European Press Review

The Iraqi crisis and the concomitant split in Nato continues to dominate the press throughout Europe, with no let up in the relentless attacks against the German and Spanish governments.

Russian newspapers praise Franco-Russian ties following President Putin's visit, and also comment favourably on the news the British oil giant BP has taken a major share in Russia's oil industry.

German disarray

Germany's financial daily Handelsblatt argues that German foreign policy is in complete disarray at a time when Europe is facing its most difficult challenge since the end of the Cold War.

While "Nato is fighting for its very survival", says Handelsblatt, "in Berlin, the last vestige of international predictability, statesmanlike vision and diplomatic skill is disappearing into the Bermuda triangle that is the Foreign Ministry, Chancellery and government press office".

Nato is being sacrificed on the altar of new German foreign policy

Sueddeutsche Zeitung

Chancellor Schroeder carries the brunt of the blame for the whole "debacle", while Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer appears like "a green provincial politician begging for understanding".

"Leadership? - not in Berlin. Not anywhere."

For Die Welt, "the Berlin-Paris axis does not really augur well in Brussels, in Europe, within Nato".

Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung attacks the government for getting its priorities wrong.

Germany could have sent troops to Turkey and still stood firm against Washington's Iraq policy, instead of blocking the Nato move.

"Instead, Berlin decided that its opposition to the US's Iraq policy was more important to it than its Alliance obligations. Nato is thus being sacrificed on the altar of new German foreign policy."

"The cost of this decision will be enormous," it warns.

'Aznar's errors'

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar finds himself taking flak from two of the country's leading dailies.

For El Mundo, Mr Aznar "has positioned the Popular Party (PP) in opposition to the opinion of the vast majority of Spaniards for the first time since it came to power".

In effect, it has supplanted the socialists and become its own opposition "as a result of Aznar's mistakes."

Madrid deaf and alone, towed along by Bush and Rumsfeld, in its far from splendid isolation

El Pais

El Pais warns that "a party and a government with an absolute majority can also end up isolated".

It accuses the government of "preferring to act as a faithful shield-carrier for the Bush administration" rather than favouring concrete measures to avert war and achieve the disarmament of Iraq.

Aznar's government is "deaf and alone... towed along by Bush and Rumsfeld, in its far from splendid isolation".

European strains

France's Le Figaro argues that Washington "is not allowing itself to be swayed by the alliance between Paris, Berlin and Moscow" with no let up in "the advance towards war",

"As Washington sees it, France with its supposed chronic anti-Americanism is a more convenient scapegoat than Putin's Russia".

EU Utopia of a common foreign and security policy is becoming irrelevant

Adevarul

Romania's Adevarul believes that the Nato impasse over sending military aid to Turkey for use in hostilities against Iraq bodes ill for the future of European foreign policy.

"The EU Utopia of a common foreign and security policy is becoming irrelevant."

"As a result", it forecasts, "at next week's EU summit, the member states are not going to reach a consensus on Iraq, which will bring about deadlock not only within Nato, but within the EU as well".

The Ukrainian daily Den notes that Kiev's position on Iraq is "neutral" as it has no influence on events and popular support for military action is lacking.

"In Iraq, they have continued to treat Ukraine like a friend. Apparently, Kiev doesn't see any particular threat in the regime of Saddam Hussein."

Russia's Trud appeals to the Russian, French and German leaders to act with alacrity to avoid hostilities.

Splendid personal relationship between Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac

Rossiyskaya Gazeta

"When the scent of gunpowder is in the air, when armadas of American fighters and bombers are on the verge of taking off, a speedy reaction and clear, coordinated actions are what is required of the opponents of the use of force."

Putin in Paris

The Russian press is mostly delighted by the results of President Vladimir Putin's visit to France.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta remarks on "the splendid personal relationship which has developed between Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac".

The two leaders had exhibited a "high degree of trust when discussing problems".

Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes that "the whole of the centre of Paris was dappled in white, blue and red - the colours of the two countries' national flags".

"The friendly atmosphere was also underlined by the behaviour of French President Jacques Chirac, who even neglected the requirements of protocol when he met Putin."

Chirac still managed to spoil the appetites by raising the Chechen issue

Izvestiya

"For ordinary Parisians, the arrival of our president was an event," says Moskovskiy Komsomolets. "On this occasion, they preferred a spectacle to their shopping and their standard cup of coffee."

"The French, in hosting Vladimir Vladimirovich, showed themselves to be the true masters of triumphant ceremonies."

Izvestiya, however, saw it differently. "Chirac still managed to spoil the appetites of most of the guests, by raising the Chechen issue. In this way, Chirac yielded to the pressure of that section of the French public which supports the Chechen separatists."

BP in Russia

The news that the British oil giant BP is to invest over six billion dollars in the Russian oil company TNK has pleased Russia's press.

Signal of approval for the country's current regime

Izvestiya

"Never before has a single company invested such a sum in the Russian economy in one go," comments Izvestiya.

"The point is that one of the acknowledged leaders in global business is ready to invest astronomical sums in Russia, despite our far from perfect economic legislation."

"Russia's oil business will today wake up wealthier and more famous... no recognition makes so loud a noise as that which is paid in hard currency."

"This isn't just a private transaction, but a strategic agreement between Russian and Western business, and, moreover, a signal of approval for the country's current regime," concludes the daily.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta says the new oil holding company "has immediately entered the ranks of the country's largest companies".

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