However, as Libération reports, an alternative scenario has recently been put forward: a revenge killing orchestrated by Pakistani secret services, prompted by France's refusal to pay 'commissions,' promised as part of a 1994 submarine sales deal. The theory of Pakistani secret service involvement was proposed in the wake of the attack, but later set aside – and, the daily notes, was labelled as "ridiculous and grotesque" by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In conclusion, Libération insists "that France devote the necessary resources for a proper investigation of the bombing, which should not be impeded by a borderline immoral presidential fit of pique."

(News in brief)