European press review

Europe's papers analyse the reasons for French President Jacques Chirac's angry reaction to the booing of the Marseillaise at the French football cup final.

Michael Schumacher's controversial win in the Austrian Grand Prix is called a mockery of sport.

The papers accuse Germany's liberal Free Democrats of megalomania.

And UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's ability to continue to benefit from Britain's prosperity is questioned.

'Well played, Chirac'

France's Le Figaro carries a front-page photo of a stern-faced Jacques Chirac seconds before he walked out of Saturday's football cup final after Corsican fans booed the national anthem.

Jacques Chirac... the guardian of the Republic

Le Temps

It observes that the president's reaction won unanimous approval not just on the Right but also on the Left, which it says was "forced to follow suit".

"Rather overplayed, but well played," the paper quotes the national secretary of the French Greens, Dominique Voynet, as saying.

Paris' Liberation says Chirac's intention was to reaffirm his own authority and that of the state.

To achieve this, he showed those who booed the Marseillaise the "blue-white-red" card, as the paper puts it on its front page.

Geneva's Le Temps interprets Chirac's behaviour as symptomatic of a new focus on the nation in a Europe marked by the advance of the far right.

"Jacques Chirac has in a single move embodied what he claims he has been since the first round of the presidential election: the guardian of the Republic," it says.

Schumi's 'fraud'

Vienna's Die Presse condemns Michael Schumacher's win in the Austrian Grand Prix after his Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello was ordered to brake to let him through as a case of "fraud in sport".

People don't like fixes

The Sun

It acknowledges that strategic considerations are important in Formula One racing, but adds that who wins the race should be left to the drivers.

"This has nothing to do with sport, only with making a mockery of it," it concludes.

Hamburg's Bild asks: "Schumi, did you really need it?" The paper says there was whistling and booing when Schumacher stepped onto the winner's podium.

The paper quotes him as saying that the Ferrari team's decision was perhaps the wrong one, but that everyone will soon forget the incident. Bild comments: "He's wrong. Seriously wrong."

Britain's The Sun asks: "What is going on at Formula One?"

The paper calls the win "scandalous". "Don't allow the teams to cheat like this. It will result in a huge drop in the TV audience. People don't like fixes."

Germany's Die Welt says that Schumacher's victory may have earned him a few more points, but that the sport has lost both face and fans.

It points out that coming first was hardly crucial for a driver who is set to win the championship anyway.

It concludes that the real losers are "Ferrari and with it Formula One racing, too".

Liberal 'PR'

Berliner Zeitung looks at the decision by Germany's liberal Free Democrats to field their own candidate, Guido Westerwelle, to challenge Gerhard Schroeder in the elections in September.

To make a claim to the post of head of government borders on megalomania

Der Standard

It says the step by the small opposition party is little more than a "public relations measure".

Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung warns against what it sees as a tendency to populism under Mr Westerwelle's leadership.

"Those who, like the Free Democrats leader, constantly test the waters to see what the spirit of the times happens to be, run the risk of exploiting existing feelings of resentment and dangerous currents of thought," it says.

Vienna's Der Standard is also unimpressed.

The paper says the move is intended to put Guido Westerwelle's party into the media spotlight, but warns that this is not enough.

"A party which is getting ready to again take on responsibilities in government must do more than stage events that play well in the media: it must be convincing."

The paper adds that for a party which is credited with 8-12% in opinion polls, "to make a claim... to the post of head of government borders on megalomania".

Blair's Britain

Germany's Frankfurter Rundschau wonders about the fate of Britain, which it describes as "almost the last bastion of European social democracy".

On the one hand the paper acknowledges that many European politicians would like to be in Tony Blair's shoes, in view of Britain's strong economy, low unemployment rate, low interest rate and low inflation.

Problems are accumulating... difficulties can no longer be talked away

Frankfurter Rundschau

But it adds that the expectations raised by the British premier when he was elected in 1997 have only been fulfilled "to a very limited extent".

"The Iraqi conflict, unresolved social tensions, full hospital beds, overcrowded trains, the threat of industrial action: problems are accumulating..., difficulties can no longer be talked away," the paper explains.

It adds that Downing Street must wonder how much longer the "good times" will last.

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