Having said that, France’s European partners should not “conclude that François Hollande’s foreign policy will be tainted by anti-European sentiment. This would be a mistake”, argues Le Monde, which nonetheless draws attention to what it describes as “an unavoidable political reality” –

… the French do not trust Europe. But more often than not, their Eurosceptic mood and occasional support for a policy of national withdrawal is fueled by a conviction that European integration will pave the way for all of the ills of economic liberalism. Of course, Europe is a market: this is one of its strengths, the secret of its appeal, and the driving force behind its competitiveness. But it should also be a political and civilisational project. M. Fabius is not the worst choice of politician to speak on behalf of such a Europe”.

In any case, remarks Libération, which points out that Fabius and Cazeneuve are “not the only Eurosceptics in the French cabinet” –  

François Hollande has appointed them to posts where, they will have little real influence on European affairs – ‘a field reserved’ for head of state, which will be effectively managed by the Elysée.

“After the vote, the country is in the red”, worries I Kathimerini. The daily further notes that even if support is growing for Greece to abandon the single currency, “Merkel and Hollande want Greece to remain in the eurozone.”

“International alarmists' forecasts have come true” laments To Ethnos headlining with “Elections in a minefield”. "The country has reached an impasse. The parties now need to present clear solutions to the country’s problems,” among which are recession at 6.2% in the first quarter and unemployment at 21%.

For To Vima, the new elections will be –

a referendum with Antonis [Samaras, the leader of New Democracy, right-wing] against Alexis [Tsipras, the leader of Syriza, the Coalition of the radical Left], the right against the Coalition of the radical Left, the pro-Europeans against the rest.

However, Ta Nea hopes that this political crisis –

will be a chance to revive and restructure Greece’s social democracy. The two traditional parties [New Democracy and the socialists of Pasok] should draw some lessons from their failure.

For the Frankfurt daily –

The theme of debt reduction, which already figured large in the CDU’s failed campaign in Schleswig-Holstein state elections, will only attract votes if it is presented in a credible manner. The Environment Minister, who banged on about savings and cost-cutting while advocating extremely costly adjustments in energy policy, is the embodiment of an inconsistent approach to this theme. Furthermore, it was contradictory to insist on “Greek conditions” and to simultaneously announce that Germany has never been better off. Finally, the CDU assumption that voters are virulently opposed to debt appears to assume that the French and the Greeks inhabit a completely different planet.

On this point, in France Le Monde argues that the result of the German vote “is bad news for the German Chancellor and good news for François Hollande, who will meet Angela Merkel on 15 May in Berlin, immediately after his official inauguration”.

In recent weeks, Mr Hollande has become the leading European exponent of a growth strategy to overcome the euro crisis, while Mrs Merkel has continued to advocate budgetary rigour as the only possible foundation for “sustained growth”. The success of Mr Hollande has prompted high expectations in EU states struggling to cope with the debt crisis, and the ideas he has proposed have also attracted support in the ranks of the SPD on the other side of the Rhine. Mrs Merkel is aware of this, and the blow of Sunday’s election will be a further encouragement for her to be more flexible on the issue of a growth pact.

A former top comedian famous for his political rants and the writer of a popular blog, Grillo, 64, founded his party in 2009, on the wave of a series of performance-meetings, in which he railed against several political and financial scandals and the vices of the "caste", as the Italian ruling class are nicknamed.

Like all protest movements, Grillo’s brings a positive 'winds of change' message," notes l’Espresso,

but he also voices the demagogue spirit of those who dream of toppling Mario Monti, his government, its taxes and its austerity without growth.

Corriere della Sera also echoes this sentiment:

Certainly, Grillo is a performer whose torrential tirades appeal to both Poujadist sentiments and anti-political ones... But his programme is full of suggestions: from waste management to the refusal of easy growth based on real estate, through to transparency in administration and Internet usage in line with the levels of western countries.

