The German press dedicates wide coverage to the Iraqi crisis and to EU enlargement. Regarding a possible war in Iraq, Heiko Flottau, writing in the Süddeutsche Zeitung of 9/12, affirms: “ Saddam Hussein has understood that, in contrast to 1991, the USA does not want to conduct a war to maintain the existing order. In 2003, they want to subvert the order in the Middle East. The first step is regime change in Iraq“. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ( Faz) comments: “ In the propaganda war, Saddam is now trying to win support” to “reinforce the growing anti-American attitude throughout the Islamic world. But the effects of his campaign will also be felt among the opponents of the war in the Western world“. Writing in the Frankfurter Rundschau of 9/12, Martin Winter observes: “ The way in which Washington exerts pressure on the EU to accept Turkey into its fold as soon as possible, shows a dangerous change in the quality of relations. The American desire displays a deep ignorance of what the EU is“. “ On the eve of enlargement, the old EU presents itself not as a dynamic economic giant but as a grumbling, weak patient, incapable of reform“, writes Alexander Hagelüken in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The weekly Der Spiegel of 9/12 also focuses on the question: in the event of Turkey’s entry into the EU, “ the Union would undergo a transformation that would impact the fundamental questions of European identity: what keeps the continent united: Christianity or shared democratic values? Do the frontiers of Europe derive from history and geography or from future political needs? And lastly: how can a EU act which has as its neighbouring states countries like Iraq, Syria or Iran?” The Spanish daily La Vanguardia ( 8/12) dedicates wide coverage to the convention of Christians for Europe held in Barcelona from 6 to 8 December. The president of the Catalan bishops’ conference, Lluís Martínez Sistach, proposes that the European constitution include “a reference to the options of believers and non-believers so that the term God may be included with a formula acceptable to the bulk of citizens of the European Union“. In this sense Noel Treanor, general secretary of the Council of the European Episcopal Conferences, suggests “a solution like that adopted by Poland in its Constitution of 1997”. “The new faces of Islam”: that’s the title of a “dossier” dedicated by the American weekly magazine Time (16/12) to the Islamic presence in Europe. “European Moslems declares the introduction to the survey, which takes the form of interviews and testimonials are reviewing their faith and their feelings about assimilation in liberal, secularised societies”. “A religion in transition”: this is the definition that Time gives of Islam, now trying to come to terms with the various types of believer it comprises: the “activists”, the “thinkers”, the “critics” and the “converts”, each characterized by a more or less strong feeling of belonging to (or rejection of) Europe. “Turkey belongs to Europe” is, on the other hand, the emphatic title of the opening story in the Economist (7/12), which examines the country’s “secularization”. And to Turkey is also dedicated the cover story in La Croix (10/12), according to which “the Turks are awaiting from the European summit in Copenhagen a clear response to their application for their membership negotiations to be started”. “Turkey will not belong to the EU before 2013”, however, is the opinion of the European Commissioner Guenther Verheugen, interviewed by Marie-Francoise Masson. Verheugen explains the basic reasons for his thesis as follows: “On paper, Turkey is making a determined effort to fulfil” the conditions imposed by the European Union, but “the real problem is to pass from words to action”. The survey on religions continues, meanwhile, in the Catholic daily La Croix (10/12): the great world religious traditions are reviewed: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. Each of them is epitomized with a keyword: “fidelity to the commandments” (Judaism), “love” (Christianity), “obedience” (Islam), “simplicity and abnegation” (Buddhism), “unity and interiority” (Hinduism).
