"I don't want to make excuses," he said. "Write it down: Fischer is guilty."

The long and often convoluted story of the German visa scandal had its high point on Monday, when German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer was questioned during an epic hearing that lasted over 12 hours. It began with a two hour statement by Fischer, in which he readily accepted blame for the visa scandal that has been simmering in Germany over the last several months. The opposition Christian Democratic Union party has claimed that relaxed visa regulations affecting eastern Europe lead to an influx of illegal immigrants between 2000 and 2002, and that Fischer, as head of the Foreign Ministry, is responsible and should step down. Fischer's response, which he repeated yesterday, has been that that problem arose from policies instituted before he arrived in office, that the problems were quickly dealt with once they finally came to his attention, and that the opposition has grossly overstated the actual numbers of those who took advantage of the lax policies.

Critics have said the policies allowed criminal bands to smuggle people and women forced into prostitution to easily enter into western Europe. One conservative even went so far as to label Fischer as a "pimp" -- a smear the foreign minister on Monday described as "base" and having nothing to do with the clarification of the issue. Fischer also accused conservatives of "unspeakable scandalization" and of using the issue as a political instrument for "getting rid of me."

"The idea that security was put in danger and that the country was flooded with criminals is simply opposition propaganda," he said. Looking by turns confident and cagey, Fischer emerged relatively unscathed, if not wholly victorious.

The German editorial pages are mixed on the question of how effectively he defended himself Monday, but they at least seem to agree that he held his own. They also agree that the main point of the scandal was never the actual visa policy, but an attempt by the opposition to weaken the ruling coalition. Whether or not his appearance will help his party in next month's important vote in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia remains to be seen.

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung begins its front page editorial by giving Fischer a lukewarm review. He relied on some of the old standbys that made him so popular, the paper writes, in the way he handled the committee -- directness, composure, wit. This played to his advantage, because "the visa fact-finding committee is not about 'comprehensive clarification' (Fischer), but rather about having the biggest possible effect on the public." The motivation to make a big impression -- which, the paper writes, was equally present in all parties concerned -- was made even stronger by the TV broadcast. "With a heroic effort, Fischer tried right from the beginning to take the wind out of the sails of the opposition" by taking responsibility on the one hand and pointing out that the original, ideological policy changes were not his idea on the other. The paper implies that Fischer really has nothing to lose in owning up to his mistakes, because the scandal was aimed more towards his boss, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "And in his case, too, it's not primarily about the truth, but rather about the effect. Fischer gave it his best. We'll see just how far that will go."

The center-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung, meanwhile, appreciated Fischer's ability to wear so many different hats. Despite only being asked to appear in his role as foreign minister, he came across "as experienced prosecutor, as an admitted suspect, as crafty lawyer, as stalwart warden of his ministry, as a world politician." Not all of his roles were that strong, though. "Of his appearance, there remained -- to say it with a phrase borrowed from poet Conrad Ferdinand Meyer -- this impression: Here was no book, clever as a fox/Here was a man in all his paradox. But Fischer was actually not bad in this role." Even this uneven performance, the paper says, is probably going to come out alright for Fischer. "The day before the visa commission is more likely to stabilize him: The high-point of the scandal is now past, there haven't been new findings, and there probably won't be." If nothing else, the paper writes, the commission got down to the real cause of the visa scandal: "To put it directly: an organizational-level fault." And yet while he admitted to being responsible for the fault, it wasn't really an act of release. "Fischer remained so soft and strangely imprecise during the inquiry that one has to wonder."

The Berliner Zeitung notes that the real outcome of the day won't be known until next month's elections. "The committee won't go into the political consequences of the well-meant visa policies that went wrong. That's something for the voters." But the paper rates the media value of the whole thing quite highly: "Politicians, who normally step out in public with coarse polemic, carry on a rhetorical competition of finesse in front of live cameras -- by all means, this is reality TV worth seeing."

Another Berlin paper, the liberal Die Tageszeitung, wrote that at first it seemed that Fischer "had, at least rhetorically, found his way back to his old form." All that changed, though, "when he didn't get to decide anymore what he'd like to talk about, but rather had to serve the curiosity of the committee members." Echoing several other papers, the Tageszeitung writes that few new facts came to light during the hearing: "The mistake that he owned up to yesterday he'd already acknowledged in several interviews." Overall, the paper reviews Fischer as a diminished man, but thinks he did well in a tense moment. "It's getting tighter and tighter for Fischer. But everything that's known so far isn't enough for him to have to step down. Even the Minister is allowed to make a few mistakes," it concludes.

The Financial Times Deutschland, too, saw the "old" Fischer in Monday's performance, but says "his show was playing in the wrong theater." He'd been asked just to answer questions, though, and thus his performance wasn't totally convincing. The paper calls Fischer variously a boxer, an artist, a juggler and an exceptionally gifted political talent -- but unfortunately not "the manager, the organizer, the one who can translate big political plans into everyday business." Unless some new, damaging evidence surfaces, Fischer has avoided having to step down. "Yet the splendor of Super Joshcka has faded, his former magic has evaporated."

The conservative Die Welt just sticks to calling Fischer an "acrobat," and sees his admissions of guilt as little more than rhetorical trickery. "It was a day of tactics, not of truth finding." His acceptance of responsibility was, the paper writes, actually a way of shrugging it off, as though saying, "It was me, formally, but nothing was bad enough for me to be pilloried." Yet the hearing showed just how much Fischer has to bow to the facts, "and too often, he can't even remember them." His constant evasions and forgetfulness showed the weakness of this strategy: "What Fischer forgot with his memory-acrobatics was the impression they would leave behind: one of a minister who doesn't have his shop in order."

Meanwhile, the business daily Handlesblatt takes an even-handed approach, calling the match essentially a draw. For his part, "Fischer appeared conscious of the problem at hand, reflective, ready to admit mistakes, but also anything but contrite." However, the paper notes, "the medium is also unforgiving." Viewers got to see not only the suave, self-assured Fischer, but also the one who stammers while searching for the right word. But even this isn't going to end his career. "The opposition, caught up in a tangle of files, didn't achieve their goal of 'cracking' the minister, exposing him in front of live cameras. The day, however, also didn't bring about the re-rising of Fischer's erstwhile star."