European press review

Papers remain concerned by claims that CIA aircraft carrying terror suspects have been touching down at airfields around Europe.

A Hungarian daily voices regret at the European Union's decision to cut subsidies for sugar farmers, while a French paper considers whether rap music had a part to play in the country's recent urban unrest.

Spy in the sky?

Spain is just one of a number of European countries allegedly used by CIA planes for secret stopovers while carrying terror suspects.

But while Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Thursday that there was no evidence to support the claims, El Periodico remains unconvinced.

The sky above Europe should remain clear Der Standard

"The government, which... set its international policy within the UN framework and respect for rights, cannot be compliant now"

"The minister's declaration of good faith reflects a wish not to worsen diplomatic relations with the USA, rather than a lack of worrying evidence," the paper says, as it calls for further investigation into the reports.

In Austria, Der Standard voices concern over suggestions that a CIA plane passed through the country's airspace during a secret flight in 2003.

"The sky above Europe," insists the paper's headline, "should remain clear."

The paper alleges that hundreds of CIA aircraft have passed over Europe disguised as civilian planes, and believes that such operations should come in for closer scrutiny.

However, "an-depth investigation could be uncomfortable for several EU states", it warns.

Bitter sweet

Sugar producers in the developing world may well stand to benefit from the European Union's decision to reduce the subsidies it pays its own farmers, but Hungary's Nepszabadsag thinks the cut in prices is "typical of Hungarian luck".

"When the country joined the EU, Hungarian sugar-beet producers could expect a sweet life," it says, explaining that, of all the country's farmers, they seemed likely to gain most from the subsidy system.

Now, the paper fears, they will be even worse off than their French rivals - on a par with former European colonies overseas but without the extra aid.

"The dam has burst," the paper says.

"The EU has had to concede on sugar now, but sooner or later it will have to concede on cereals, milk and meat as well."

Rap taking the rap

French MPs, complains Le Monde, are "taking liberties with liberties" by seeking the prosecution of seven rap groups accused of stirring up racism and hatred of France.

One of the MPs, Francois Grosdidier, said some rap songs had helped to fuel the recent spate of riots in a number of French cities, and the paper agrees that some lyrics - which speak of shooting police or use racist or sexist language - are "unacceptable".

Rap music, it adds, is "a vehicle for the anger, rage... and impatience of young people on the estates", allowing them to shout out against a society that marginalises them.

"But we must also keep our heads," the paper advises.

"The rappers alone... did not spark this three-week-long explosion," it points out. "To pursue these seven rap groups would therefore be absurd and prejudicial to an even more battered freedom of expression."

Marching ban

Freedom to express one's view is also high on the agenda of the Russian press, after the Moscow city authorities refused to give the go-ahead for an anti-fascist march in the capital on Sunday.

Officials said the decision had been taken on security grounds ahead of local elections in December, but Rossiyskaya Gazeta still cannot see any justification.

The paper concedes that not one but two rallies had been planned for the same day, but believes both could have been accommodated.

Russian parties are still only geared towards propaganda Izvestia

"Moscow is not a small city," it points out, "and there is more than enough room for two marches.

"And arguments about obstructing traffic hardly look credible, if you consider the traffic jams the city has to suffer when high-ranking officials drive past in cars with special flashing lights," the paper adds.

For Izvestia, however, the fact that Russia's political movements often resort to street protests betrays a sad truth.

"Russian parties are still only geared towards propaganda, towards PR," it laments. "The parties still have no positive programmes to solve the problems of migration and tolerance in society."

The result, the paper concludes, is that Russians "are condemned to street PR".

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