European press review

The theme of immigration and asylum-seekers returns to the fore after the death of six migrants in a Spanish enclave in Africa.

In Germany, papers speculate on how effective a future grand coalition government might be.

And a Serbian paper is concerned by a political party's decision to boycott parliament.

Immigration and Europe

The shooting dead of six migrants who were trying to cross a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla in northern Africa has shocked papers across Europe and refocused attention on immigration and asylum-seekers.

Spain's El Mundo demands that "in Melilla, the law prevail, not the shooting of immigrants".

The paper approves Madrid's decision to send Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega to the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla as a move "in the right direction" which "could... guide a situation made worse by delays and policy shifts on the management of the crisis".

Europe is creating reasons for migration, rather than removing them Die Tageszeitung

In Germany, Die Tageszeitung's front page leads with a picture of two bloody palm prints on what appears to be a concrete wall, next to the headline "Death trap Europe".

An accompanying commentary lashes out at European immigration policies. It likens them to knee-jerk political reactions that call for further measures to combat migration whenever an immigration story flares up.

"Europe is creating reasons for migration, rather than removing them," it says. The paper criticises European agricultural policies, arguing that they destroy the profitability of agriculture in the migrants' own home countries.

"Death on the barbed-wire fence of Europe" is the headline on the front page of France's Liberation, above a photograph of would-be immigrants, pictured running in the dark.

The EU is struggling to coordinate the policies of its member countries to contain illegal immigrants Le Figaro

"In 10 days, 11 Africans have died trying to enter the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta," it reports.

Le Figaro, also in Paris, carries a picture of a disconsolate migrant behind a wire fence with the headline: "Europe facing an influx of immigrants".

According to the paper, the European Union "is struggling to coordinate the policies of its member countries to contain illegal immigrants".

At a time when Spain has turned back 1,000 sub-Saharan migrants, the Swedish government has decided the families of illegal immigrants will no longer be deported to their country of origin, it observes.

The Swiss Le Temps reports that "the assaults by immigrants on the two Spanish enclaves... are almost daily".

The paper's editorial argues that the situation reflects "the despair of whole populations... who risk their lives to reach the Spanish coast".

It draws comparisons with Mexicans attempting to enter the US and, in times past, eastern Europeans trying to cross the Iron Curtain.

"This time", the paper says, it is a question of "the destitution of an entire continent knocking at our door and dodging a beating".

The European response is to make it harder to enter their territory, the paper notes mockingly - "as though laws and wire fences could check the flow of people who are being killed, slowly but surely, by poverty and violence".

Uncertainty in Germany

In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his conservative rival Angela Merkel emerged from face-to-face talks without resolving their dispute over which one will be the country's next leader.

Mr Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) and Ms Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) both claim they have a mandate to govern.

According to the Frankfurter Rundschau, the CDU and the SPD want to reach a compromise by Sunday on the formation of a grand coalition.

"Official negotiations are to be concluded on Monday," it says, adding that there seem to be signs that opposition within the SPD to a "Chancellor Angela Merkel" is beginning to crumble.

The Grand Coalition can succeed in reorganizing the competencies of the federal government and the states Berliner Zeitung

But the paper is not optimistic about the effectiveness of the prospective coalition, which it dubs "the coalition of new opportunities".

Neither party "is sufficiently prepared for the task of reforming the country in a balanced manner".

The Berliner Zeitung says voters should be patient as they are responsible for the political situation in Germany.

The paper is more positive about what a so-called "Grand Coalition" could achieve.

If created, it says, a Grand Coalition would have the power to address two pressing issues: the reform of Germany's federal system and sorting out of the country's finances.

"The Grand Coalition can succeed in reorganizing the competencies of the federal government and its Laender [states]. Thereby politics will win back the ability to act."

Likewise, it continues, "the finance minister of the Grand Coalition may find it hard to get a grip on the budget, but he has a better chance than any other treasurer".

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung says that there is growing fear in the CDU that Mr Schroeder may give up the top job in German politics only to continue as vice-chancellor instead.

"According to information received by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung," it says, "the chancellor has told the SPD presidency that he rejects such a solution. But the party faithful are trying to talk him round"

"That would be a nightmare," the paper quotes a senior conservative official in Bavaria as saying.

In Romania, Curentul points out that that although negotiations between the two main parties in Germany are due to continue over the weekend, Mr Schroeder is expected to miss them.

"He is going to St Petersburg where his good friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, is celebrating his birthday," the paper explains.

Parliamentary walk-out

The Serbian daily Politika comments on the decision by President Boris Tadic's opposition Democratic Party to boycott parliamentary proceedings - in protest after two of its MPs defected to join the governing coalition of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. The paper says it is a risky move at a bad time.

"Serbia is facing important decisions such as the fate of Kosovo-Metohija, the survival of the Serbia-Montenegro state union, the surrender of Gen Ratko Mladic, and the start of the EU integration process," the paper explains.

"If by this move the Democratic Party hopes to avoid taking part in forthcoming difficult decisions, it is not clear how they could do this considering that the party president is at the same time the president of Serbia, who is bound by his office to take part in such important decisions," the paper quotes a political analyst as arguing.

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