Simple and without any experience of speech making, the Protestant pastor’s daughter, who was born in East Germany, succeeded in establishing a rapport with the entire nation, and especially with West Germans whom she judged to be “spoiled, as well as a little cowardly, and lazy”. As for the West Germans themselves, they were soon to be “merkelised” – caught up in cult that worshiped her supposed weaknesses of sobriety and a lack of glamour. And it was the euro crisis that marked the high point of this transformation. As Ulrich points out-

In 2005, Merkel felt she had to give Germans a boost. Today she has to convince her voters to help others, to keep a clear head, and most importantly, to continue their wise and zealous consumption. Her policy has been completely reversed. The question is: has she completed her mission in Germany? Has she migrated to Europe? [...] Were it not for German normality, and the fact that it is protected by an ultra-normal chancellor, Europe would have been plunged into chaos ages ago.

Far from imagining an imminent end to the Chancellor’s career, Ulrich concludes-

It may be that the German Merkel is now in decline, while the European Merkel is still at the height of her powers. Perhaps we no longer need her here, but rather in Europe. [...] She is only 57 years old, and is thus a woman politician with a future. However, where exactly that future lies remains to be seen.

The replacement of the Ungureanu government by the Ponta government  “and the handover of power during the electoral cycle is an unprecedented development in Romanian politics”, remarks Adevărul. Four months after the first anti-austerity demonstrations, Ponta’s programme will include measures that have “a populist potential”, explains the daily. These include civil service pay rises and pension increases. However the new prime minister’s mission will remain –

… the same as the brief for the Ungureanu government: management of day-to-day problems, the organisation of elections, and, of course, boosting the electoral appeal of the parties that put him in power.

Nicolas Sarkozy is the 11th European leader to fall since the banking crisis broke, and this result is more than just a shot across the bows for the former Sarkozy loyalists in Ms Merkel or David Cameron. France's new direction is a mortal blow to the austerity compact which has been Europe's anchor response to the crisis.

"Frau Merkel, I have arrived", leads Frankfurt daily, Frankfurter Rundschau. Following his speech, the president-elect announced that his first foreign visit would be to the German Chancellor, who is expected to accommodate this new partner despite their ideological differences:

Merkel would not be Merkel if she were not capable of quickly changing course. She has no ideological problems with the Social Democrats [with whom she governed from 2005 to 2009], even if they do call themselves socialists. Hollande will not proclaim a revolution. He must learn to adapt, as Merkel did during the Greek crisis.

"Hollande wins, the challenge for Europe begins", leads Milan daily, Corriere della Sera which calls the new French president “an ordinary leader for extraordinary times".

The message from this month of May in France, in these times of crisis, of the decline of the citizen and a rise in mistrust of politics, is full of hope. For France and for the Europe that is looking to France. [... It] is also a defensive choice, to resist a Europe of sacrifices without fairness, and rigour without growth. [...] France under Hollande no longer dreams of socialism in one country, but a little more of social democracy in Europe.

For El Mundo, "Hollande's victory opens up uncertainty in Europe". The conservative daily is worried about the shape of the "new era" opening up "for France and for the rest of the continent."

Never has a presidential election in France had such repercussions across Europe. [...] The socialist candidate’s victory breaks the hegemony of the centre-right of the last decade and kindles doubts over the cohabitation with Chancellor Angela Merkel, with whom [outgoing president Nicolas] Sarkozy pushed for fiscal union and the austerity policies [...].

"A fresh start for Europe," writes De  Morgen. The paper, however, believes "the socialist Hollande (is) on a collision course with Germany over the austerity question." In an editorial the paper adds:

The question of whether Hollande can pull off this turnabout in Europe [towards growth measures], remains wide open. We are already looking forward to his first trip to Berlin, where he is to conclude a historic compromise with an unbending Merkel. These discussions will take place in a heated climate, following the parliamentary elections that fractured the political landscape in Greece yesterday.... Europe has got a little redder since yesterday. [...] At the same time, though, the storm clouds over the continent have darkened.

