European press review

US President George W Bush's announcement that Washington will withdraw up to 70,000 US troops from Europe and Asia over the next 10 years draws comment across Europe.

In Copenhagen, one newspaper questions the relevance of Denmark's Eurosceptic parties while another finds the appointment of the country's European commissioner controversial.

And a Norwegian newspaper demands that the International Olympics Committee gets tougher on drugs.

Homeward bound

The plans unveiled on Monday by US President George W Bush for a major redeployment of US forces around the world are expected to have the greatest impact in Germany, where the Sueddeutsche Zeitung sees the possible departure of tens of thousands of American soldiers as marking the end of an important chapter of post-war history.

The paper notes that after World War II there was a generational difference in the Germans' reactions to the American GIs in their country.

The friendship which grew over decades through close proximity will now have to prove itself at a distance Sueddeutsche Zeitung

"For a long time many who were brought up to think along the lines of National Socialism found it difficult to accept what the conspicuous presence of US soldiers stood for."

But, it says, younger Germans enthusiastically embraced "the casualness and tolerance of the American way of life", and this was how "strangers became friends".

"The friendship which grew over decades through close proximity will now have to prove itself at a distance," the paper says.

Die Welt rejects the "rumour" that the American pullout is intended to punish Germany for its opposition to the US-led war in Iraq.

"Nothing of this corresponds to reality, even though the withdrawal will hit some German regions hard," the paper says.

In their future deployments, it adds, "American troops will aim to be stationed closer to trouble spots and to be more mobile".

A commentary in the Hungarian daily Nepszabadsag says Bulgarian or Romanian airstrips are more suitable for Middle East-bound flights, while bases in Uzbekistan or Tajikistan could provide more suitable facilities for operations.

Russia is about to be encircled by American bases Trud

Moreover, it notes, "America's new allies [in Eastern Europe and Central Asia] can be more flexible if Washington requests their services" and they are also "more helpful and less squeamish".

In addition, the paper points out, "The news of the return home of 100,000 military families sounds good" for President Bush's re-election campaign.

Russia's dailies are sceptical as to whether the American forces are truly heading home.

A headline in Trud warns: "Russia is about to be encircled by American bases", whereas one in Moskovskiy Komsomolets reads: "Ever closer - the Americans will move their military bases up to our borders".

"When moving its troops to 'hot spots'," Komsomolskaya Pravda says, "the Pentagon will in future rely on its 'new possessions' - former Soviet bases and Warsaw Pact facilities in countries which are now part of Nato".

"America's strategists no longer intend to spare Moscow's easily hurt feelings in this respect".

Denmark's Eurosceptics

In the opinion of Copenhagen's Kristeligt Dagblad, the days of Denmark's Eurosceptic parties - the June Movement and the People's Movement against the EU - are numbered after they lost three of their five MEPs in the European parliamentary elections.

This was partly due to the Danes voting for politicians known to them in the domestic political scene, the paper believes.

The Eurosceptics don't have much to offer besides being sceptical about the EU Kristeligt Dagblad

"Even though there was a record low turnout, the results of the elections can be regarded as a sign that the movements' time is running out."

More than 30 years after the Danes signed up to join the European Community, "there is too little substance" in the Eurosceptics' message. "They don't have much to offer besides being sceptical about or opposed to the EU".

"You have to have policies, and these movements do not have them," the paper says.

Conflict of interest?

Another Copenhagen daily, Information, wonders whether there may be a conflict of interest given the fact that Denmark's newly appointed European commissioner for agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel, owns an estate which, according to the paper, earns her an annual income of 446,000 kroner (some 74,000 dollars) in direct EU subsidies.

"The problem seems to have come as a surprise to the prime minister", it says.

But, it adds, a press release from the prime minister's office indicated there was no problem because the estate is run by the incoming commissioner's husband.

The paper finds it "thought-provoking" that it was only after Mrs Boel's appointment to her European post that "her conflicts of interest have been focused on".

They did not arise "as long as she was 'just' Denmark's agriculture minister".

An Olympic 'scandal'

"This year's summer Olympics have got their drugs scandal," Norway's Aftenposten declares referring to the two Greek sprinters who missed drug tests due to a "mysterious" motorcycle accident.

"The only aspect that distinguishes the case is that it has not been possible to take samples to ascertain whether the two did or did not take drugs," it says.

"And that's exactly where the scandal lies."

"If the IOC [International Olympics Committee] is to maintain a respectable reputation as a consistent opponent of drugs in top athletics," the paper warns, "then it has no choice but to exclude the two from the Games".

"The entire Olympic movement's future credibility depends on the IOC coming across as having a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of drug abuse. And this must include attempts to avoid drug tests."

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