European press review

Some of Europe's papers take an unflattering view of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as Italy assumes the EU presidency on Tuesday.

The Czech press looks at a high-profile trial which saw the conviction of a senior foreign ministry official, while Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to London continues to generate comment.

'A danger to Europe'

Germany's Berliner Zeitung expresses dismay at the prospect of Mr Berlusconi taking over the EU presidency.

The concern that Berlusconi will use the six months of EU presidency as a means of promoting himself is totally justified

Die Welt

"This is now our president, a man whose hand we wouldn't willingly shake", it says, "a shady and clever businessman who has been under scrutiny 13 times in 13 years for cooking the books, perjury, corruption, abuse of office and other crimes."

Die Welt believes Mr Berlusconi's take on Europe makes the concerns of other EU countries understandable.

"Someone who repeatedly and fervently demands the admission of Russia and Turkey to the EU shows little feeling for the political and cultural mesh which binds the EU together. The concern that Berlusconi will use the six months of EU presidency as a means of promoting himself is totally justified," it says.

In France Le Figaro says Tuesday marks the start of what it calls "the European test" of the Italian prime minister.

The criticisms of Mr Berlusconi in the run-up to Italy's EU presidency "reflect the concern of certain governments over his conception of Europe," according to the paper.

Le Monde continues with the same theme, saying "questions have to be asked about the intentions of Mr Berlusconi", who it says, "has adopted Atlanticist positions without taking account of criticisms made by his partners.

Italy today is a country in which nepotism, corruption and dishonesty are incarnate in the political leader who does not shy away from any means, including open threats, to get rid of his enemies

Information

According to another French daily Liberation, Mr Berlusconi represents a threat to the "legitimacy of a liberal democracy and, it concludes, poses "a danger to Europe".

Copenhagen's Information sees the handover from Greece to Italy as an argument against the EU rotating presidency, describing Mr Berlusconi as the "exact opposite" of all that is enshrined in European democracy.

"Italy today is a country in which nepotism, corruption and dishonesty are incarnate in the political leader who does not shy away from any means, including open threats, to get rid of his enemies.

But Switzerland's Le Temps is cautiously optimistic that Mr Berlusconi's term won't be marred by any scandals. He is unlikely to rock the boat because of what it sees as his weak position in Europe.

"While the Union is not safe from a scandal involving the Cavaliere over the next six months, the wish of the latter to shine among the great and the diffuse worries of his partners suggest that Rome will do everything to consolidate a position which it knows to be fragile."

Czech plot

In the Czech Republic the press comments on the case of former foreign ministry official Karel Srba, who was convicted on Monday of planning the murder of journalist Sabina Slonkova over her reports alleging corruption at the ministry.

One of the would-be killers informed the police and officers moved in to protect the journalist.

A commentator writing in Lidove Noviny says the Srba case appears to carry all the hallmarks of an excellent Hollywood film, but asks: "Would anyone believe such a story on film?"

Another commentator writing in Hospodarske Noviny says that the verdict was good news but shows "the very dangerous connection between politics at the highest level and crime".

'Tsar' Putin

Hungary's broadsheet Magyar Hirlap comments on the Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to London which, it says, "was done with almost as much pomp as if he were a tsar".

Facing a presidential election at home, the paper says Mr Putin "financed his re-election campaign from the British Treasury".

And in Russia, heavyweight broadsheet Nezavisimaya Gazeta says Mr Putin's visit to Britain was "additional proof of the Kremlin's resolve to make Russia part of Europe".

"Putin no longer seems to be a complete outsider... He is now almost a member of the club, on a par with Jacques Chirac, at least in the eyes of Tony Blair and George Bush," the paper says.

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