In Stockholm, Dagens Nyheter notes that, while the new president has chosen a more tolerant and open path on immigration and minorities than that of Nicolas Sarkozy, “ he does raise troubling questions on economic policy:

If Hollande does break the fiscal pact, it will cause serious problems. Europe needs growth, but without an effective brake on big budget deficits among the member states the euro will struggle to survive. This would undermine the monetary union and (the member states’) ability to make joint decisions. It seems unlikely therefore that Hollande is serious about renegotiating the pact. More likely is that he will be content to add an innocuous passage on the importance of growth.

Writing in the Prague daily Hospodářské noviny, editorialist Martin Ehl believes that "another Europe" has emerged from this "weekend election." The presidential elections in France and the legislative elections in Greece reveal that the Old Continent is facing "a new French revolution". This shakes up the consensus on European integration, which is going through its deepest crisis since the 1950s:

Europeans expect more from their leaders than (blunt) cuts with the knife. [...] Following the fiscal pact, Europe will need to think innovatively on the economic front.

Die Welt, a daily close to Angela Merkel, looked at the outcome in terms of the effect on the ruling coalition in Berlin, noting that the idea of an alliance between the SPD and Greens, such as occurred under the Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, is becoming increasingly unlikely, because "many people are hoping for a grand coalition between the SPD-CDU".

"I cannot accept that the elderly must pay for Brussels' absurd demands," Wilders explained. He was referring to figures from the Central Planning Office according to which the 14.2 million euros in budget cuts would result in a 3% loss in purchasing power for the elderly, would slow growth and raise unemployment. The cuts concern health-related services, pensions, civil service salaries, VAT, aid to developing countries and tax cuts for home-owners paying off a housing loan.

After seven weeks of negotiations, "the Wilders bomb ticking beneath the Rutte government has plunged the country into a period of uncertainty," says De Volkskrant. Without the support of the PVV, the coalition of Christian Democrats and Liberals is no longer in the parliamentary majority. PM Mare Rutte, is expected to ask Queen Beatrix to dissolve the lower house so that early elections can be called.

"The PVV's new line of defence  – 'We do not want budget cuts imposed by Brussels' – is cheeky" writes Dutch daily Trouw, which notes that in 2010, Wilders signed a government agreement that placed a 2.8% ceiling on the budget deficit. The paper is satisfied that the PVV has been "exposed" but does not gloat. "If the crisis were not so serious, the Netherlands would give a sigh of relief," the paper says.

This is the latest in a series of events in an "annus horribilis" for the royalty. It comes in addition to the suspicion of corruption weighing on the king's son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, and to a recent shooting accident in which his 13-year old grandson shot himself in the foot. In Spain, children under 14 are not allowed access to firearms. Despite the government's silence, veiled criticism is rising in political circles and in the media. The paper also notes that -

... the impropriety of this royal trip was so clear, at a time when the country is undergoing very serious difficulties, that even those with staunch royalist convictions cannot hide their disarray.

El Periódico recalls the influential role played by Juan Carlos during the period of transition from the Franco era to democracy. But, the paper adds, if "the monarchy provided institutional stability for over three decades, [...] this affection and respect has weakened in recent years". El Periódico raises the issue of Juan Carlos' succession. The king is 74 and came to the throne at the age of 37 while Prince Felipe is already aged 44 -

It is objectively the worst time for Spain to get mired in a controversy that would call into question the monarchy [...] But the monarchy must renew itself.

Since the elections of May 2010, in which the VV obtained over 10% of the vote, Bárta's party has become a “symbol of decline” in Czech politics, notes the Prague economic daily. However, “Vít Bárta and his political group are not the root of evil in Czech politics, just a product of the system that was shaken this Friday, but whose base remains solid”. The VV party is “one of the most bizarre examples of the local political scene” and “their tragicomic and sometimes very dangerous methods excel in their amateurish directness”.

Hospodářské Noviny argues that that corruption practised by other Czech politicians is much more sophisticated and inventive, and therefore less liable to prosecution. “If they went in front of a court, the whole political system would collapse”, it notes, nevertheless adding that the Bárta trial is a big step for the country’s young democracy.

