European press review

There is widespread condemnation in Europe's papers of the United States' hostility to the new International Criminal Court.

Another global institution - the World Cup - also draws a lot of comment, with German dailies saluting Brazil's deserved victory and Germany's dignified defeat.

But the World Cup is also linked with a less welcome clash - this time at sea between North and South Korea.

Baptism of fire

Most European papers voice support for the fledgling institution created to try those accused of genocide, war crimes and other such grave abuses.

America is scared

Die Welt

Many criticise the United States for scuppering the UN mission in Bosnia out of fear that the International Criminal Court (ICC), which comes into being on Monday, might prosecute US peacekeepers.

The Madrid daily ABC says the US stance is "obstinate" and motivated by more than just a desire to protect its troops.

"It reveals an opposition in principle to an institution which embodies the aspiration to really universal justice," the paper writes.

Germany's Frankfurter Rundschau says that under President George W Bush, the United States has become a "saboteur" of the International Criminal Court.

The paper describes the Bush administration's threat to veto the renewal of the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia-Hercegovina as "the latest act of sabotage".

Hamburg's Die Welt says one of the reasons the Americans are opposed to the new tribunal is because they are afraid.

If it manages to get round the obstacles, it will end up imposing its legitimacy on everyone

La Razon

"America is scared," it says. "Scared that its citizens will be exposed to capriciousness, especially those on the front line: the soldiers."

Nevertheless, the paper says that ultimately the Americans are pragmatists, and that there is still hope for the tribunal.

Another Madrid daily, La Razon, predicts that the court will overcome the hostility of those countries fearful of its jurisdiction, which include Russia and China.

"The ICC now has time to grow, to establish resources and methods until it can walk on its own two feet," the paper says.

"If it manages to get round the obstacles, it will end up imposing its legitimacy on everyone and dispelling suspicions of possible cases of 'politicisation' or the use of the court for other ends than mere justice," it goes on.

Everyone a winner

Victory for the German team would have been a defeat for football

Berliner Zeitung

Germany's Berliner Zeitung acknowledges that Brazil deserved to win the World Cup.

"Victory for the German team would have been a defeat for football," the paper says.

Berlin's Die Welt is more positive, saying that even in defeat, Germany won.

"Narrowly losing to the Brazilians, the technically most accomplished players in the world, whilst putting up fantastic resistance, is nothing to be ashamed of," it declares.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung speaks of a "great final" and a "deserved victory" for Brazil.

It is sympathetic towards Oliver Kahn, the German goalkeeper who committed the "decisive mistake".

"Even those who are seemingly invulnerable in this sport," it says, "remained human beings with little professional weaknesses."

The Swiss daily L'Express, meanwhile, hopes to keep the football authorities' feet on the ground.

Essential for Sepp Blatter to put his house in order

L'Express

It says the tournament's finale in Yokohama must not disguise the need for far-reaching changes in the sport's organising body.

"Today, Sepp Blatter and his friends are shouting victory," the paper says in a reference to Fifa's president, who has been tainted by corruption scandals.

It adds that the dawning of a new era, with previously unheralded nations emerging, makes it "necessary and even essential for Sepp Blatter to put his house in order".

Rain on the parade

A pair of Austrian papers assess an incident that overshadowed the triumphant end to World Cup 2002.

Vienna's Der Standard believes football played a part in Saturday's clash between North and South Korean warships.

"North Korea didn't like the attention the South received thanks to the World Cup," the paper says.

North Korea will never make the decisive step towards peace

Die Presse

It adds that the incident is a heavy blow to the Sunshine Policy of engagement with the North pursued by South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

It accuses North Korean leader Kim Jong-il of failing to realise that sensible negotiations with the South might help his people more than the "noisy rumbling of guns".

Another Austrian daily, Die Presse, is deeply pessimistic about the prospects for Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy.

"Even though the people of North Korea are starving, the regime there will never make the decisive step towards peace, let alone reunification," the paper says.

It believes that North Korea's leaders, whom it describes as "old-style Stalinists", fear that such a move would spell the end of their rule.

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