European press review

The fallout from the Dutch elections continues to be hotly debated in Europe's press, as leader-writers struggle to explain the rise of the far-right across the continent.

Most agree that the continent's traditional Left has lost its way.

Meanwhile the Russian press has been contemplating the somewhat surprising staying power of the Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.

And there is concern about the spread of forest fires, in both European Russia and the country's Far East.

Globalization to blame

Germany's Die Welt describes one European country after another "falling like dominoes" back into conservatism.

The paper points to globalization and security threats as reasons for the growth of the far right.

"In all western states there is a longing for security, belonging and identity - classic values of conservatives."

The German Frankfurter Rundschau also feels that globalization has a lot to answer for.

The far right, it says, "finds a breeding-ground for its ideas wherever citizens feel that politicians are trying to cheat their way out of trouble, or wherever the shaping of society is left to global economics".

Slap in the face

France's Le Monde says that in losing half its parliamentary seats the Dutch Labour Party was dealt "a resounding slap in the face" that serves as a warning to the European Left.

With the exception of Britain's New Labour, the Left has not dared to address issues of identity, feelings of insecurity and the decline of authority

Le Temps

The paper ascribes the success of populist leaders like the late Pim Fortuyn to what it calls "the depoliticization of politics in the name of management".

"The main victim of this groundswell", it stresses, is the traditional Left, which "is paying the price of a globalization that deprives it of the traditional means to pursue the economic and social policies expected by the voters".

Other papers also look to the failings of Europe's socialist parties to explain the rise of the far right.

Europe's Left "has proved it can manage the economy, but people need more than economic indices, even when they are favourable", the Swiss Le Temps says.

But the paper has a good word for Tony Blair's New Labour.

With the exception of Britain's New Labour, the Left has not dared to address issues of identity, feelings of insecurity and the decline of authority," it says.

Politically incorrect

Spain's ABC sees the success of the Pim Fortuyn List as a protest against a system that prizes political correctness above everything else.

Pim Fortuyn gave them pure entertainment and spectacle

Der Standard

This success, the paper believes, reflects "a society unhappy and fed up", which asked the authorities "for the courage effectively to tackle matters regarded as taboo" and "invariably got silence for an answer".

The Austrian Der Standard blames the poor image of the Left for the strong showing of the Pim Fortuyn List.

The paper believes that the voters supported the Right because they had grown to perceive the ruling Left coalition as "grey, technocratic and dull, and possessed of the unattractive charm of an obsequious civil servant".

Pim Fortuyn was the exact opposite, it stresses, because "he recognized the people's needs" and "gave them pure entertainment and spectacle without mincing his words".

The French L'Express agrees that the Left has "run out of steam".

Voters are merely human, and it is very hard to get rid of xenophobia

Praca

Right and Left alike, the paper notes, "are proving slow to realize that none of the major problems of the present-day world... can be resolved within the borders of the nation-state".

The answers, it believes, "must be found on a continental basis, formulated by pan-European parties".

Democracy still reigns

"Don't shoot right-wingers", pleads a headline in the Slovak Praca.

The paper says that late Pim Fortuyn was no better nor worse than other politicians.

The success of the Pim Fortuyn List, the paper points out, "is a clear signal to Europe... that voters are merely human, and that it is very hard to get rid of xenophobia".

But democracy still reigns in the Netherlands, it stresses, and there is time until the next elections to learn from past mistakes and understand why people are disillusioned by politicians, as well as "time to explain that an immigrant is not an enemy but someone looking for a fresh chance in life".

"And this applies not just to the Netherlands but to every country with an 'inferiority complex'," the paper concludes.

Kasyanov's second anniversary

As other countries come to terms with political upheaval, Russia's papers are somewhat surprised that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has lasted two years in the post.

"Despite constant rumours of his retirement, Kasyanov has held on to the premier's chair," the mainstream Izvestiya says.

Most papers are complimentary about Mr Kasyanov's time in office. "He has grown over the two years of his premiership from a servant of the Kremlin into a serious political figure," Nezavisimaya Gazeta says.

Siberian wildfires

The forest fires raging in Russia's Far East also feature heavily in the Russian press. The plight of Borovoye, a village almost completely burnt to cinders, is taken up by Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

"Villagers were unable to put out one burning building before the flames leapt to others. The village is 40 km from the nearest town, and there is no telephone, so there was no hope of help from the fire brigade," the paper says.

But Moskovsky Komsomolets shows little concern for remote Siberia, and is only worried about how close the fires are getting to Moscow.

"Moscow fire-fighters have brought out a gloomy statistic: there is a peak in the intensity of fires about once every ten years: 1972, 1981, 1992... It seems this year will continue that sad trend."

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