For Catalan daily El Periódico, the "weak 'yes' in Rasquera" is for –

... a project inspired by the urgent need for city hall to find receipts to reduce its voluminous debt of 1.3 million euros for a population of barely one thousand inhabitants.

But the feasibility of the project remains unsure because it is contested in the courts by both regional and central government. "The debate over the legal vacuum surrounding the cultivation and possession of not-for-profit marijuana is swelling," adds El Periódico, for which the results of the referendum confirm that –

... society's view of soft drugs has changed towards a greater tolerance [as proven] by this modest, but significant, example of active democracy at a time when citizens are disenchanted with their political representatives.

The message sent to the nation by Lucas Papademos was expected in recent weeks. The May 6th date is not a surprise but the stakes will be decisive.

According to the latest opinion polls, the right-wing New Democracy Party is the frontrunner. But with voting intentions hovering between 13% and 20%, it would be forced to form an alliance with the socialist PASOK or other smaller parties.

Athens daily Ta Nea writes –

We must decide if we will vote reasonably or if we prefer political chaos. All the polling institutes agree that a coalition government will have to be formed because no party will have a sufficient majority to govern. The populist parties are rising in the polls, riding on an anti-austerity wave and Europe is watching us. This time, there is no place for campaign promises and political instability, a result of an exhausted two-party system, is a reality.

Bossi was pushed out by the revelations about the public financing of his party diverted to pay the expenses of his family, including his designated heir Renzo. A triumvirate replaces him as party secretary, while he has been offered the honorary position of President.

According to the Turin daily, “it is no coincidence that the farewell of Umberto Bossi comes barely five months after the departure of Silvio Berlusconi”, who had put together a government three times with the League: “As with some disconsolate widowers, the one could not survive without the other. Their exit from the scene suddenly changes, and probably for good, the make-up of the Italian right and the national political landscape as a whole.”

According to La  Repubblica, the separatist Bossi, who “has for years railed against thieving Rome” and “the robber state”, is the victim of a “singular backlash”. “The League turned out to have thieves at home, even with Bossi. As for the vandalism, it was happening in his office at the expense of taxpayers' money.”

However, notes the Corriere della Sera, the image of the fiery “Senatùr” who regularly evoked the secession of an imaginary Padania had been in decline for a long time –

The rebel leader, prisoner of his political paranoia, increasingly obsessed with “conspiracy” as his leadership weakened, had grown a little more out of touch every day with the vast number of small businesses in the North who had bet on the League. [...] “Those who believed in the tax revolt, in emancipation from the bureaucracy and the machinery of the state, and in the freedom of the North, had lost confidence in the mirage of the League for some time.

in the near future, Turkish tourists (but also, in the same package of measures, those from the Arabian Gulf or China) will no longer have to wait for months in never-ending queues to obtain a visa for Romania.

Bucharest also hopes to create a five-year visa for Turkish business executives. Quoting the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, România liberă notes that Turkey is the only country having signed a customs agreement with the EU whose citizens are forced to get a visa to enter the Union. From this perspective, "Romania represents a solution for Turks wishing to obtain visas," but it is only a partial solution as long as Romania is not part of the Schengen Area. Baring a veto from the Netherlands, this could change in September.

Ta Nea, however, recuses all political co-opting and publishes a front page cartoon with a man in the process of killing himself accompanied by the following dialogue:

"I can't stand it!"

"What can't you stand, Gramps?"

"To see what you will say on what I am about to do!"

For his part, the leader writer of daily To Ethnos, Georges Delastik, says that the man –

was not mad. He took his life in order to have a decent end and to not sink into starvation. It is not a suicide, it is a murder. He explains this in a letter describing the dictatorship imposed on his country which slaughtered him. Today, pensioners are forced to beg or to hunt through garbage pails.

