European press review

In France, Germany and Austria, papers deliberate their countries' historical responsibility towards peoples seen as wronged by them.

And the Olympic Games in Athens draws comment on the relationship between sport and politics.

History's unpaid dues and trespasses

Paris's Le Figaro reports on the ceremony held on Sunday on the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, in the presence of 16 African heads of state and government, to honour the African troops who took part in the Provence landings of 15 August 1944 which delivered a further blow to a German army reeling from the June landings in Normandy.

The paper quotes President Jacques Chirac as saluting the "huge sacrifice" by the "forces of freedom" who took part in the operation.

For the African veterans of the Provence landings, the post-war period failed to deliver on the promises sealed that day in blood Le Monde

Mr Chirac also decorated 21 veterans, most of them African, and awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur to the city of Algiers for having been then what he called "the capital of fighting France".

A commentary in Le Monde takes an African perspective.

"As seen from Africa," it says, "within two generations the (Provence) landings have turned into a shipwreck."

"Sixty years ago," it notes, the African soldiers sailed towards the beaches of Provence singing that they were "coming from Africa to liberate France". But for these veterans of the landings, it adds, "the post-war period failed to deliver on the promises sealed that day in the blood... of one-fifth of the troops" involved.

The African veterans' war pensions, it explains, were frozen by France in 1959, "which means that ever since they have been receiving a derisory fraction" of the amount paid to their European counterparts.

In Germany, Die Welt says a minister's recognition of German historical responsibility for the killing of tens of thousands of Herero tribesmen in Namibia 100 years ago could lead to fresh calls for compensation.

The paper quotes Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul as saying at a commemorative event in Namibia: "I ask you, in the words of the Lord's Prayer, which we share, to forgive us our trespasses."

The minister's remarks are being interpreted as an apology, the paper notes, and points out that so far German politicians had avoided formulations liable to have legal implications.

"But now a new chapter in the legal dispute may be opened because the Namibian government's renunciation of compensation does not preclude individual representatives of the Hereros from initiating fresh legal proceedings following the minister's acknowledgement."

Austria's Der Standard reports of "great bitterness" among Jewish victims of Nazism over delays in Austrian payments into a compensation fund.

Perhaps those who are so insistent upon legal certainties should think of ways of allowing some humanity in the huge gap between justice and the law Der Standard

The paper explains that three and a half years after the conclusion of compensation talks, no payments have been made because of legal uncertainty resulting from proceedings still pending in the United States.

"Judicially this may be correct," it concedes, "but, in moral terms, blocking payments to surviving victims of Nazism... on the basis of such arguments is an insult to the persons concerned, some of whom are very old".

The paper argues that the payments would be a symbolic gesture, above all, to be made while the victims are still alive.

"Perhaps those who are so insistent upon legal certainties should think of ways of allowing some humanity in the huge gap between justice and the law."

Olympics and politics

France's Le Monde is under no illusion that the calls for peace, tolerance and observance of the Olympic spirit, made by officials at the opening ceremony of the Athens Games, will have any effect whatsoever on the world's conflicts.

"Only the athletes themselves", the paper says, "can endeavour to uphold the ideal".

They have, it adds, "the privileged opportunity to show the world that harmony is possible whatever the skin colour, religion or opinions of one's neighbour".

Nobody should be under the illusion that what is at issue in Athens is sport Der Tagesspiegel

"Such harmony can be achieved," the paper adds, "provided there is mutual respect - something the Iranian judo competitor forgot when he refused to fight the Israeli opponent he had drawn".

A commentary in Germany's Der Tagesspiegel sees a link between the Olympic Games and politics.

"Nobody should be under the illusion that what is at issue in Athens is sport," it says. "No, the Olympic Games are about high-level politics."

With Germany's international economic competitiveness currently a much-debated domestic issue, it observes wryly that "whether or not Germany is fit for global competition will be decided by the medals table".

The commentary also notes that "the scandal" of the Iranian judo competitor's refusal to fight an Israeli opponent, was "resolved simply within the realm of sport" when the Iranian later failed to make the weight limit for his event and was disqualified.

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