[spectre] european press review [u]

[Geert Lovink]

The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für
politische Bildung/bpb, Germany) has been releasing a European
press review on each working day. Its aim is to follow European
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a wider public. Print media from 26 European states are therefore
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and here is todays newsletter in english:

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European Press Review: euro|topics
Newsletter 08/12/2005

DOSSIER
Foreign Policy/ Europe: Europe and the USA

Does Europe need a common foreign policy to counterbalance the
USA? Is there still a place for transatlantic solidarity in the
21st century? Prompted by reports about CIA activities in Europe
and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent visit, European
commentators are posing these questions anew.

+++ Sweden - Göteborgs-Posten. The newspaper calls for European
countries to present a united front in their dealings with the
US. "It's frustrating that the US is being allowed to treat
Europe like its backyard. The need for joint foreign and
security policies is evident. We must pull ourselves together
and gather the courage to defend the common system of values we
are so fond of talking about. Only then will the US accept us as
an equal partner. If we continue with pussy-footing, we
shouldn't be surprised to be treated as if we were a bunch of
banana republics." +++
http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=122&a=247348

+++ Slovakia - Domino Forum. In a lengthy interview Kurt Volker,
Principle US Deputy Assistent Secretary of State, also admits
there are problems in the relationship between Europe and the
US. "If the US government doesn't say it needs the cooperation
of Europe, Europe complains the US doesn't appreciate its
cooperation. If we say we need their cooperation, the Europeans
immediately suspect our motives." He urges both sides to form a
united front. "Only once we have achieved this can we talk
about spreading freedom and human rights. It's important to
give reforming forces all over the world orientation - for
example in the Middle East, where the aim is to strengthen the
peaceful voices of Islam against those of the extremists. In
this context, cooperation with Europe is very important." +++
http://www.dominoforum.sk

+++ Spain - El País. Vicente Palacio de Oteyza, coordinator of
the Observatory of Spanish Foreign Policy (OPEX), analyses the
future of relations between Europe and the United States.
"Today, Europe dreams about Kant but wakes up each day facing
Hobbes. It does not know of any other traditions aside from
those of balancing powers or national interests (...).At this
start of the 21st century, we are living through the decline of
Atlanticism. All that remains in the firmament are specks of
dust from the old transatlantic star that once guided the West.
Globalisation has transformed the historic mission of the United
States and Europe: from this point forward, they must together
invent a new constellation that indicates a new and better
course to follow." +++
http://www.elpais.es/articulo/elpporopi/20051208elpepiopi_6/Tes/final/ 
atlantismo
http://www.fundacionalternativas.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/OPEXweb.woa

REFLEXIONS

+++ Foreign Policy/ U.S.: Harold Pinter  blasts US foreign
policy in Nobel speech

United Kingdom - The Guardian. The playwright Harold Pinter
delivered a scathing indictment of US foreign policy in a
viedo-taped speech that the Swedish Academy decided to release
on Wednesday, three days before the official awarding of the
Nobel Prize for literature. Pinter will be unable to make the
trip to Sweden to collect the prize due to ill health. "The
crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant,
vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked
about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a
quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while
masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant,
even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis. I put to you
that the United States is without doubt the greatest show on
the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be
but it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own
and its most saleable commodity is self love." +++
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1661516,00.html
http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-g.html

+++ Society/ Germany: Muslims in Europe

Die Welt. In a long essay, author Peter Schneider explores the
much-quoted parallel Muslim world in Berlin. "The Turkish poet
Aras Ören told me about one of his first flights from Istanbul
to Berlin. He sat next to a farmer from Anatolia who had
obviously never been on an airplane before. And as Aras Ören
observed him sitting there, with his cap on his head and his
praying necklace between his fingers, he was overcome by the
feeling that his fellow countryman was enclosed in an invisible
time capsule which he would not climb out of even after landing
in Berlin. It was irrelevant whether this farmer travelled to
Berlin or Istanbul. He had never seen a city. He was still
living in the 18th or 19th century, and would bring the customs
and rituals of his home town with him to his home in Berlin.
Multi-culturalism is not the key, the poet has preached for
years; the key is to turn farmers into city dwellers." +++
http://www.welt.de/data/2005/12/08/814524.html

