European press review

An accord giving Moscow the right to influence Nato decisions continues to attract widespread coverage in European papers.

Elsewhere, the murder of far-right politician Pim Fortuyn galvanizes the Dutch elections.

A Paris paper sees signs that a movement for a secular Islam may be emerging.

And in Russia, flattering TV coverage fails to impress Kremlin spin doctors.

Doubts over Russia-Nato partnership

Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says Russian President Vladimir Putin earned kudos in Washington because of his support for the US war on terrorism.

"Talk of a Bush-Putin axis may be exaggerated, but the picture is not entirely false," the paper contends. "At any rate, the new Nato-Russia Council is an indication of the fresh esteem in which Moscow is now held."

The Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta calls the new body an innovative "zero option".

Moscow has let it be understood in politically correct language that it had expected more by way of influence

Nezavisimaya gazeta

It asserts that a "completely new mechanism of cooperation is being created from a blank slate - on the basis of equal rights among all 20 'component parts' and consensus in decision-making".

But the French Le Monde warns that there are reservations in Moscow.

"On the very day that the creation of the Nato-Russia Council was agreed in Iceland, Russia said it was increasing military cooperation with five other former Soviet republics," it notes.

The paper sees the move as "manifestly aimed at countering... the USA's sustained drive to extend its influence in Central Asia".

It "shows how cautiously President Putin must advance in his strategy of rapprochement with the West", it concludes.

The Russian broadsheet Nezavisimaya Gazeta detects a degree of disappointment with the move.

"Moscow has let it be understood in politically correct language that it had expected more by way of influence on the adoption of key decisions," it says.

We have never had and don't have now any real chance of influencing Nato strategy

Moskovskiy Komsomolets

"After all, Russia's contribution to the establishment of the Pax Americana has been considerable... overflight rights in Russian airspace, a decision not to oppose American expansion in Central Asia and a distancing from former 'multi-polar world' allies - for instance, Iran."

And the popular Moskovskiy Komsomolets suspects Moscow will have little more than a walk-on part.

"In this play - which is to be directed mainly by the USA - Russia will at best be given the lines, 'Dinner is served!'," it laments. "We have never had and don't have now any real chance of influencing Nato strategy, let alone strategy concerning the alliance's eastward expansion."

The Ukrainian daily Den weighs Ukraine's chances of reaching a similar deal with Nato but is not optimistic.

"History shows that the advantages of a good geographical position can be reduced to naught by the lack of accord among key politician players, undetermined and inconsistent state policy, inadequate domestic development or the absence of social stability," it says.

Fortuyn factor

The results of Wednesday's general election in the Netherlands came too late for much comment, but the anticipated strong showing of the party of murdered anti-immigration candidate Pim Fortuyn prompted speculation about its future role.

France's Le Figaro notes that the Pim Fortuyn List did not even exist at the beginning of this year and little is known about it.

Kok's government failed to detect rising voter concern over crime and immigration

International Herald Tribune

"Its programme, with the notable exception of the immigration issue, is sufficiently vague to leave analysts scratching their heads as to whether to label it 'right-wing populist' or 'extreme right'," the paper comments.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta notes that the killing of Pim Fortuyn has rebounded on those who were hoping his party would be weakened.

"Before the elections, many in Holland, including people who did not agree with his racist statements, said they intended to vote for the 'friends of Pim Fortuyn'," it reports.

The International Herald Tribune sees the ouster of the Labour-led coalition as part of an emerging Europe-wide trend.

"Kok's government," it argues, "suffered the same fate as the one that befell former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin of France... who presided over strong economic growth, but failed to detect rising voter concern over issues like crime, and the related issue of immigration."

The headline "Setting out for the unknown" sums up the view of Austria's Kurier. The only certainty, it says, is that Wim Kok "has left his country's political scene for good".

Islam: the French connection

France's Nouvel Observateur sees signs that a movement towards a secularized Islam may be developing.

"We are witnessing in France the emergence of courageous movements to reform Islam," it asserts.

It goes on to contrast the trend with the situation in Britain, where "the rejection of integration by some Muslims can go so far as refusing to learn English".

"French Islam," the paper concludes, "might thus become... a spearhead against (radical) Islamism and more amenable to our concept of a secular society."

Old habits die hard

The heads of Russia's two main TV channels have been summoned to the Kremlin for a "major ticking-off" for being too nice to Mr Putin.

Moskovskiy Komsomolets says spin-doctors were fuming over the "stream of flattery about the president pouring from TV screens".

The TV bosses were accused of "putting out propaganda about Putin as if he were Leonid Ilyich [Brezhnev]".

They were told that "if things went on like this, news bulletins would soon start making viewers retch".

But, the paper says, the TV chiefs face an unenviable task.

"If TV journalists were really given even a relative amount of freedom, a stern shout from the Kremlin would not be long in coming." And this time they "would be accused of political disloyalty".

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