European press review

Stories from Norway, Argentina, Switzerland Egypt and Spain make the news in a selection of this week's newspapers from around Europe

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We begin this week in Norway, where the trial of confessed mass murderer Anders Breivik has the world's media in its grip.

Norway heard for the first time this week the voice of the man who killed 77 people last year. Much of his testimony, in the form of an hour-long political "justification" for his acts, was broadcast or made its way onto the internet. There was lively debate about what good it would do to hear Breivik's views and beliefs.

Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad says that he should not be allowed to use the court as a political and media stage. Breivik feels no sympathy or remorse. He thinks he's a frontline soldier who acted in self-defence when he shot dead dozens of youths at a summer camp run by a political party.

He will use the trial to try to damage the legal system, and with words this time, not weapons. He could easily attract others to his ideals. Judges, lawyers, politicians and the media must deal with this case with the utmost care, the liberal daily says.

Argentina's decision to nationalise the local oil company YPF made headlines this week, angering Spain in particular.

Spanish firm Repsol controls YPF, and Argentine authorities unceremoniously evicted Spanish staff working there. The European Union is also concerned and is keeping its options open on retaliatory measures.

But for Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung, Argentina is merely trying to bring its largest oil company back under state control, in the face of unbridled capitalism and social injustice.

Other Latin American nations long ago reversed the trend of privatisation, the centre-left Munich daily says. In the end, they are creating a resource scenario just like the one in the Arab world. But this is nothing like state control in China.

It is rather a sign that the power of the free market is in decline. Free market supporters had great opportunities in Latin America, but now they are being punished for helping to create massive social inequality.

Switzerland's decision to limit the number of Eastern Europeans entering the country sparked some tensions this week.

The European Union has complained, saying that all EU citizens must be treated the same way. But Swiss German-language newspaper Tages-Anzeiger says the government's use of its so-called 'safeguard clause' was wise, given the tone of the national debate about immigration.

The move was just to tighten the immigration quotas a little anyway, the liberal daily says. A vote is looming on the freedom of movement for future EU members, and the government needs to show Swiss people that it can slow the immigration process down if necessary.

Had it not, people might lose confidence in its ability and willingness to act. Above all they would surely reject the upcoming vote, the paper says.

Egypt's presidential elections continue to make news.

And most attention this week has focused on the decision by its election commission to ban almost half the candidates. Among those dropped are three frontrunners: the former secret service chief under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the head of the ultra-conservative Salafist movement.

Austria's Die Presse suggests the move was typical of the kind of scheming to come out of Egypt in the past. This is massive intervention by the election commission, the conservative daily says, why were the candidates allowed to register in the first place?

This kind of thing is not worthy of a democracy, it's more like what we would expect from Iran. Such a dramatic act could fuel conspiracy theories and rumours. The pharaoh of Egypt may be gone, but the intrigues that have been practised on the Nile for thousands of years remain, the daily says.

And we end this week in Spain, where the King's passion for hunting has been making headlines.

King Juan Carlos is recovering from the broken hip he suffered during his trip to Botswana but his reputation is still badly bruised.

The Catalonian newspaper El Periodico reports on the debate about the habits of the Spanish monarch after the King's private visit to Africa in the midst of an economic crisis. Reports suggest his trip to hunt elephants cost almost four times the average annual Spanish wage.

The centre-left Barcelona daily says the trip was clearly an error, when the country is mired in series economic problems. Even staunch royalists are having trouble defending it.

The ill-advised outing has raised new questions about the state of the monarchy, at the worst possible time. The royal family must renew itself as quickly as possible, the paper warns. The King has since apologised.