+++ Society/ Western Europe: The emergence of a new proletariat

Netherlands - NRC Handelsblad. The Dutch journalist H.J.A.
Hofland believes a new type of proletariat is emerging in
Europe. "Speaking realistically, without assigning any value
judgment, a society can only allow itself to have a large
proletariat so long as the latter is not organised or aware of
its own condition. We are beginning to see an end to this state
of affairs, as borne out by the riots in France, a spontaneous
revolt against the way the rich, symbols of the establishment,
perceive things. (...) Under the gaze of the ruling class, the
beginnings of an organised proletariat have taken shape : this
time, one that is based not on Marxist principles, but on a
religious foundation. And its vision is as internationalist as
that of communism. France and the Netherlands, in this area,
share many points in common. The distrust between communities
is growing in both places." +++
http://www.nrc.nl/digitaleeditie/today.html

+++ Philosophy/ Italy: Towards a Third Vatican Council ?

France - Le Monde. "In the aura of mystery surrounding his
intentions, his solitary way of exercising power, his natural
humility, and the masses of people descending on Rome, the
start of Benedict XVI's papacy resembles that of John XXIII,"
observes the journalist Henri Tincq. "With Benedict XVI,
nothing suggests there will be a declaration of some glorious
deed as with John XXIII [1958-1963]. A new Vatican Council -
the Third - is not on the immediate horizon. Yet everything has
changed in 40 years. (...) The optimistic mood of the 1960's
(international détente, growth) has given way to a tormented
and anxious world. The imbalances are growing wider. Terrorists
are stepping up their crimes. John Paul II dreamed of a Europe
that was reunified and back in touch with its Christian roots,
but the churches of the Old Continent are everywhere in
retreat. (...) Where once the Church and State enjoyed a
trusting relationship, today they are increasingly critical of
one another." +++
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3232,36-718378,0.html

POLITICS

+++ Politics of the EU/ Europe: Alliances in Europe

Hungary - Heti Vilaggazdasag. Brussels correspondents Györgyi
Kocsis and Laszlo Vida appeal to new EU member states to
support British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the EU budget
dispute. "Blair is making renewed efforts to modernise the EU.
He's probably counting on Paris being more amenable to the
planned cuts in the common agrarian policy once Jacques Chirac
is no longer president. If new EU member states also decide to
support the efforts to reform the EU budget as quickly as
possible, Britain's European policies will prove to be a
spectacular success." +++
http://hvg.hu/hvgfriss/2005.49/200549HVGFriss2.aspx

+++ Politics of the EU/ Europe: The bitterness of the new EU
member nations

Switzerland - Le Temps. Serge Enderlin believes the current
debate over the EU budget has the potential to arouse bitter
feelings in the new member states. "A budget is not just some
daunting exercise in number-crunching. Behind the dryness of
the figures lurks a political syntax, occasionally aggressive,
pragmatic at best. At times it can be cynical. That is what the
new EU member nations have just learned, at their own expense.
Those central European countries that have been given credit
for their heroic journeys in fifteen years, between the
collapse of the communist experience and their anchorage in the
planet's largest democratic community. From Prague to Warsaw,
one always thought that the sacrifices made during the painful
interim between Marx and the market would one day be paid in
kind. (...) But Europe today is lacking any project. (...) The
commun adventure has dissolved in the stinginess of the
calculator." +++
http://www.letemps.ch/template/editoriaux.asp?page=1&article=169480

+++ Foreign Policy/ Poland: CIA Activities in Europe

Rzeczpospolita. It's not yet clear whether Al-Qaida leaders were
in fact detained in Poland but "too many trails lead to Poland,
and they are being confirmed by too many serious sources to be
simply ignored, writes Jan Skorzynski. "The government must now
take resolute steps to protect Poland's image - if necessary
by inviting an independent international commission to
investigate the claims. Skorzynski points out that the
discussion is weakening Poland's position in the EU, in
particular in the context of the ongoing budget negotiations.
Refuting these accusations should therefore be given "top
priority". +++
http://www.rzeczpospolita.pl/gazeta/wydanie_051208/publicystyka/ 
publicystyka_a_4.html

