Most European papers agree on the significance of the signing of the Rome declaration on new relations between Russia and Nato, but there are worries both in Russia and Western Europe.

Leading Russian daily Izvestiya notes the contribution of Nato Secretary General George Robertson who "radiated such happiness that he might have been at the christening of his own child".

One could say that Putin yesterday brought about a military-political coup

Izvestiya

"He displayed a sincere liking" for Russian President Vladimir Putin, it adds.

Izvestiya contrasts the smiles of Robertson with the "rather sour" look of Russian Chief of General Staff ANatoly Kvashnin.

But the paper is amazed by his sudden declaration that Russia sees "no threat from the West" - an "almost revolutionary" statement, it says.

A new dawn

"One could say that Putin yesterday brought about a military-political coup," the paper adds. "And he could have a monument built to him for that alone."

Russian broadsheet Nezavisimaya Gazeta says "Russia-Nato relations are unclouded as never before" but notes that Putin made no mention of the alliance's planned eastward expansion.

"Putin yesterday gave the Baltic States the green light to join Nato," it says.

Make no mistake about it: Russia is not a member of Nato and has no power to block its decisions

Liberation

But it adds that the Russian military is now "quite loyal" to Nato - because the most intransigent opponents have been eased out of the defence ministry.

"Those who remain have been told that any criticism of foreign policy initiatives will get them dismissed immediately from the armed forces," Nezavisimaya says.

Trouble ahead

The mass circulation Komsomolskaya Pravda is not so sure that the future for Russia and Nato is necessarily quite so rosy.

It puts an ironical slant on a metaphor used by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who described the new Russia-Nato council as a "marriage between the West and Russia".

"The bride, knowing the true value of her oil and gas dowry... refused to drop her childhood Persian friend," it says, predicting a rocky relationship.

Writing in the government paper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the deputy director of the USA-Canada Institute, one of Moscow's top think-tanks, is positively dismissive of the events in Rome.

Viktor Kremenyuk declares that the agreement "doesn't amount to much".

We now have less room for manoeuvre

Analyst in Rossiyskaya Gazeta

He warns that Russia could be boxing itself into a corner in its dealings with Nato, because equal rights don't mean equality.

"There may be no way back. Just say the alliance approves an invasion of Iraq," he speculates. "If we say we don't agree they'll tell us we accepted certain obligations and have to meet them."

"In short we now have less room for manoeuvre."

Russia's place in Nato

In France, a feisty Liberation agrees, and wants to make sure Russia knows its place.

"Make no mistake about it: Russia is not a member of Nato and has no power to block its decisions," the left-wing French daily says.

The alternative is a worrying isolation

Corriere Della Sera

"The Rome Declaration signed yesterday is in fact just another attempt to reassure Russia by giving it a place - a small one - in a war machine set up as a counterweight to it."

Italy's Corriere Della Sera examines Moscow's motives for signing up - identifying globalisation and energy exports as positive forces shifting Russia westwards.

However, the newspaper adds that Nato's welcoming of the former Soviet satellites - and republics - is also pushing the Kremlin to embrace the Western alliance.

"The alternative is a worrying isolation," it says.

European fears

There are plenty of worries on the European side, too, with Germany's Die Welt warning that the new Nato could end up being "a toothless organization".

In the honeymoon of the two great powers, the European flyweights might soon be left standing

Die Welt

It says the Nato partners buried their old alliance "in a festive, almost cheerful way" at the summit and argues that, after 11 September, the US lost interest in Nato's old defensive structure.

The paper notes that President George Bush found that he could rely on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, "who sided with him in a more effective way than some European politicians".

It concludes that "in the honeymoon of the two great powers, the European flyweights might soon be left standing".

Switzerland's Le Temps says as much in its headline: "Definitively burying the Cold War, Americans and Russians challenge Europe."

Return to power

In Bulgaria - which hopes to join the alliance - Standart daily concurs, declaring that Nato has restored Russia as a global power.

The Alliance is turning from a military to a predominantly political organisation, it observes.

