As the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome approaches and the debate continues on the Berlin Declaration, the document now being drafted by which the German Presidency of the Eu wishes to commemorate the anniversary, comments and analyses proliferate in the German press on the situation in the Eu and in particular on the six months’ Presidency headed by Angela Merkel. The FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG (15/03) publishes an interview with the leader of the Greens in Parliament, Renate Künast , who affirms: “ We don’t need a Berlin Declaration to be discussed and voted on in a small assembly, but rather a constitutive act that would re-found” the Eu, in other words, enunciate the “ construction of a social and ecological Europe. At the beginning of the Community it was coal and steel that linked the states; today the common objective must be the independence of Europe from fossil fuels. That requires a huge effort. All Eu programmes must be reviewed” in the light of the new needs. For the protection of the environment, she adds, “ we need an ecological stability pact, just as we have a stability pact between currencies“ . On Eu activities externally, Renate Künast said: “ Europe was first of all a great project of peace, a task it has fulfilled in an admirable way. The next step must consist in assuming with confidence also a task towards the external world: we must continue to exert our influence, even in competition against the US model“. “With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the bipolar world disappeared” and we are heading towards “a multipolar world” even though “the distribution of roles has still to be established” observes Thierry de Montbrial in an analysis of international policy in the French Catholic daily LE MONDE (15/03 ). “The Usa continues to be very strong on the economic level“, explains the analyst, whereas “the other poles reveal serious weaknesses. China must tackle undeniable social and environmental problems. India remains an essentially regional power. The European Union is far from being able to present itself as a coherent player on the international scene and Russia is a country in convalescence”. The Western countries, moreover, emphasises de Montbrial, “ make accusations against China or Russia in the name of democracy and human rights, while the accused countries retaliate by rebuking them for arrogance but admit they have to progress in this direction”. “The result is that the rivalry between the poles concerns more the classic dimension of power (economic, military, territorial….) than ideology… in particular all the poles are agreed on the need to tackle the common challenge of hyper-terrorism“. In this regard “ it seems that Iran will constitute an important test for the stability of the new international system that is taking shape”. “Playing on European and US fears of expanding terrorist networks in North Africa, Morocco is seeking international backing for a new peace plan for the Western Sahara”, writes Simon Tisdall in a comment on international policy in the British daily THE GUARDIAN (13/03). Hence the recent visit of “senior Moroccan officials to Washington and other western capitals in recent weeks to promote the plan, to be presented to the Un next month” . The central question is that of terrorism: “Moroccan investigators say almost two dozen young Moroccans travelled to Iraq and volunteered as suicide bombers or jihadis in the past 18 months” and “several more have been charged in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombings”. “Regional experts – continues Tisdall – say that if the Western Sahara issue remains unresolved while western arm-twisting over security intensifies” (the region aspires to full independence) “ Morocco’s traditionally moderate, pro-western outlook could be undermined” in the face of strong “ Islamic opposition“, expression of a radicalism fuelled by “ high levels of unemployment and poverty” in the country. “What Vladimir Putin fails to do” is “make Russia great without stifling democracy” , writes Luigi Geninazzi in an editorial in the Italian Catholic daily AVVENIRE (15/03). “Putin has some reason to denounce the unilateral interventionism of the Usa” in the name of multilateralism, but, according to Geninazzi, “he is wrong to behave in the same manner at home“. In short Putin “preaches well but acts poorly”. Through “the use of force” and “the energy weapon” used to blackmail the former Soviet republics, and through the reduction of “the scope for freedom” of “political parties and the press” , the leader of the Kremlin “ wishes to resurrect the grandeur of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is a grandeur that has as its unit of measurement the mountain of petro-dollars accumulated over the last few years (220 billion dollars in 2006 alone)”. “In Moscow – observes the editorialist – the economy is growing and wealth spreading among the middle classes. Not for nothing does Putin enjoy popular support that other world leaders may envy, over 70%. But he has not succeeded in what’s most important: making Russia great without stifling democracy”.