+++ Internal Policy/ France: Sarkozy not welcome in Martinique

Libération. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday
postponed his planned visit to Martinique so as not to confront
protesters awaiting him on the island. Editorial writer
Jean-Michel Thenard says Sarkozy is "a victim of the
rightification of the right. (...) On the eve of the 1988
presidential elections, we had a candidate who was unable to
pay a visit to the Caribbean due to the welcoming committee
that the islanders had in store for him : Le Pen. Sarkozy is
not at that point yet. But it is rare for a minister to cancel
an official trip due to protests. The person concerned can
pretend to be blameless. Or claim that using the world 'scum'
in the suburbs is of no consequence. Or call himself a victim
of 'misunderstandings' tied to the notorious article 4 of the
law of February 23, 2005 that so angers historians, Algerians,
Caribbean residents and everyone who does not view colonisation
in a 'positive' light. But UMP [Union for a Popular Movement]
leader will not fool anyone into breaking ranks with
parliamentary members whom he has never denounced." +++
http://www.libe.fr/page.php?Article=343425

+++ Internal Policy/ Denmark: Social Reforms

Politiken. The Danish welfare commission yesterday presented its
proposals for the reform of the state welfare system. The main
points are a raise in the retirement age, incentives for those
who complete their education quickly and increased taxes on
real estate to compensate for a marked decrease in income tax.
"The welfare commission's final report is the most
comprehensive political document to have been published in the
last few years," the newspaper comments, voicing concern that
"the many proposals will not be translated into political
action due to the parliamentarians' lack of courage and
incapacity to act." +++
http://politiken.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=423597

+++ Internal Policy/ Italy: Anti-TGV protests brutally
suppressed

La Repubblica. The journalist Giovanni Valentini reacts to the
strong-arm tactics of the Italian government, which on Tuesday
dispatched law-enforcers to break up a protest against a
high-speed rail link to connect the towns of Lyon and Turin.
They believe this project is detrimental to the environment and
are trying in every way possible to thwart it. "Dialogue is the
only possible solution. When politics - which is meant to be an
exercise in conflict and mediation - gives way to
politics-by-truncheon, the problems take a fatal turn for the
worse. And when the president of the Council, Silvio
Berlusconi, openly accuses the extreme left of manipulation,
positions become more radical on both sides of the divide". +++
http://repubblica.extra.kataweb.it/edicola/repubblica/a.chk? 
Action=updateLight&url=VALENTINI21.html&data=08_Dicembre_2005&sezione=Co 
mmenti&giornale=repubblica&isLocale=false

CULTURE

+++ Culture/ Germany: Günter Grass hosts Meeting of Authors

Der Tagesspiegel. Günter Grass, the 1999 Nobel Prize winner for
litterature, invited several of his younger fellow writers to
take part in a two-day meeting in Lübeck. Feuilletonist
Steffen Richter was made to endure heavy criticism of the role
of the features pages: "According to writer Eva Menasse, over
the past few years, the 35 to 45-year-old feuilletonists have
been able to take over the role of opinion-makers which once
belonged to authors. And Günter Grass, with great verve, tells
the forty journalists attending his gathering: 'I want us to be
more confident in our powers. We are the primary force; you are
secondary.' We should finally get used to this idea." +++
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/index.asp? 
ran=on&url=archiv.tagesspiegel.de/archiv/08.12.

+++ History/ Baltic States: Common Ground in the Baltic Region

Estonia - Postimees. Although historically speaking the Baltic
states have little in common, outside observers often see them
as a single unit, as Estonian author and literary theorist Jaan
Undusk explains: "A secret protocol added to the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact forced the Baltic States into a
political unit. After that, hardly anyone regarded Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania as individual states but rather as a unit
that was integrated into the Soviet Union. The secret policies
of superpowers are a poor basis for creating a sense of
community between the Baltic States. It's important to show the
world that you can't force people to cooperate." +++
http://www.postimees.ee/081205/esileht/kultuur/185516.php

LOCAL COLOURS

+++ Internal Policy/ Portugal: The fight for gay marriage is
launched

Jornal de Noticias. Helena Norte indicates that a petition
calling for the legalisation of gay marriage "has almost
collected the 4,000 signatures required to force a
parliamentary debate on the subject. "But is the right to marry
the foremost concern of Portuguese homosexuals?" the journalist
asks. Actually, "a study by the Institute for Sciences of Work
and Enterprise points out that the primary demand of the
country's homosexuals remains protection against homophobic
violence, and that the right to marry, though often cited, only
figures at the bottom of the list." +++
http://jn.sapo.pt/2005/12/07/em_foco/a_luta_pelo_casamento.html


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