Although the government of Viktor Orbán is accused of drifting towards authoritarianism, the resignation of Pál Schmitt proves that in Budapest, "democracy functions," notes Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. According to the paper –

It turns out that the democratic mechanisms worked as they should [...] and Schmitt has proved the left-wing press wrong. If Hungary is the country depicted in the European press then the president should not have resigned. He was protected by immunity, was backed by a majority and had the sympathy of the Prime Minister. [...] Among the many crimes charged against the government of Viktor Orbán, there is the fact of having allegedly destroyed the independent media. Yet, it was the opposition press [HVG magazine] that revealed the serious charges against the Head of State chosen by the ruling Fidesz [Party] that led to the resignation. [...] The free press played its role efficiently. So, how are freedom of expression and democracy doing in Hungary? Not bad, in the end.

In HVG, Gaspar Miklos Tamas writes ironically of "poor uncle Plagi" derived by combining Pali, the nickname for Pál, with plagiarism. The resigning president, according to the philosopher, was nothing more –

… than the fall guy for an ethical mish-mash for which he was not responsible. He acted as he learned to act among the dregs of the old regime and, until the end, he failed to understand that, for the generation with democratic and free-market illusions, this was both amusing and disgusting.

This point of view is shared by Martin Ehl in the Czech daily Hospodářské Noviny. According to the leader writer –

Schmitt was no more than a puppet which Orbán could get rid of at any time. The plagiarism charge that finally made him resign was nothing more than a stick brandished by that media close to former socialist and free-market leaders.

As for Schmitt's successor, his name –

… will provide an indication of the strength of Viktor Orbán and of the Fidesz two years after the launch of their hard-line national and international policies. Given Hungary's inauspicious situation in Europe, the Hungarian Prime Minister would be well-advised to impose a personality without a party, even without any political affiliations but who is well-known abroad. However, if the Parliament choses someone from the hard-core of the Fidesz, more headaches can be expected, in Budapest as well as in Brussels.

According to the Riots Communities and Victims Panel, an independent body set up by the government –

… the riots were fuelled by a range of factors including a lack of opportunities for young people, poor parenting, a failure of the justice system to rehabilitate offenders, materialism and suspicion of the police.

The riots were triggered by the death in Tottenham, North London, of local man Mark Duggan, shot dead by police on 4 August. Between August 6 and 10 August, rioting spread to several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England. For the panel, "The key to avoiding future riots is to have communities that work," the Guardian writes, adding that –

Recommendations include fines for schools that fail to teach children to read properly; earlier and better support for troubled families; a "youth job promise" to get more young people into work; and primary and secondary schools to "undertake regular assessments of pupils' strength of character".

"Thank you Interpol for bringing back the fugitive from Kenya!" announces an exultant Adevărul, while rival daily România Liberă regrets the damage that the affair will do to Romania’s image: "It is as though we were living in a village at the end of the world", writes the newspaper, which remarks that “the country, which is covered in shame,” is hardly ready to join the Schengen Area.

The Netherlands, one of the main opponents of Romania’s entry into the free movement area, has demanded that Bucharest obtain two consecutive positive reports from the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification for its efforts in the fight against corruption and organised crime by 2013: “We can already see the Dutch smiling… Bye bye Schengen!"

Finally, Adevărul notes that "the evaporation" of the MP, who took advantage of parliamentary immunity, is proof that –

... the corrupt will always find ways to get around the law. We have a National Integrity Agency, but we are short on integrity. We have an Anti-Corruption Department, but we are overloaded with corruption. One thing is clear: the links between corruption, smuggling and the world of politics are still very tight.

The scandal involves the influential and controversial businessman and lobbyist Roman Janoušek and ODS politician Pavel Bém, whose telephone conversations were recorded in 2007 while he was mayor of Prague. Obtained two years later by the anti-corruption politician Vít Bárta, the wiretaps are being scrutinised by the police. Published in the media, they have exposed the enormous influence Janoušek wielded over the Prague mayor.

“The web of relationships they built up around themselves was not limited solely to the Czech capital, but played a major role in the privatisation of the country in the 2000s,” notes Hospodářské Noviny. The newspaper even compares the action of the two men to that of Mafia clans that divvy up business turf in the The Godfather.

