International press review
In the spotlight: the local elections in the United Kingdom or the moment of truth for Boris Johnson
Audio 04:48
In this photo provided by the British Parliament, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks in the House of Commons in London, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. AP - Jessica Taylor
By: Clementine Pawlotsky
4 mins
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"
Boris Johnson's Conservatives are at risk of major losses
," said the British daily
The Independent
.
Indeed, completes
The Times
for its part , "from
the North to the Midlands, via London and the South, Scotland and Wales, today's electoral meeting constitutes a critical moment which could determine Boris Johnson's future
.
"
For the Tories,
the newspaper explains,
this will be the first significant test of public opinion since the Downing Street holiday scandal, with Tory MPs weighing whether the Prime Minister is more of an electoral liability than an asset
."
And it would seem that some of the conservatives have already "
distanced themselves
" from Boris Johnson, as the
Guardian
reminds us .
"
Hundreds of Conservatives
" ran for this election "
presenting themselves as local Conservatives
", argues the British newspaper, which specifies that "
Johnson's photo rarely appears on the dozens of election leaflets
» that he was able to consult.
For
The Boston Globe
, Boris Johnson's party should thus "
suffer a big setback
" in the election this Thursday.
In question, continues the American newspaper: “
the inflation rate of Great Britain
” passed to “
7%, its highest rate for more than three decades
”.
But also "
the way the government has managed the pandemic
" of Covid-19.
A management tainted by the “
Partygate scandal
”, these “
watered
” parties organized by the Prime Minister, in the midst of “
strict health restrictions
”.
The title of this article summarizes very well, in this respect, the analysis of the
Boston Globe
:
As Boris Johnson cheers in Ukraine, British voters prepare to punish his party
.”
So, will the war in Ukraine benefit the British Prime Minister?
The question is posed half-wordly by the Belgian daily
Le Soir
, which recalls that "
European or American leaders
" - and this is the case of the British Prime Minister - "
are passing through the Ukrainian capital one after the other
".
Certainly, “
to assure Ukraine of their support
”.
But perhaps also, suggests the newspaper, “
to earn points with their citizens
”.
And to add: “
politicians, like Boris Johnson entangled in the Partygate scandal, know that a visit to Ukraine could help restore their image
”.
Russia prepares for May 9 celebrations
“
This date, marking the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in 1945, is particularly important for Vladimir Putin ,”
Le Temps
tells us
.
Indeed, continues the Swiss daily, the Russian leader “
raised the Great Patriotic War
” – the name given to the Second World War in Russia – as a key episode in the national historical narrative.
And it takes, this year a “
particular connotation
” in “
context of the invasion in Ukraine and the rhetoric of the authorities
”.
According to
The New York Times
, "
Western officials
" and "
traumatized residents of Ukraine
" fear that the Russian president will take advantage of this anniversary to "
escalate the attacks
".
Indeed, analyzes the American newspaper, "
Mr. Putin could judge necessary to shake the West through a new escalation
", at a time when "
Russia is about to be the target of an oil embargo of the European Union
”.
"
Under these appearances of normality
," notes
Le Temps, "this 77th anniversary of the victory will not be celebrated as usual
" since "
no foreign leader (...) will come to Moscow on May 9 to attend the parade on the Red Square
”.
The Swiss newspaper thus wonders about the possibility of a Russian parade in Mariupol, in the south of Ukraine: “
according to the Ukrainian military intelligence services,
he tells us,
the director of the Russian presidential administration (. ..) arrived in Mariupol (...) to prepare this parade
”.
Russians (too) bury their dead
Two newspapers remind us that behind this war in which the brutality of the Russian army is regularly pointed out, there are also these broken destinies of young Russian soldiers, like that of "
Sergeant Andrei Akhromov
", 21 years old.
Of him, tells us
The Wall Street Journal
, "
there was not much left (...) when he arrived in a zinc coffin in his native town south of Moscow
".
The newspaper also tells us about Ebrus Doev, “
a 27-year-old former teacher
”.
He "
died on March 12
", hit by "
shell
" fire.
The
Times
, for its part, allows us to put a face to the “
first Russian female soldier to be killed in the war in Ukraine
”.
Her name was Valentina Galatova.
She was a “
doctor
”, explains the American newspaper;
she had "
joined the pro-Kremlin separatists
" in the Donestk region in eastern Ukraine.
She was killed when she was engaged "
as a nurse on the front line
".
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