EUROPEAN HEADLINES
FT Europe – Brexit threatens Calais border, UK warned. Leader of France’s northern region says security would move across Channel
WSJE – Both Sides Hire U.S. Help for U.K. ‘Brexit’ Vote. Seasoned U.S. political campaigners are squaring off to play advisory roles on both sides of the campaign for the U.K.’s June referendum on whether to stay in the European Union.
INYT – Crackdowns on Protests Rise Across a Europe Increasingly Afraid of Terror. A puppet show at an open square in Madrid during Carnival festivities in February featured a policeman who tried to entrap a witch. The puppet officer held up a little sign to falsely accuse her, using a play on words that combined Al Qaeda and ETA, the Basque separatist group. Angry parents complained, and the real police stepped in. They arrested two puppeteers, who could now face as many as seven years in prison on charges of glorifying terrorism and promoting hatred.
BBC Europe –Cologne attacks: Most suspects ‘may never be caught. Most of the men who sexually assaulted women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve may never be caught, the city’s police chief, Juergen Mathies, has said. CCTV footage was not good enough to identify sex crimes, he told the BBC.
FRANCE
Le Monde – “Enough is enough” Martine Aubrey launches attack on Holland and Manuel Valls.T he mayor of Lille sign with several intellectuals and socialist leaders and environmentalists, including Daniel Cohn-Bendit, an article in “Le Monde”, which is a harsh indictment against the policies of the past two years.
Les Echos – “Enough is enough”, Aubrey launches vitriolic attack on Hollande. The mayor of Lille denounced the “deadlock” of government policy that could lead to it as a “sustainable weakening of France ‘.
GERMANY
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) – Hungary will hold a referendum on immigration quotas. In Hungary, it will be decided on the system of EU refugee quotas in a referendum. This was announced by the right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. A date for the vote has not yet been set.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) – German police have an image problem. The police have an image problem, not only since the incidents in Clausnitz. But does the responsibility not lie with the political leadership?
ITALY
La Repubblica – Civil Union: Lorenzin; Stepchild exception is not enough. Marzano: “Without adoptions perhaps I leave the Democratic Party.” Hope: “Unacceptable other failures”. Pizzetti: “Vote by Thursday”.
Il Sole 24 Ore – Italy’s new stability outlined to investors at New York conference. Last year was a record year for mergers and acquisitions, with deals worth $5 trillion globally, above the previous record of $4.7 billion in 2007. In 2008 the markets collapsed and the crisis ensued. Are we now facing the same situation?
POLAND
Gazeta Wyborcza – Walesa test. Regardless of who and what has opinions about Lech Walesa, it is something horrible to look at the struggling, hunted and lonely man, remembering that this is one of the most important figures in the whole of Polish history.
SPAIN
El País – Ciudadanos changes strategy and agrees to vote for Socialist chief as PM. Centre-right party decides to actively support Pedro Sánchez’s bid to become Spanish leader
UK
The Times – Voters split over Brexit in first poll since EU deal. The campaigns for Britain to leave or remain part of the European Union are neck and neck, according to a poll. David Cameron’s attempt to focus on the threat that Brexit may pose to security and the economy appears to be working, with a sharp fall in the number backing “leave” since before he struck a deal for reform on Friday.
The Guardian – Why was he killed? Brutal death of Italian student in Egypt confounds experts. Giulio Regeni was burned, beaten and mutilated in a murder that bears all the hallmarks of Egypt’s security forces. But a month after he was last seen alive, speculation as to why he was targeted remains just that
