European press review

The ongoing terrorist threat continues to dominate the headlines of Monday's European press.

Some papers point to a new regional strategy on the part of the attackers while others cast doubt on the effectiveness of US anti-terror efforts.

Meanwhile, Slovakia's EU referendum results are cause for celebration and self-reflection.

And in Belgium, the press picks over the results of yesterday's vote, with one paper expressing concern over far-right gains.

'Al-Qaeda brand name'

"The terrorist war resumes", reads the headline in France's Le Figaro. The paper says the weekend bomb attacks in Casablanca herald a new terrorist strategy - more regional than international but no less bloody.

Al-Qaeda is only a brand name claimed by a decentralised, elusive grouping

Le Figaro

Le Monde says terrorism of the type seen in Casablanca is global only in name.

"Al-Qaeda is only a brand name claimed by a decentralised, elusive grouping... which exists only by taking root locally," it says in its weekend edition.

The origins of terrorism are national in both Saudi Arabia and Morocco, says the paper, adding that "this is what is worrying".

But Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung highlights instead the common thread behind recent attacks.

"The common root cause is hatred of infidels, of the West, of which Israel is regarded as a bastion and representative in the Islamic world," it says.

It is no coincidence that particularly bloody acts of terrorism take place when there are fresh attempts at forging peace in the Middle East, the paper says.

"For the foreseeable future there should be no more talk of a peace process or even of peace in the region," it warns.

[The US approach] is driving ever more fanatics who are ready to carry out suicide attacks against 'infidels' into the arms of the holy warriors

Berliner Zeitung

The Czech Republic's Hospodarske noviny says the attacks should have come as no surprise as Morocco, "seen through the eyes of the terrorists, is almost an ideal target".

It says the country has been "irritating proponents of radical Islam for a long time with its conciliatory and very open policies in relation to the western world".

'Terrorist escalation'

Germany's Berliner Zeitung says the number of people who have died in terror attacks since 11 September 2001 bears witness to the failure of the US anti-terror strategy.

The US approach, it says, "is driving ever more fanatics who are ready to carry out suicide attacks against 'infidels' into the arms of the holy warriors".

The suicide terrorists... have now acted on the threshold of our home and they could pass through the door any day

El Pais

Spain's El Pais fears that "we are at the start of a new terrorist escalation".

And it argues that, while the Iraq war may have brought down a "monstrous regime", it was of "no use in the war against global terrorism".

El Mundo warns that "whatever the intentions of the suicide terrorists, they have now acted on the threshold of our home and they could pass through the door any day."

'Apathy'

"Time for celebration and reflection", reads the headline of a commentary in Slovakia's Narodna obroda after over 90% of Slovaks voted to join the EU on a turnout of just over 52%.

There is no sense of enthusiasm for European integration in the accession countries

Frankfurter Rundschau

The paper says that while Slovakia has "moved closer to stepping over the EU threshold", the turnout figures leave a lot to be desired.

It observes that it wasn't only inexperienced first-time voters who displayed "apathy", but also inhabitants of areas hit by unemployment.

As the paper puts it, these people "didn't seem to see beyond the mountain ridge surrounding their homes".

"The EU is giving us the chance for a better life," the paper says, "but we ourselves have to grasp hold of it by means of our own efforts."

"Yes, excellent news," reads a headline in Slovakia's Pravda. "Slovak citizens acted out the drama of EU entry in an atmosphere of great suspense and with a great ending," the paper says.

But it is scathing of the government's performance. "The producer - the government - deserves only boos and hisses for its lousy work," it says.

Germany's Frankfurter Rundschau bemoans the "apathy" in EU candidate countries.

It believes that arguments in favour of joining the EU should not just focus on economic issues.

"There is no sense of enthusiasm for European integration in the accession countries," the paper says.

[The 92% 'yes' vote showed] the extent to which the Slovaks look forward to Europe

Die Welt

"In Eastern Europe's patchwork of minorities, the significance of European integration for safeguarding peace and democracy must be emphasised," the paper says.

Die Welt, on the other hand, argues that in view of the low turnout in European elections, people should think twice before they complain about the turnout in the Slovak referendum.

The paper says the yes vote of 92% showed "the extent to which the Slovaks look forward to Europe".

But the paper wonders whether the EU is capable of tackling the "degrading conditions" in which Slovak Romanies live.

"It is high time for people to advocate a sensible minorities policy in Brussels," it says.

Far-right gains

The rise of the Vlaams Blok is not slowing down - quite the contrary

De Standaard

The Belgian papers ponder the results of Sunday's general election, which saw Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt celebrate a strong win for the Liberal party and his socialist coalition partners.

A commentary in De Standaard focuses on voting in Flanders and expresses concern over a rise in support for the far-right Vlaams Blok.

"The rise of the Vlaams Blok is not slowing down - quite the contrary," the paper notes, adding that this fact overshadows all other aspects of the election.

The group of voters who do not feel represented by the political system is still growing, it says.

"No answer has been found yet to this feeling of exclusion and unease."

An editorial published in the internet edition of La Libre Belgique regards the losses suffered by the two Green parties, Ecolo and Agalev, as "the main event of the election".

It says despite the electorate's continuing concerns over the environment and society, the two parties have been unable to build on past successes.

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