European press review

European press review

The Camp David summit between George W. Bush and Tony Blair on the Iraq war and post-war reconstruction attracts lots of attention in today's European press. A French paper considers the likely repercussions of Paris's antiwar stance. And in Germany there is a mixed response to the opposition's cautious backing for US military action.

Camp David and after

Mr Blair's trip to the United States, says the Swiss Le Temps, "failed to bring about the consolidation that the British prime minister had the right to expect with regard to both military strategy and the diplomatic and humanitarian field."

Not a lot is missing from Tony Blair's outlook to make it match Jacques Chirac's, so a compromise between Paris and London may no longer be inconceivable

Tribune de Geneve

With their brief summit, the paper adds, "Bush and Blair wanted to show that the military campaign is progressing according to plan and that the two allies... have not the slightest difference of opinion."

But "with the conflict entering its second week", it notes, "the vagueness persists and no-one is fooled by the official pronouncements, particularly those from the US president."

Tribune De Geneve also sees "no convergence" between the views of Mr Bush and Mr Blair on post-Saddam Iraq.

"The view from London," it says, "is that the UN must not be sidelined into humanitarian operations but must also participate in the reconstruction of Iraq."

Whereas, the paper continues, "there is every indication that America is not prepared to delegate" the running of the country "to an international organization".

But it does hold out hope for a rapprochement between London and Paris.

The people of 'Saddamistan' must not become the victims of power struggles in the UN Security Council. They have suffered too much

Sueddeutsche Zeitung

"Not a lot is missing from Tony Blair's outlook to make it match Jacques Chirac's," it says, so "a compromise" between Paris and London "may perhaps no longer be inconceivable".

The German Die Welt says the British prime minister deserves more recognition for his role in trying to mediate between the US and Europe.

"Where would Europe and the United Nations be without Tony Blair," it asks.

"Tirelessly, he tries to prevent the gulf between America and Europe from becoming a chasm."

But, it adds, "hardly anyone in Germany is able to appreciate his efforts. Most see him simply as a warmonger."

Still in Germany, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung urges countries opposed to the war to resist the temptation to stand aloof from post-conflict reconstruction.

"Such a stance sounds consistent, but would be fatal," it says, adding: "The people of 'Saddamistan' must not become the victims of power struggles in the UN Security Council. They have suffered too much."

Instead of collapsing, the dictatorship resists. And the liberators are turning into occupiers

Liberation

But, it cautions, if the US and Britain "are to be helped in dealing with the consequences they should not regard this as approval for their actions".

The French Liberation sees what it calls "an admission of failure" in Mr Bush's statement that the war will go on "for as long as it takes".

"Instead of collapsing, the dictatorship resists. And the liberators are turning into occupiers," it comments.

France fears reprisals

Paris's Le Figaro says that France is facing the threat of economic and political reprisals for what is perceived in the US as its "disloyalty" over Iraq.

Thursday's New York Times, it says, carried an advert calling for a boycott on "a whole range of French goods and services".

Many believe that economic sanctions against France would be largely symbolic, because a strict boycott would be equally damaging to American businesses

Le Figaro

This advert, the paper says, "foreshadows the sanctions" being sought by "certain 'hawks' who have no qualms about calling France a strategic enemy of the USA".

"However," it adds, "many experts believe that such economic sanctions... would be largely symbolic, because a strict boycott would be equally damaging to American businesses".

"On the other hand," the paper warns, "the threat of political reprisals looks more serious."

German soul-searching

Germany's Die Welt rejects criticism of Angela Merkel, the leader of the country's Christian Democrat opposition, for offering guarded support for US military action against Saddam.

"The almost total unanimity between the government and public opinion in their rejection of war is becoming worrying," the paper says.

A form of atlanticism verging on self-denial was an article of faith for two generations of German foreign policy-makers

Sueddeutsche Zeitung

"Anybody who falls out of line and tries to admit that the war of the Americans and British has even a hint of legitimacy is attacked with hitherto undreamt-of aggression."

In this kind of atmosphere, Ms Merkel's courage in going against majority opinion is to be welcomed, the paper argues.

"It is good that the Christian Democrat leader has not allowed herself to be moved from a stance which is both atlanticist as well as European," it says.

"It will be needed even more in future."

But the Sueddeutsche Zeitung is unimpressed by Ms Merkel's remarks, dismissing them as a relic of post-war Germany's unquestioning loyalty towards America.

"A form of atlanticism verging on self-denial was an article of faith for two generations of German foreign policy-makers," it says.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government, the paper believes, has at least recognized that times have changed since the end of the Cold War, and that Germany must now pursue its own national interests.

It contrasts this with the Christian Democrats, who, it says, "are unable to come to terms with the fact that the emancipation of the country's foreign policy also means that it must sometimes distance itself from America".

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