Following the media publication of the conversations between Bém and Janoušek, the latter was in a car accident. Escaping the scene, he knocked down the other driver, a woman aged 51. When he was arrested by the police minutes later, Janoušek had 2.2 g of alcohol in his blood.

“It's a sad movie about the former mayor and the lobbyist. Their story goes beyond any scenario we could dream up,” writes Slovak daily SME. According to the Bratislava paper, the Bém-Janoušek scandal is a Czech version of “Gorilla” scandal that brought down Slovakia’s conservatives in the most recent elections.

Launched in 1997 to investigate corrupt payments to politicians mainly over planning permissions and land re-zoning issues, the tribunal –

… accused former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern of untruthfulness. It found former European commissioner Pádraig Flynn behaved corruptly, and said another former taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, had abused his power.

The tribunal states that Ahern did not tell the truth over payments worth more than IR£275,000 [€349,177] which passed through bank accounts connected to him. Ahern has always claimed that the cash was not taken for planning favours granted to property developers but “personal loans” from friends to help during a difficult period in his life when he was going through a separation.

The 3,200 page report also found former EU commissioner Padraig Flynn guilty of taking bribes during his time as Irish environment minister from 1987-1993. Flynn had accepted a IR£50,000 [€63,486] “donation” from a property developer who wished to purchase a farm in the west of Ireland. It also condemned the involvement of senior government figures such as ex-Taoiseach Albert Reynolds “in seeking financial contributions from businessmen who were in turn lobbying government to support various commercial projects.”

In a hard-hitting leader entitled “Shameful and sickening: we've had enough”, the Irish Independent notes that the most “insidious effects” of corruption - 

… were felt during the Celtic Tiger boom and immediately after a solemn undertaking by Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach, in 1997 that he would not tolerate corruption and the perpetrators would be hunted down.

The recordings were mysteriously leaked in 2009 to the private security agency ABL, which belonged at the time to Vít Bárta, leader of the Věci Veřejné [Public Affairs, VV] party. After a campaign that focused on the fight against corruption, Bárta won a breakthrough that led him to join the government in 2010. However, he was forced to resign from his post as minister in April 2011 after his party was caught up in another wiretapping and corruption scandal. During his trial, which opened on March 5, it turned out that his campaign had been financed by – none other than Janoušek.

According to Prague daily, which leads on the front page with the headline “The secret calls of Pavel B.”, the conversations bear witness to the “primitive conditions” prevailing at Prague City Hall and show that Janoušek, who is also wanted in Switzerland for money-laundering, maintained “close relations” with City Hall officials. With the latter he “jointly decided on the most important topics: local urban development plan, land sales, commercial activities of City Hall businesses and the human resources policy.”

The United Kingdom is observing the Greek operation very sceptically, and feels the new German forcefulness verges on a claim to hegemony. Equally suspicious, the Germans feel the UK has no grasp of the political, economic and historical logic of a united Europe.

By refusing to discuss their respective concerns and questions about the future of Europe, the Süddeutsche Zeitung notes, the conference participants have perfectly illustrated the mistrust between German and Britain – two countries that –

... instead of building bridges, are burrowing into tunnels.

Noting that Chancellor Angela Merkel did not back Gauck's candidacy, Spiegel writes that there are high expectations regarding this president, who is independent of all political parties. Having backed Gauck since June 2010, the Hamburg weekly wonders what influence this "apostle of freedom" will exercise in his new, purely honorific, post –

With his ideas on freedom, the new president will polarise the Republic. Unlike his predecessors, Gauck has no intention of paying tribute to the zeitgeist. Thus, he will inevitably become an opponent of the chancellor.

Reconciliation seems to appeal to the Italians also. According to an opinion poll published by La Repubblica, the demand for a "president without a party" continues to grow. Despite tensions around a project to reform labour markets, 60% of those polled have confidence in Prime Minister Mario Monti – a figure rarely achieved by any PM. The same percentage says that "caretaker" leaders are more capable of leading the country than are "political experts".

