MEDIA REACTION: POTUS VISIT, G20, U.S.-RUSSIA, AFGHANISTAN,

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: POTUS VISIT, G20, U.S.-RUSSIA, AFGHANISTAN,
ISRAEL, ARAB LEAGUE, CHODORKOVSKY


1. Lead Stories Summary

2. POTUS Visit to Europe

3. G20 Summit

4. Obama-Medvedev Meeting

5. The Hague Conference on Afghanistan

6. New Israeli Government

7. Arab League Summit

8. Chodorkovsky Trial




1. Lead Stories Summary

Editorials focused on the most recent unemployment rates and on
Chancellor Merkel's promise to Opel workers to support a private
investor of the company. Headlines in the press primarily centered
on the drowning of hundreds of refugees off the Libyan coast, and on
the most recent unemployment figures. ZDF-TV's early evening
newscast Heute and ARD-TV's early evening newscast Tagesschau opened
with reports on Chancellor Merkel's visit to Opel.


2. POTUS Visit to Europe

FT Deutschland's front-page editorial commented: "Obama might no
longer be seen as a messiah at home, but the excitement in Europe is
unbroken. When he tours Europe for the first time, he can be sure
that his fans will celebrate him... It is not a surprise that the
Europeans see the refreshed friendship as a one-way street. They
believe they had the right position under Obama's predecessor and it
is now up to America to reach out. Obama has done so.... However,
Europe hardly moves and acts like there still is a president in the
White House who is not interested in cooperation. Those who are
interested in a new beginning with Washington must share the burden
fairly."

Bild editorialized: "The U.S. President has finally arrived.
Looking at him from a distance, he was a giant.... But reality has
caught up with him: the tough fight against the economic crisis,
for peace in Afghanistan and for disarmament. After having reached
the top of the mountain in no time, he has come down to earth again.
Europe will get to know the real Obama in London, a man who has
tough interests and knows how to push them through. There is no
doubt that he is the global player number one. When Air Force One
returns to Washington after the weekend, we will all be a bit
disappointed because the messiah and pop star will have turned into
a normal politician who knows what he wants. This is exactly what
the world needs!"

Handelsblatt's front-page editorial remarked: "Barack Obama might
have been Bush's opponent, but he is certainly not a European. If
something has become clear during the first weeks of his presidency
it is that Obama pursues an American policy for America. If this
coincides with European ideas it makes things easier and more
pleasant. However, those who believe that the 44th President of the
U.S. is looking to Europe for guidance are wrong. Obama wants to
exploit the crisis to lead America back to new grandeur. If he
succeeds Europe, will be dealing with an ally in a few years who
does not lack self-confidence."


3. G20 Summit

Financial Times Deutschland opined: "It is certainly no surprise
that it is now becoming clear that the change of power in Washington
has not resolved all transatlantic conflicts of interest. But it is
surprising to see that the dissonances did not affect
Afghanistan...but instead the question of whether all industrialized
countries are doing enough to fight the economic crisis. Those who
want a new beginning in relations with Washington must also be
willing to accept fair burden-sharing. This is true of Afghanistan
but even more so of economic policy. It does not fit together when
the Europeans cheer at Obama but reject his request for more state
investment against the global crises and describe it as a 'path to
hell' without seriously discussing it. During Obama's trip to
Europe it will become clear who is only a claqueur basking in
[Obama's] reputation and who is serious about a new beginning in
transatlantic cooperation. Those who consider themselves members of
the latter group should not meet Obama empty-handed."
Frankfurter Allgemeine deals with the French position in London and
opined: "President Sarkozy likes vigorous words, but it is likely
that he will not realize his threat to leave the summit if it does
not agree on concrete results. He is much too interested in good
relations with the United States and President Obama. The real
message is that his advisors emphasize the special relationship with
Chancellor Merkel in the preparatory stages of the summit. A few
weeks ago, the situation was different when Sarkozy discovered
Premier Brown as a close ally and when relations with Chancellor
Merkel were considered strained. Whatever the personal relations
between the powers-that-be, in questions of social and economic
policies, the continental Europeans always had a certain distance to
the Anglo-American economists. Now the project of a global economic
charter seems to unify the Franco-German couple - pourvu que ga
dure."

Regional Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten opined: "No one should expect
miracles from the G-20 summit in London but a clear agreement on
control of highly speculative financial products. But the
summiteers should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Insane
speculative orgies must be banned in the future without stopping
reasonable financial deals. A new financial architecture should not
turn into a dungeon for banks. We hope that Chancellor Merkel with
her moderate economic stimulus programs will assert here view
towards President Obama, who is provoking a high inflation rate with
sprawling debt, thus burdening future generations. Debt or reason,
this is the question in London."

According to Berliner Morgenpost, "we should not have excessive
expectations in the global financial summit. The government leaders
will not really be able to agree on a common and vigorous recipe to
fight the crisis. If everything works out fine, they will agree at
least on a common analysis of the status quo, probably also on the
first steps. But this would be it the signal of cohesiveness that
Chancellor Merkel expects from the London summit. In view of the
delicate matter, this would be no more than a minimum goal."

Regional daily Lausitzer Rundschau of Cottbus argued: "The G-20
members must define something like the principles of sustainable
economic development and fair global trade and commit themselves to
implementing them. This also includes the goal of energy supply and
production methods that reduce the burden on the climate. President
Obama has demonstrated the willingness for such international
cooperation. And this is the great hope. The Europeans should
follow him, including Angela Merkel, who has thus far been skeptical
towards the outcome of the London summit. Beyond the concrete
results, the summit can turn into a milestone if the spirit of
competition is put back into the bottle and the spirit of global
responsibility is released again."


