European press review

The political turmoil surrounding the German coalition talks dominates European papers on Wednesday. In France, papers also consider the aftermath of rioting in a Paris suburb.

German papers are in a gloomy mood following the resignation of a second key figure from the planned left-right coalition government.

Edmund Stoiber, the leader of Bavaria's Christian Social Union and the proposed economy minister in the new government, said on Tuesday he had decided not to join the coalition.

On Monday, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Franz Muentefering, had announced that he was stepping down - triggering a party power struggle.

'Unprecedented crisis'

The Berliner Zeitung says Germany is going through a political crisis without a precedent in the country's post-war history, adding that "nobody knows how two key problems - high unemployment and the huge state debt - can be alleviated, let alone resolved."

Mr Stoiber's resignation is the "living proof" of the general helplessness, it argues.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says "Muentefering's downfall, the shockwaves of which are continuing to reverberate through the SPD, is also rocking the grand coalition, which is not even half-complete."

But the daily sees no alternative, arguing that other options are unrealistic and fresh elections would delay the forming of a new government even further without any guarantee of a clear result.

(The coalition) crisis could be a chance Die Tageszeitung

Der Tagesspiegel, on the other hand, says fresh elections may provide a way out.

Under the headline "Second time lucky", the paper argues that the political situation cannot become any less clear than it is now and that another poll would enable the main parties to rethink their policies.

"The parties would get another chance and so would the voter," it says.

It goes on to say that the September poll has put many politicians into a state of shock, adding that "perhaps only the people can release them from it."

Die Tageszeitung believes the "crisis" can also be seen as a new "chance".

The paper believes that Mr Stoiber's departure eliminates a "troublemaker" from the cabinet line-up.

It adds that Mr Muentefering's announcement that he will remain available as vice-chancellor and labour minister "has limited the explosive force of his withdrawal from the party leadership, at least as far as the coalition talks are concerned".

Repercussions

The events in Germany are followed closely across Europe, with some papers voicing fears that the political upheaval there could have much wider repercussions.

"First there was an election which failed to produce a clear majority, now there is a coalition which is falling apart before it has even been set up," Austria's Die Presse sums it up.

It argues that it would be best to abandon the grand coalition plan and call fresh poll because "when something is started in such an amateurish manner it cannot end well".

If the ministerial merry-go-round resumes, the whole edifice may crumble Le Monde

But the daily doubts that this is possible since neither the SDP nor the CDU can hope to improve on their September score.

"Germany confronted with instability", reads a headline in Switzerland's Le Temps.

The paper says the Social Democrats were "playing with fire" when they rejected Mr Muentefering's choice for the number two post in the party, which led to his resignation.

It argues that considerable damage has been caused to the coalition talks because neither the outgoing Chancellor nor Mr Muentefering can now commit their party to any deal.

"At the very least, the coalition risks coming into being with such handicaps that its life expectancy is limited," the paper says.

France's Le Monde believes that Mr Stoiber's decision to pull out of the coalition could call the entire cabinet line-up into question.

"If the ministerial merry-go-round resumes, the whole edifice may crumble," it says. "Germany... would then be moving towards another poll and a long period of paralysis, which neither it nor its European partners need," the paper warns.

Paris riots aftermath

Two French dailies suggest that apparent jockeying for publicity and power between Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy threatens to hamper efforts to find lasting solutions to problems underlying the disturbances sparked by the deaths of two teenagers in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois on Thursday.

Le Figaro says Mr De Villepin - who on Tuesday called for a return to calm during a meeting with the families of the two teenagers - is trying to "regain the initiative".

The move, the paper says, came after Equal Opportunities Minister Azouz Begag criticized Mr Sarkozy's use of the word "rabble" to refer to some young people in socially deprived neighbourhoods.

Liberation says the riots have become a "pretext" for "a new trial of strength" between Mr De Villepin and Mr Sarkozy.

It launches a scathing attack on both ministers and does not spare the president either.

"The spectacle of the open rift over this issue, as well as others, between the prime minister and his allies on the one hand and the interior minister and his supporters on the other is pathetic, their attempts to patch things up unconvincing, and the president's silence worrying," the paper says.

Neither left nor right have done much to tackle the "spiral of ghettoization" , it says.

According to the paper, the first step to take would be to "break the vicious circle of rebellion and repression" and follow by "determined, long-term action" on the ground and "far away from TV cameras".

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