European press review

The case for vegetarianism gains further momentum as another livestock crisis hits Britain.

Spain mourns another two killings but celebrates an arrest made in France.

An economic and political crisis complicates Turkey's case for EU membership, and President George W Bush is at home for callers.

Broccoli anyone?

Under the headline, "New food crisis in Europe", the French newspaper Le Figaro sympathizes with the plight of British farmers confronted with an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. It sees them as "already traumatized by the outbreak of BSE" and now "steeling themselves for a new crisis that will again deprive them of all their export markets".

"The economic consequences... will be dramatic for a farming industry already weakened by the BSE epidemic," the paper says. It points out that "Britain still remembers the terrible [foot-and-mouth] outbreak of 1967-68 which affected 2,500 farms and required the slaughter of 433,987 head of livestock".

Germany's Die Welt reassures consumers that foot-and-mouth disease has nothing in common with BSE and poses no threat to human health.

It points out that, in contrast to BSE, foot-and-mouth disease is "a classic livestock epidemic". If one animal is affected, others are rapidly infected and the cure is inoculation and quarantine.

"Consumers may be concerned that, however much agrarian policy is reformed, it cannot prevent the outbreak of these epidemics. But the risks can clearly be controlled," the paper concludes

And in Russia, be afraid, be very afraid

Russia's official Rossiyskaya Gazeta has decided to console readers with "2,000 reasons to be afraid", a chilling roll call of food scares listed by the United Nations.

The paper reminds readers that meat offals can turn up in chewing gum, yoghurt and cosmetics. "Danger stalks us at every step and in the most unexpected places," Rossiyskaya Gazeta says.

"Europe is in complete panic," the paper adds, pointing out that beef consumption in France and Germany is down by 40%.

Meanwhile the mayor of Moscow has gone on the defensive over the city's decision to buy 100,000 tonnes of beef from Bavaria.

Moscow needs 600,000 tonnes of meat a year and the whole of Russia last year only produced 3.2 millions. the conservative Trud quotes the mayor as saying.

"That's why we had to buy the beef abroad. Of course we realize that the toughest possible controls are needed and they will be provided," mayor Yuriy Luzhkov insisted.

"Hardly had the fuss died down over Russia's purchase of a major consignment of beef from Germany... than the Russian Veterinary Service has announced it is halting imports of pork from Great Britain," the liberal Segodnya says.

Officially a ban on British pork is expected within days, but the paper says it has information that veterinary officials on the border have already been given orders to impound supplies of British pork.

Yet not every Russian expert is convinced. A leading scientist at the Russian Polio Institute told Rossiyskaya Gazeta: "A fuss is being made artificially. The likelihood of becoming infected by eating meat is very small and doubtful at that."

Spain: Some news is good news

Spanish front pages and editorial columns are dominated by the latest developments in what they see as society's battle against the armed Basque separatist organization, ETA. And the headlines reflect the mixed nature of Thursday's news.

Thus, a five-column header in Madrid's El Pais reads, "ETA murders two workers in San Sebastian with car bomb aimed at socialist councillor", while another announces, "Boss of ETA commandos arrested in France".

"ETA's mastermind caught hours group kills two workers", says Diario 16.

Barcelona's El Periodico De Catalunya notes that, two days after the Basque Country's regional premier set the date of 13 May for early elections to the regional parliament, "ETA launched its election strategy in the shape of a car bomb". The paper believes that the arrest on Thursday in France of the organization's alleged "top military chief" has strengthened the confidence of those who believe that barbarism will be defeated in the end".

In an editorial titled, "Assassins without a future", Madrid's La Razon says that the supporters of ETA's separatism, "as they become increasingly aware of the horror inspired" by the group, "will start coming out for peace" but will blame ETA's deeds on "the historical context".

For such people, "it is always the victims, not the murderers, who are to blame", the paper points out.

Turkey's dire straits

Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung says corruption allegations in Turkey's banking sector lie at the root of the present government crisis.

The shockwaves from the political row over President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's criticism of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's handling of corruption "will last longer than the current tremors on the Istanbul stock market", the paper says.

Calls for early elections are moreover tempered by the recognition that there is no-one to lead the country out of this crisis, it adds.

All this will affect Ankara's relations with the European Union, the paper warns.

Ironically, the government and military had intended to discuss Ankara's long-awaited programme for EU accession in the National Security Council on Monday.

"The discussion never took place because of the battle between the two political fighting cocks - much to the delight of EU opponents in Ankara."

Berlin's Tageszeitung appears to side with President Sezer, noting that he "stubbornly resists all attempts to circumvent the law through favouritism, privilege, political decree and accepting advantage".

The paper likes him to Italian and Spanish investigating magistrates in corruption cases, who also made enemies in high places.

"Since his dispute with Ecevit, Sezer now has the sympathy of 90% of the population, according to the Turkish press. More than the military. Can anyone beat that?"

"Turkey is in crisis at a time when the new American president is baring his military teeth in the long-running conflict with Iraq," says the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"A Turkish government subject to plausible speculation about its expiry date might not have the political strength, let alone the financial stability, to be a solid partner for George W Bush."

As a result of this setback, "Turkey's road to Europe will be even longer and stonier than first thought", the paper says.

"The currency crisis has exposed the self-deception of assuming that negotiations on joining the European Union could start in a few years. That date is now far off," the paper believes.

Hail to the chief

Russia's nationalist Nezavisimaya Gazeta believes German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer will have some "awkward explaining to do" to his Green Party, when he returns from Washington.

The paper says Mr Fischer gave every impression of agreeing with US policy on everything, including the air raids on Iraq so vehemently criticized by his own party.

"Perhaps one can understand Germany's wish not to cause itself additional problems with its main partner and ally," the paper says. But this "diplomatic appeasement" may be "misread" by France, which has sharply criticized America's actions.

"Nor does it remove the real problems that concern Europe and the world caused by the threat that strategic stability may be undermined by the US national missile defence plans," the paper adds.

A columnist in the Swiss Le Temps says that President George W Bush's "no comment" regarding last Friday's air strikes against Iraq "spoke volumes about the White House's new public relations policy.

"How much further will go the escalation of violence against a country which... no longer threatens anyone, be it in the Middle East or anywhere else?" the author asks.

"Maybe one day we will realize that air strikes are not an anodyne form of dialogue... and that America's methods... will eventually destabilize our own populations who live in increasingly closer osmosis with the Arab immigrants in our countries," the commentator points out.

Hello euro, goodbye EU

"Just as we are about to say hello to the euro, might we have to say goodbye to the European Union?" wonders an editorial in the French Le Nouvel Observateur.

Such dark thoughts are prompted by doubts about the solidity of the Franco-German relationship, seen by the paper as the "foundation stone" of the European Union, and by worries over the Union's enlargement.

The fall of the Berlin Wall has "emancipated" Germany, the paper says.

The "reunified Germany" has "regained its freedom of movement" and "changed its view of the Franco-German relationship". Having "rid itself of its complexes", it "wants to play a political role free from any tutelage".

As for enlargement, "no politician would want to take the responsibility of barring from the European Union the nations who wish to join it and meet the required conditions", the paper says.

"But neither does any politician believe that a Union with more than 15 members will ever be able to make any important decisions," it adds.

The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.