French press review 17 March 2014

Crimea's independence from Ukraine and air pollution in the French capital dominate the the front page stories of French dailies.

"A vote for secession," is how communist L'Humanité sees yesterday's vote in favour of a return to Russian rule by a large majority of the inhabitants of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula.

The result is good news for Moscow, since the Russian Black Sea fleet won't now have to find a new headquarters. But it's bad news for Kiev, since there's a real danger that other, predominantly Russian-speaking parts of eastern Ukraine might themselves vote for a similar alignment with the Kremlin.

Left-leaning Libération says Ukraine has voted to return under the Russian yoke, suggesting that yesterday's referendum represents a major victory for Russian president, Vladimir Poutin, and a boost for his ambition to establish an eastern trading bloc to rival the European Union.

"Crimea votes to return to Russia" is how right-wing Le Figaro sees the outcome, warning that both Washington and various European capitals have described the referendum as illegal and have threathened economic sanctions.

The Figaro editorial points to legitimate concerns on both sides of the debate between Europe and Russia. Crimea was a part of Russia until 1954. The weekend vote does appear to have been manipulated . . . by bias, by the absence of debate with the Ukrainian authorities, by the presence of Russian troops. There was no real campaign.

Europe may choose to see the outcome as a reflection of Moscow's military and economic muscle. There are tragic parallels with former Soviet satellites like Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where the world stood on the sidelines, tut-tutting as Moscow installed puppet regimes to put an end to popular discontent. It is time, says Le Figaro, for Europe and the United States to show Putin that they mean business, and they can best do that by hitting Moscow financially.

Not fogetting that Europe still needs Russian gas, that Ukraine still needs serious cash support, and that a re-run of the Cold War won't do anyone any good.

The other big story this morning concerns the air in Paris. Half the capital's car owners will have to leave their vehicles at home today, the other half will probably have to do the same tomorrow, unless the weather changes.

The point is that the French capital has been smothering under a blanket of ghastly particles for the past five days, 180 microgrammes of solids in every cubic metre of Parisian air, when anything over 50 microgrammes is noteworty, and 80 is the danger level for people with respiratory difficulties.

The problem is the recent warm spell, which has resulted in the night-time trapping of Parisian air under a lid of colder air. When the sun gets to work on the floating particles, the result is an unbreathable fugg worthy of Shanghai.

A couple of hours of torrential rain would put things to rights, and a decent westerly would blow the muck into Germany. For the moment, public transport is free, and police officers will fine motorists whose registration plates are odd on even days, and vice versa, for the duration of the problem.

The fine for driving on the wrong day is 22 euros.

Most commentators say the measures are too little, too late, and that the real problem is the lack of a serious transport policy. Cars are the biggest source of the fine particles which are currently clogging up our breathing tubes, followed by wood fires and industry.

A lasting solution will take time and political courage.

This morning, the French Press Agency is reporting half as many trafficjams as usual in Paris. That should help us all to breathe a bit more easily.