NORWAY

NORWAY
Aftenposten, Oslo, June 10: More than three-quarters of the Poles who voted in the weekend's referendum on European Union membership supported the government's proposal to accept the membership agreement. That was a historic decision, and we can sense its dimensions if we look back 15 years, or 200 years for that matter.
Both in the 1980s and in the 1790s, the Polish people and their leaders made clear that Poland's place was in Western Europe. Both times, such an orientation was not acceptable to the rulers in Moscow.
European family
The referendum's result secures the place Poland rightfully has in the European family. It is part of the nation's tragedy that decade after decade it was so exposed to attack from neighbors who had subjected themselves to power hungry tyrants. Therefore, the Poles for centuries were not able to benefit from their historical anchor point.
The referendum is significant for the Poles, and no less important for Europe. With its 40 million people a democratic Poland contributes more new members than the other nine candidate countries put together.
JAPAN
Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, June 10: The U.S. government has decided to send a small team of observers to monitor the truce. But such a team is not enough, either in its capabilities or the credibility of its neutrality. An international team should be considered that would include representatives of the European Union and Russia.
Last year, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan proposed sending a team of U.N. officials as observers, but Israel objected, claiming the world body is against Israel.
Distrust
This time, however, the painstaking efforts being put forth in peacemaking must not be left solely in the hands of the parties directly involved. Previous cease-fires have failed time after time because the parties in conflict distrusted each other so deeply. If Israel refuses to comply, the United States must apply pressure.
We hope the Arab nations will support the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas in his peacemaking efforts. Of course, they should also maintain a close watch on extremists in their respective countries and open their own dialogue with Israel.
This peacemaking initiative has come about because the Bush administration has turned positive toward peace in the Middle East. The people of Arab nations will not, however, simply forget the pro-Israel leaning of the United States or the war against Iraq. If the United States departs from the path of being the honest broker, the peacemaking process will be jeopardized.
EGYPT
Egyptian Gazette, Cairo, June 10: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's recent admission, that it is impossible to keep the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip under occupation forever, has done little, if anything, to change the way he is perceived in the Arab world. His gory track record belies any bid on his part to cast himself as a peacemaker.
Sharon unwittingly fed doubts about his alleged change of heart when he pledged during a historic summit in Jordan last week to remove "unauthorized" Jewish outposts in the West Bank. His pledge was a glaring attempt to circumvent a freeze stipulated in the U.S.-backed "roadmap" peace plan on Jewish settlements.
Major obstacle
The world rightly believes that Jewish settlements pose a major obstacle to peacemaking in the Middle East. Sharon is expected to manipulate the far right's anger over obligations set in the "roadmap" to wriggle out of American pressure to carry out his side of the deal.
Likewise, Sharon may well employ another ruse: playing for time. While projecting himself as a peacemaker, the Israeli premier assumes that in few months' time, U.S. President George W. Bush's attention will be distracted away from the turbulent politics of the Middle East to campaigning for a second presidential term.