EL PAIS THE RETURN OF LONDON We welcome the ‘return’, as defined by El Pais, of the United Kingdom in Europe. A few decades of pure strangeness have passed between Britain and the rest of the European Union. It seemed that almost all British citizens shared the insular complacency and European contempt hatched by ‘mother’ Margaret Thatcher.
But, without having suffered an embargo, just four months after Tony Blair’s Labor triumph in London, the United Kingdom has begun a process of normalization towards the EU. Hysteria towards the European Union and the “monster of Brussels” was therefore completely artificial.
LIBERATIO MILOSEVIC AND LADY Once again Slobodan Milosevic demonstrates his talent for irreducible political maneuvering, writes Liberation. Challenged every day for three months, the autumn passed by tens of thousands of demonstrators in the streets of the Serbian capital, the strong man of Belgrade has now re-established his position. His party, the Serbian socialist party (former communist), has all the chances, polls say, to get the victory in today’s legislative and presidential elections. The clan system is always strong, they ironize the Belgradeers who point to, for example, the power and growing political role of Milosevic’s wife, Mira Markovic: “We are a Republic of bananas, without bananas”.
THE TIMES THE SEVEN MEN OF BEIJING The XV Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, the Times notes, ended in Beijing with the gloomy march of seven unblinking men, who clapped their hands in unison, towards positions of power already established. The ritual of presenting the new omnipotent Politburo has not changed since the days of Mao Zedong. And the opacity of the political process in China strongly contrasts with the rapidity of economic transformations and the spread of opportunities for individuals. But President Jiang Zemin, with the defenestration of the number three of the hierarchy Qiao Shi, made a declaration of conservatism against the party’s most liberal small wing.
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE THE TWO FACES OF TALEBAN Their intolerance and perfidious methods have made them known all over the world, says the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In the districts of Afghanistan where the Taliban command, men must allow themselves to grow long beards, music and TV are forbidden, and those who do not respect the five daily moments of prayer risk being pointed to the religious authorities who will beat him in the streets. In comparison, even the most fanatical Iranian mullahs appear to be liberals. But the regime of the Taliban strongly contrasts with their major financing factor: the trafficking of opium and heroin which continues to increase under the regime.