European press review

Many newspapers debated whether the killing in Houla of more than 100 people, almost half of them children, would mark a turning point for the international community.

The West has largely stood by, condemning President Bashar al-Assad but blocked from taking stronger action at the UN Security Council by China and Russia.

Switzerland's Le Temps notes that France's new President, François Hollande, is not ruling out military intervention. But it says that such a mission is far too risky. Syria is not Libya, the centre-left daily says. It's more densely populated and its army is stronger. Opinion is also divided over whether to arm the opposition. With the Annan peace mission almost in tatters, there seems to be no end to a conflict which could engulf the entire region, the paper says.

Dossier: Revolution in Egypt

The presidential elections in Egypt made headlines again. The 31-year-long state of emergency has finally ended, but questions remain over how much power the military will hold.

Egypt has been led through its transition by a committee of 20 top military brass. The committee was chaired by president Hosni Mubarak until he was ousted last year.

Italy's Corriere della Sera wonders whether the generals are ready to relinquish their hold. Few believe the military will step aside, as they are supposed to do in July, the centre-right daily says. The generals hold a respected place in society, but their role has been called into question as the revolution puts pressure on them to step back. The paper says the military is saying little but the top brass may well consolidate power, especially if the new constitution makes few concessions to the revolutionaries.

The people of Ireland went to the polls this week and voted in favour of the EU's fiscal compact

The pact's supporters say it is a vital part of the new machinery to better integrate EU economies and protect them from the kinds of shocks that Greece is suffering. Ahead of the referendum, the main Irish papers were at pains to point out the benefits of the pact and of Ireland staying in the eurozone.

Voters there have said no to EU treaties at least twice in the past. The Irish Times urged people not to be distracted by unrelated issues or use the referendum as a protest vote to punish the government. The poll is not about the government's performance, water rates or even austerity, the paper says. A referendum is an important democratic right and one that carries a lot of responsibilities, as it is linked to Ireland's vital interests and comes at a very sensitive time for all of Europe.

In Britain, the Supreme Court handed down a long-awaited ruling on the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Its verdict was that Assange, an Australian living in Britain, can be extradited to Sweden to face charges of rape.

For Sweden's Dagens Nyheter, the ruling is a sign that EU countries now have some faith in each others' legal systems. But it's not quite perfect yet, not everything has been harmonised across Europe's borders.

Suspects will have the right to have their hearings translated, and to information in their mother-tongue, the centre-left daily says. But there is still no EU consensus on legal assistance or for suspects to be able to contact their relatives. That Assange will finally be held to account in Sweden is progress, the paper says. But further guarantees must be given that all of Europe's legal systems can actually work together.

And we end this week in Poland, where there's trouble again at the Gdansk shipyards.

The city of Gdansk has decided to emblazon the name "Lenin Shipyard" on the main gate to the site where Poland's Solidarity trade union was born in 1980.

The pro-democracy movement that challenged the communist regime, is not happy about the move and has begun to protest. Someone even vandalised the gate, putting the word Solidarity up to cover the word Lenin.

For the daily Gazeta Wyborcza, the protests are an overreaction. No-one is complaining about the entry gate to the Auschwitz concentration camp, even though it might provoke painful memories for people who were once held there, the liberal daily says. The gate is a monument and the city is only trying to preserve history.