European press review

Swiss papers discuss a recount of the votes in the Swiss referendum on stricter asylum laws.

A German paper defends Chancellor Schroeder's stance on Iraq and the Czech press describes the country's most difficult job.

The Belarus leader's visit to Moscow causes a stir in Russia.

And one Russian daily takes exception to James Bond's baddies.

Swiss counting

The recount of the votes in last Sunday's referendum on stricter asylum laws makes the headlines in the country's press.

After the recount the People's Party asylum initiative will be rejected without a doubt

Neue Zurcher Zeitung

The French-language Le Temps says that the right-wing People's Party's proposal "continues to make waves" after some provinces admitted they had used scales to measure ballot slips rather than counting them by hand.

With a mere 3,422 votes separating the two camps, the People's Party "triumphal failure" could be "transformed into a triumph," the paper says.

The German-language Neue Zurcher Zeitung disagrees, citing an election official who said that the scales used were more accurate than counting by hand.

"But after the recount the People's Party asylum initiative will be rejected without a doubt," it concludes.

Under fire

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has come under fire from the opposition which has accused him of going back on his election promises on Iraq.

Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung defends the chancellor and says the opposition is "grossly exaggerating" his stance.

The paper says it is "obvious and inevitable" that America must be "granted overflying rights and the use of its bases in Germany".

But it adds that Mr Schroeder has made his position on the matter very clear by declaring "no money and no weapons for a war that is not considered right".

Therefore, to say that Mr Schroeder has breached his promises is "malicious, biased and unfair," the paper concludes.

TV boss out

Arnold Schwarzenegger with the brain of Bill Gates would have no chance of having it his own way

Mlada Fronta Dnes

In the Czech Republic, newspapers debate the dismissal of the Czech TV head, Jiri Balvin.

Mr Balvin has been criticized for being unable to restructure the station.

The daily Mlada Fronta Dnes says that the riskiest profession in the world is "neither a police officer, nor a gambler, nor a fireman, but being head of Czech TV".

Mr Balvin was appointed to the post in February 2001, following a rebellion among the broadcaster's employees in December 2000 over the hiring of Jiri Hodac as director.

The employees accused Mr Hodac of being politically biased and demanded that he be fired.

The paper believes that Mr Balvin's successor would also have his work cut out for him.

"Arnold Schwarzenegger with the brain of Bill Gates would have no chance of having it his own way," the paper says.

Friend in need

Banned from most of the European Union and the USA, the president of Belarus' visit to Moscow has attracted the attention of the Russian newspapers.

The USA wasn't always so principled

Komsomolskaya Pravda

The heavyweight broadsheet Nezavisimaya Gazeta calls the trip by Alexander Lukashenko the "beginning of a new thaw between the two countries".

Only recently Mr Lukashenko publicly accused President Putin of insulting Belarus by trying to turn it into another province of Russia.

"Moscow has decided to take a risk and reserve for itself the role of Belarus's chief partner and defender," says the leading daily Izvestiya.

'Double standards'

The hard-line Trud criticises the West's treatment of Mr Lukashenko.

It accuses the EU and USA of "double standards" for singling out Belarus, while turning a blind eye to "mass violations of human rights" in Latvia and Estonia.

The tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda agrees, saying that "the USA wasn't always so principled".

"In the past it had no qualms about receiving the [emperor of the Central African Republic] Bokassa, the Haitian dictator Francois Duvalier and the bloody ruler of the Dominican Republic, Trujillo."

Bond's baddies

Sinister maniacs increasingly frequently have familiar Russian surnames

Moskovskiy Komsomolets

The latest James Bond film "Die Another Day" has not gone down well with one Russian daily.

As the film is premiered in Moscow, mass-circulation Moskovskiy Komsomolets makes a stand against what it sees as the continuing stereotyping of Russians.

It complains that in 007's early adventures practically all the villains were "somehow connected with the KGB" and more recently "sinister maniacs as well as just ordinary killers increasingly frequently had familiar Russian surnames ending in '-ov'".

But the paper admits that some progress has been made with the latest film.

A Russian actor, Michael Gorevoy, has a major role - albeit playing a baddie.

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