Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 04.07.2006

Hansgeorg Hermann portrays Albanian writer Agron Tufa, whose stories tell of the post-communist rat race in lush, often wicked images. "In the story 'The Flat,' the reader enters an abject tenement house together with the narrator. A sinister caretaker named Vektor leads the way through the degenerate labyrinth, his gnarled fingers opening door after door. Whether in Moscow or Tirana, the era of post-communism is being described here, where organised crime and corrupt politicians jointly descend upon the city to snatch up the sole remaining thing of any worth – property. The dilapidated flat on the ground floor of this grotty building becomes a symbol of the haggling for money and influence. The flat smells like rotting vegetables, and slimy mildew covers the walls. Tufa's characters live in the cavernous cellars of their souls."


Süddeutsche Zeitung, 04.07.2006

What is Europe? In the company of German, French and Polish participants at a conference hosted by the Berlin-Brandenburg Institute for German-French Cooperation, Franziska Augstein didn't find out. "The French concept of laicism is simply absurd for Poles. The French term 'services publiques' (public services) is insufficiently translated by the German 'öffentlicher Dienst,' and other countries hardly have any idea what that could possibly be. When the Germans wanted to write minority rights into the EU constitution, the French objected that that would be a tautological aberration. Their concept of the Republique guarantees that there are no minorities in the state, just citizens on an equal footing. Catherine Lalumiere reported that when the French opposed the term minority rights, they were dismayed to find that only the Romanians and the Turks were firmly behind them. Polish law professor Irena Lipowicz reported that a French person had said to her in jest that if Poland ceded to Germany's wish to include minority rights in the EU constitution, France would declare the Oder-Neiße border between Poland and Germany invalid."


Die Tageszeitung, 04.07.2006

Katrin Bettina Müller highly recommends paying a visit to the theatre festival in Epidaurus and Athens. "The new festival director, Yorgos Loukos, has brought a fresh wind of internationality and rejuvenation. And this includes a number of dance theatre productions and new locations such as an empty factory in a tumble-down industrial area on the way to the port of Piraeus. And so it came to be that here in an abandoned furniture factory, they staged the premiere of a piece by Thomas Ostermeier (artistic director at Berlin's Schaubühne theatre) and choreographer Constanza Macras, co-produced by the Greek festival. And there is no knowing whether it was the influence of the surroundings or the result of this first-off cooperation between director and choreographer that made the piece feel like a dionyisian head rush."


Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 04.07.2006

The newspaper's publisher and editor Frank Schirrmacher talks to Germany's grande dame of feminism, Alice Schwarzer, (see our feature) about the taxing problems that Islamism and Islam represent for western societies, and as would be expected, she pursues the hard line on headscarfs. "The headscarf is the Islamist flag. The headscarf is a sign that sets women apart as second class citizens. Symbolically, this is a form of 'branding', comparable with the star of David. Practically, headscarves and full-body veils are a severe handicap, restricting movement and communication. I think it goes without saying that we should take our cue from countries like France and prohibit the headscarf in schools and kindergartens for teachers and pupils alike."


Die Welt, 04.07.2006

The empire strikes back, writes a gleeful Michael Pilz about the rollback of old Europe, as least in the world of football. "Globalised football remains a cultural and media phenomenon. In Thailand someone was killed after the game when Italy played Australia. The thesis that globalised football has its rustic origins in England and Europe and went on to be refined in every corner of the globe seems to have been confirmed. First in South America, then in Africa, recently in Asia and even in the Caribbean. But none of them are here any more for the World Cup in Germany. Germany, France and Italy are on their own; the EU member Portugal almost seems exotic. Old Europe, the 1,200 year-old Carolingian-Roman-German core is holding sway. The countries of the empire of Charlemagne (which also included a Spanish frontier area, of course) will sort out the World Cup among themselves."