German papers today scoff at the results of the Nato summit and diagnose the Alliance's poor health. Many of Europe's papers examine the tussle between France and the United States over Turkey's place in Europe.
Nato's challenges
Commenting on the Nato summit in Istanbul, Germany's Der Tagesspiegel describes its results as "meagre".
Der Tagesspiegel
As the paper sees it, the summit failed to heal the split between those Nato members who opposed the war in Iraq and those who backed it.
"The Nato summit was superfluous and took place at the wrong time."
It says decisions taken by the 26 heads of state and government could equally have been left to foreign ministers. And the fact that the United States is shouldering the security burden in Afghanistan is a sign of Europe's military weakness.
"Afghanistan is becoming a credibility test for Nato, and in particular for its European pillar," the paper says.
Germany's Berliner Zeitung says that although Nato cannot afford to fail in Afghanistan, its resources there are pitifully limited.
It says the 6,500 soldiers currently in the country plus the 1,000 to be added in September are "a drop in the ocean".
Russia's Rossiyskaya Gazeta looks at the summit and sees a slightly healthier state of affairs.
"In general, one gets the impression that Russia has already 'digested' Nato enlargement and come to the conclusion that it does not create large problems for it, although some concerns remain."
Row over Turkey
Under the headline "Bush pushing Turkey into Europe", France's Le Figaro remarks that US President George W Bush "continues to press the Europeans to welcome Turkey in their midst".
La Vanguardia
"The American president has taken no notice of (French President) Jacques Chirac's admonition that the negotiations between the Union and Ankara are none of Washington's business."
Austria's Die Presse backs Mr Chirac for chiding Mr Bush after he urged the EU to give Turkey a date for acceptance of its membership bid.
"Chirac was right," the paper says.
"The independent global political initiatives of the current US administration have resulted in the French again and again supporting positions critical of America."
Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung notes that, despite standing up to the USA over the issue, the French president was actually very positive about Turkey's EU bid. And Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he believed there would be a positive EU Commission report on Turkey in October.
"If opinions are so solid from the outset, we could have done without this whole farce," the paper says.
Spain's La Vanguardia takes the view that "providing the religion professed by the overwhelming majority of the Turkish people and their leaders does not come into conflict with the progress and consolidation of the law-based state", Turkey could actually "become an example for the entire region".
President Bush may have been "admonished" by France but "he was nevertheless right when he said that Turkey's membership of the EU would be a powerful contribution towards dismantling the myth of the clash of civilizations", it says.
Bridges across Europe
In Sweden, Malmo's Sydsvenska Dagbladet welcomes the fact that a fixed link between Denmark and Germany over the Fehmarn Belt straits has taken "a few pleasing and slightly unexpected steps forward".
Sydsvenska Dagbladet
A declaration of intent was signed in Berlin last week by the two countries' transport ministers, supporting a road and rail bridge at a cost of about 4.4 billion euros ($5.3 billion).
There is "every reason to welcome the decisiveness" being shown by Copenhagen and Berlin, the paper says, adding the existing Oeresund Link between Sweden and Denmark will become even more significant to long-distance transport when the new bridge is built.
"And incidentally, the bridges also lead northwards. Danes, Germans and other Europeans are more than welcome in Sweden."
The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.
