French press review 23 July 2011

The French papers this Saturday are all about the deadly shooting and bomb attack in the Norwegian capital Oslo. It’s now known that at least 87 people were killed at the youth summer school meeting on an island outside the capital. Reports of the shooting emerged shortly after a powerful explosion tore through central Oslo heavily damaging the prime minister's office and other buildings.

"Choc in Oslo", Libération, "terror in Oslo", Aujourd’hui en France/Le Parisien. These are just a few of the shocking headlines splashed on French newspapers this Saturday as the press struggles to come to terms with the carnage.

Libération regrets that a country with such a fine reputation in the world should be the target of such a terrible attack. Libé explains that Norway has always been a quiet and independent country, and voted against joining the EU in two referendums.

The left-leaning newspaper explains how Norway invented open participative democracy, and says that the addresses of ministers can be found in telephone directories. Libération says that Norway has reasserted its policy to stay out of the fracas of global affairs for a long time.

It suspects that the tiny nation may have been targeted by Jihadists for its Nato membership and for sending small contingents to Libya and Afghanistan.

The regional paper L'Alsace agrees that Norway’s Nato membership may have put the country in harm’s way. The paper argues that the Taliban, which is under attack by the Transatlantic alliance in Central Asia, do have proxies with a real potential to carry out terrorist attacks especially against soft targets like Norway.

L’Alsace says one can’t rule out a Libyan connection, after Moamer Kadhafi’s recent threats to take the war to Europe.

According to the paper, like in the 9/11 attacks in the United States, such terror attacks don’t always come from the identified axis of evil but also from home-based right-wing extremists, fanatics who underline the need for closer solidarity in Europe not just on monetary affairs but also on political and moral issues in order to reign in perpetrators of terror.

Le Courrier Picard wonders what strategic interests terrorists may have in attacking a tiny country which lies outside the geopolitical heart of the planet. The regional newspaper says that Norway may be paying the prize of its surprisingly lax security policies.

Le Monde discusses the giant bail out plan for Greece and the euro and points out that it will remain under pressure from the markets. Eurozone leaders and private creditors agreed on Thursday to give Greece a new 159-billion-euro bailout to prevent the debt crisis from spreading worldwide.

Le Monde says the agreement bears the footprints of European superpower Germany and explains that Angela Merkel succeeded to impose what Paris and the European Central Bank opposed from the very unset -  the participation of the private sector in the global aid package of 158 million euros.

Le Monde argues that the 37 billion euro fund to enhance their collateral frees Greece from "the nightmare of default" but constitutes a first time risk which ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet isn’t keen on repeating.

It is a leap in the dark and it may be the price to pay to facilitate the governance policy being clamoured for in the Eurozone. Le Monde says that what remains to be seen now is how the markets and rating agencies will react to the plan.

Le Figaro examines what it calls French president Nicolas Sarkozy's new ambitions. Sarkozy is reportedly planning to unveil a new proposal for improved European governance, after bailing out the euro.

Le Figaro says the Eurozone deal is a decisive step towards Franco-German driven federalism. The conservative paper explains that until now the Eurozone was an incoherent 17-nation union, with a unique currency but with disparate economic budget and fiscal policies.

Le Figaro claims that the deal is the result of an idea first floated by president Sarkozy during his decisive action to resolve the bank crisis in 2008.

Midi Libre discusses efforts by ruling party strategists to make political gain out of President Sarkozy’s foreign policy successes. However, the paper reports that Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande continues to lead Sarkozy in the opinion polls.

The paper says the ratings are quite annoying for the president, though a long winding road still stretches ahead before the vote in May 2012.