For the first time on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer went public with his concerns about Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's intentions to lift the European Union's arms embargo against China.

Lately, the foreign minister, a leading member of the Green Party, has been mum on major foreign policy issues -- largely due to the political paralysis an Eastern European visa scandal  has brought to his office. Opposition parties and a growing amount of evidence suggest that a change in policy made by Fischer enabled criminal rings to smuggle people from Eastern Europe into Western Europe, including common criminals and women forced into prostitution .

Fischer has kept his lips sealed on the allegations, only saying that "everyone makes mistakes." And he very reluctantly agreed to appear before a parliamentary hearing on the issue later this month. But increasing media and public pressure continued to mount on the foreign minister to speak out on the embargo issue. Last week, Schroeder told the weekly Die Zeit that the embargo decision was his alone and not the business of parliament -- a statement that essentially forced Fischer to respond. On Tuesday, he did, telling the same paper: "The Chancellor knows that I have a more skeptical position on this." Although "skeptical" may not be as strong as "no," the quote still caused a political earthquake in Berlin -- and on Wednesday newspaper commentators are trying to take the Richter scale reading.

The conservative Die Welt sees a "controlled offensive" on Fischer's part, aimed at "drawing a line in the sand for Schroeder that he should not cross in his efforts to court the Chinese regime." It also marks Fischer's return after a "long silence," the paper says, to his actual job, namely German foreign policy, which in this instance has been completely usurped by a chancellor intent on flattering an incalculable world power with the single-minded interest of increasing German exports. But the paper believes that by speaking out, Fischer is also trying to pull the wool over people's eyes in the run-up to parliamentary hearings on the visa scandal. In the past, he has said "a string of major events in foreign policy" kept him from scrutinizing the visa policy to the extent needed. By focusing on this now, however, it looks like the foreign minister is attempting to make the "visa abuse scandal look trivial." The paper, clearly no fan of Fischer, grudgingly admits that his strategy might work.

"Tuesday was a good day for Germany," the Financial Times Deutschland writes, sarcastically. "The country finally heard that it still has a foreign minister." The paper believes that with his statements against lifting the weapons embargo, Fischer "risks a serious row in the government coalition." Nevertheless, it argues it is a good thing that the Green's most-important ministry-level politician has lent his "voice of concern" to the issue. There are plenty of reasons, it says, for members of Schroeder's Social Democrats to adopt Fischer's position. On Tuesday, for example, Amnesty International released a report stating that 90 percent of the world's executions take place in China -- "often for relatively minor crimes." The editorial also points to Beijing's recent statements acknowledging its right to "reunification" with Taiwan, even using violent means if it has to. Fischer may be weaker following the visa scandal, but he still has the chancellor's ear when it comes to important issues. "That's why Fischer has to put up with the question of why he remained silent for so long on an issue that falls within his direct competencies," it concludes.

Germany's other major financial daily, Handelsblatt, writes that Fischer's statements are likely to put additional pressure on Schroeder to explain why he continues to stand behind his belief the embargo should be lifted. The paper notes that Fischer's statement comes after the parliamentary leaders of both the Social Democrats and Greens have expressed their opposition to lifting the ban. "Now, Fischer has publicly expressed his doubts about the wisdom of the move," it continues. "For him, the price that would have to be paid for a trans-Atlantic huff seems too high." In light of recent developments in China, opinion in Europe is beginning to move away from lifting the arms embargo. There are legitimate reasons to consider lifting the embargo, which is "ineffective" anyway -- including the fact that China could provide Germany with support for gaining a seat in a reformed United Nations Security Council. "It's also true that Europeans need not grant every wish the often self-centered Americans have," it continues. "When it comes to selling weapons, Washington is often quick to close its own eyes to human rights, proliferation and regional stability." It then points to the recent example of the US decision to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, a country known for its nuclear smuggling. Still, it concludes, Schroeder should ask himself whether this is the right time to lift the embargo -- not because he faces criticism from the US, but because of Beijing's misconduct.

German politicians have their share of problems, but they're not the only ones. After his party's devastating defeat in Sunday's regional elections analysts waste no time in putting the blame squarely on Silvio Berlusconi's hair implanted head. It wasn't the quality of the opposition, but Berlusconi's unkept promises that informed voter's choices.

Although voters can be capricious, opines the center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, they can also be patient, "even the excitable Italians." But not anymore. And although it would be appropriate, Berlusconi would never step down. Instead the conflicts within the coalition will intensify because "Conservative rhetoric, reckless market radicalism and pompous political show business are not a good match." In the end, the opposition didn't win so much as Berlusconi lost. Opponent Romano Prodi, who didn't return from Brussels as a hero, was a controversial candidate within his own party. "Now it's Berlusconi against Prodi: A magician past his prime versus a functionary past his prime.

The liberal Sueddeutsche Zeitung sees a "Twilight of the Gods in the Land of Berlusconi," and notes the election's two surprises: high voter participation and a decisive victory for the left. Although Berlusconi is blaming everyone else and calling for more power, this may be the beginning of the end. "He promised the people too much and delivered on too little ... one glance into their wallets opens the eyes of the voters who realize: the Cavaliere has no clothes." SZ hopes that Italians finally pull the emergency brake, "because the extent of power accumulated by the richest man in the country in four years of governing, is unbearable for a democracy." Still, although the leader of the center-left, economics professor Romano Prodi promises that "a change in power will not end in a left-wing adventure," the success of the opposition is not guaranteed. The left could beat Berlusconi, but a quick review of history suggests it could also beat itself.