... this should not have happened. When [Viktor] Orbán was elected, he was surrounded by influential friends in a conservative Europe. There could be wide-spread optimism that the Hungarian Prime Minister would achieve his objectives. But these objectives did not exist [...] The government, which is always touting national interests, has only managed to achieve what the European Commission considers an exemplary punishment. [...] Yes, this is a historic day. No European government had ever yet been so foolish.

Speaking for the right-wing, Magyar Nemzet shows signs of resignation -

The bell tolls for us. [...] We were sent a preventive strike to warn all the spendthrift countries. We are a dissuasive example. [...] The irony of it all is that the legal basis for this ruling was approved in 2011 – under the Hungarian EU presidency.

The presidential campaign, which many believed would degenerate into squabbles over side issues, has finally got off the ground. Yesterday in Villepinte, Nicolas Sarkozy offered France a useful reminder of the importance of Europe in the destiny of the country [while] François Hollande continues to brandish his diminutive fists to demand a renegotiation of the European Fiscal Compact […] To reconcile the French population with Europe, a "political Europe that protects" and which must not be a "sieve", Nicolas Sarkozy wants to readjust ineffective mechanisms, reinforce convergence between states, and protect borders. This is the reason for the review of so-called Schengen Agreements, which do not take sufficient account of migration flows into the Union, at a time when member states do not have the resources to maintain their generosity.

On the contrary, left-wing daily Libération argues that in his speech of yesterday, Nicolas Sarkozy —

… attempted to assume the air of a statesman like Mitterrand who was careful to nurture popular support for the European project. But not everybody can be Mitterrand. In his decision to issue arrogant edicts on the issue of immigration, Nicolas Sarkozy has dragged Europe into the mire of his electioneering.

For its part, news website Mediapart points out that —

… the recourse to ultimatums which are presented as a method of governance is inspired by major populist leaders in Europe: in particular the conservative nationalist Lech Kaczynski, who was the author of several theatrical outbursts on the European stage during his time as Polish president, [...] Czech President Vaclav Klaus and even the Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.

In Berlin, alternative daily Tageszeitung notes that French President Nicolas Sarkozy “has moved a few steps to the right” —

A bit further and he will fall into the arms of the Front National’s Marine Le Pen. [...] Will Angela Merkel continue to support her Nicolas no matter what happens? With other conservative government leaders, she took up a position against the socialist candidate François Hollande, who wanted to flesh out the fiscal compact, but not to torpedo it. Now it seems that Sarkozy is eager to modify four European treaties. France remains as baffling as ever.

According to La Stampa’s Brussels correspondent Marco Zatterin, a “stressed Sarkozy” is trying to wow far right voters by attacking Schengen, even if it means contradicting his support for last year’s reform proposal that put control of the border union in Brussels’ hands. In any case —

… if he is elected again, he will probably find a way to do a U-turn, like the one he did in 2008 when he began the summer as a eurosceptic and finished it as a founding father of Europe.

The paper adds that "since communism, no party has known such a victory". Pravda notes that the Smer is 7 seats short of a constitutional majority which would allow it to pass changes to the constitution. "Its mandate may be seen as very strong, but not as totalitarian," the Bratislava daily warns.

Hospodárske Noviny, for its part, says that "SMER's triumph" imposes on it a responsibility to Brussels:  

The future Prime Minister favours the bailout of Greece, which he considers akin to a bailout of the euro, he is also favourable to the EFSF [European Financial Stability Fund]. During the previous coalition government, he was for austerity and budget reduction through a balanced budget obligation as well as for the budget pact. But talk is one thing and holding firm in the face of economic reality is another.

Robert Fico's victory, writes daily Plus Jeden Deň, is first and foremost the result of "the absolute rout of the right caused by the "Gorilla" corruption scandal as demonstrated by the fact that it lost the voters' confidence even in its fiefdom of Bratislava."