4. Obama-Medvedev Meeting

Under the headline "Improve relations to the U.S.," Spiegel Online
reprinted Russian President Medvedev's op-ed that was first
published in the Washington Post on March 31. The webzine wrote:
"Satisfaction at the new course in Washington, much praise about
Obama - and a clear enforcement of Russian interests. Russian
President Medvedev writes about a restart of the relations to the
U.S., exits from the financial crisis and pleads for new rounds of
disarmament."

Sueddeutsche commented: "There was hardly anything Russia so
feverishly awaited as the meeting with Obama. This first contact
between Medvedev and Obama is, like anything else America does, a
seismograph of Russia's power in the world.... In the late period
of the Bush presidency, relations had reached an historic low and
the war in Georgia reminded us of the proxy wars of colder times.
Now, both sides implore pragmatism and first options are becoming
visible. America could give up MD if Russia shows more
determination towards Iran. Obama might quietly accept Russia's
claims in Afghanistan's central Asian neighboring countries. In
return, Moscow might pave the way for Washington's supplies for the
war against the Taliban.... Both asymmetrical superpowers share
common interests, but also mistrust each other and have
contradictory interests. The world could be safer if both sides
could get on better."


5. The Hague Conference on Afghanistan

Sueddeutsche Zeitung opined: "Since Barack Obama has been governing
in the U.S. an end to the frosty times in relations seems to be in
the offing. And the fact that Tehran sent Deputy Foreign Minister
Mehdi Achundsadeh to the Afghanistan Conference in The Hague is a
double signal. On the one hand, the Iranians do not want to miss
the opportunity to build bridges, and, on the other hand,
Achundsadeh is an experienced diplomat since he was the former
Iranian ambassador to Germany, Pakistan and the IAEA, but he does
not have the same rank than Secretary Clinton. For the Shiite
regime in Tehran, the joint enmity to the fundamentalist Sunni
Taliban is a possible basis of understanding with America. In
Moscow and at NATO, U.S. and Iranian officials shook hands over the
past few days. But no one expects a quick agreement after such a
long ice-age. If at all, there will be slow progress, step by step
along a bumpy road, such as the one between the U.S. and Libya."

According to die tageszeitung, "it is true that Iran considers the
presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to be a threat and that it
wants to end this presence as soon as possible. But for Iran, a
return of the Taliban to power would be even more threatening. It
is also well known that the Sunni terror groups around al-Qaida
consider the Shiites in Iran to be their arch enemies. Iran is one
of the most important trading and economic partners of Afghanistan
and is interested in stability and security in its neighboring
country. Does this also mean that the powers-that-be in Iran are
sitting in the same boat with 'great Satan?' No one in Tehran dares
to say this aloud, but may be in The Hague behind closed doors."


6. New Israel Government

Berliner Zeitung commented: "The comfortable majority Netanyahu
enjoys in the Knesset is deceptive. Israel's government is weak
because it is too heterogeneous.... The coalition partners are not
united by a persuasive government program.... If the international
community is really interested in a two-state solution it would have
to exert massive pressure on Netanyahu, who has not been saying much
on the issue."

Frankfurter Rundschau editorialized: "Prime Minister Netanyahu
hammered together his coalition. The result is simple: to satisfy
his coalition partners he appointed so many ministers that a new
cabinet table must be made. What for? Netanyahu prefers security
over peace.... The U.S. no longer talks about the war on terror and
is searching with Europe for a political solution of the conflicts.
Israel is going into a different direction."

Tagesspiegel editorialized: "Israel's new government has different
foreign and security policy priorities than the previous government.
The ones who will now suffer the most will be the Palestinians. It
is not striving for new talks and not for the goals that were the
focus of previous talks. That is why such negotiations seem to be
senseless and are about to fail even before they have begun. A
Palestinian state has again been a goal for the distant future.
There would be only one possibility: the U.S., the EU, and the
Middle East Quartet would have to exert massive pressure on Israel.
For the first time in decades, the Israel-Palestinian conflict does
not have a political priority. Netanyahu and Lieberman consider
Iran's nuclear program to be the greatest existential threat to
Israel. The Middle and Near East is faced with highly uneasy times.
The Palestinians are likely not to simply accept their downgrading,
Hamas would really be strengthened, and Tehran's possible reaction
suggests we should be prepared for the worst."


7. Arab League Summit

Handelsblatt noted under the headline: "Fragile Cement" that "by
demonstrating solidarity with Sudan's President al-Bashir, the Arab
leaders did themselves a great disservice Those who court
al-Bashir, who is wanted because of the war crimes in Darfur, and,
at the same time, condemn the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza
Strip, are using double standards. This blatant case of double
standards will undermine the credibility of the Arab position.
There are three reasons behind this Arab move, and they are hard to
understand in the West. First, the Arab leaders gather around
al-Bashir because they are afraid of a dangerous precedent. If the
Sudanese president is put on trial before the ICC, then it could
soon be one of them. Second, the Arabs want to make clear to the
public that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not on top of the
agenda, and third, they are driven by the concern that regime change
in Sudan could plunge the entire region into chaos. The Arab press
described the Doha meeting as a summit of unity, but, in reality,
the old front-lines remain in place."


8. Chodorkovsky Trial

According to Die Welt, "Russian justice authorities are now focusing
in an exemplary way on the former oligarch Mikhail Chodorkovsky. He
attracted their unbridled hatred, and it is probably not wrong to
see this form of prosecution as a part of Putin's spirit. Without
showing any consideration for the public effect [of this trial], an
example is set which will certainly have a deterring effect. When
Dmitri Medvedev became president, there were a few hesitant signals
that a more peaceful chapter could be opened in the case 'Russia vs.
Chodorkosky.' But nothing has remained of this. This Russian
justice has something destructive about it. The fact that such a
demonstration of power is possible does not bode well."

KOENIG