Sofia's Trud calls 28 May the day that the Iron Curtain completely collapsed.

For this, it gives credit to the West, but twice as much to Mr Putin.

But the real news in Bulgaria is the adoption of an enlargement declaration at the Nato Parliamentary Assembly in Sofia.

Bulgaria was included among seven countries named - apparently against US wishes.

"Defying US, assembly adopts country-naming declaration," trumpets the tabloid 24 Chassa in a headline.

"Europe backs us for Nato, US doesn't," agrees Standart.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.

-General George Robertson, who "radiated such happiness that he might have been at the christening of his own child".

One could say that Putin yesterday brought about a military-political coup

Izvestiya

"He displayed a sincere liking" for Russian President Vladimir Putin, it adds.

Izvestiya contrasts the smiles of Robertson with the "rather sour" look of Russian Chief of General Staff ANatoly Kvashnin.

But the paper is amazed by his sudden declaration that Russia sees "no threat from the West" - an "almost revolutionary" statement, it says.

A new dawn

"One could say that Putin yesterday brought about a military-political coup," the paper adds. "And he could have a monument built to him for that alone".

Russian broadsheet Nezavisimaya Gazeta says "Russia-Nato relations are unclouded as never before" but notes that Putin made no mention of the alliance's planned eastward expansion.

"Putin yesterday gave the Baltic States the green light to join Nato," it says.

Make no mistake about it: Russia is not a member of Nato and has no power to block its decisions

Liberation

But it adds that the Russian military is now "quite loyal" to Nato - because the most intransigent opponents have been eased out of the Defence Ministry.

"Those who remain have been told that any criticism of foreign policy initiatives will get them dismissed immediately from the armed forces," Nezavisimaya says.

Trouble ahead

The mass circulation Komsomolskaya Pravda isn't so sure that the future for Russia and Nato is necessarily quite so rosy.

It puts an ironical slant on a metaphor used by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who described the new Russia-Nato council as a "marriage between the West and Russia".

"The bride, knowing the true value of her oil and gas dowry... refused to drop her childhood Persian friend," it says, predicting a rocky relationship.

Writing in the government paper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the deputy director of the USA-Canada Institute, one of Moscow's top think-tanks, is positively dismissive of the events in Rome.

Viktor Kremenyuk declares that the agreement "doesn't amount to much".

We now have less room for manoeuvre

Analyst in Rossiyskaya Gazeta

He warns that Russia could be boxing itself into a corner in its dealings with Nato, because equal rights don't mean equality.

"There may be no way back. Just say the alliance approves an invasion of Iraq," he speculates. "If we say we don't agree they'll tell us we accepted certain obligations and have to meet them."

"In short we now have less room for manoeuvre."

Russia's place in Nato

A feisty Liberation agrees, and wants to make sure Russia knows its place.

"Make no mistake about it: Russia is not a member of Nato and has no power to block its decisions," the left-wing French daily says.

The alternative is a worrying isolation

Corriere Della Sera

"The Rome Declaration signed yesterday is in fact just another attempt to reassure Russia by giving it a place - a small one - in a war machine set up as a counterweight to it."

Italy's Corriere Della Sera examines Moscow's motives for signing up - identifying globalization and energy exports as positive forces shifting Russia westwards.

However, the newspaper adds that Nato's welcoming of the former Soviet satellites - and republics - is also pushing the Kremlin to embrace the Western alliance.

"The alternative is a worrying isolation," it says.

European fears

There are plenty of worries on the European side, too, with Germany's Die Welt warning that the new Nato could end up being "a toothless organization".

In the honeymoon of the two great powers, the European flyweights might soon be left standing

Die Welt

It says the Nato partners buried their old alliance "in a festive, almost cheerful way" at the summit and argues that after 11 September the USA lost interest in Nato's old defensive structure.

The paper notes that President George Bush found that he could rely on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, "who sided with him in a more effective way than some European politicians".

It concludes that "in the honeymoon of the two great powers, the European flyweights might soon be left standing".

Switzerland's Le Temps says as much in its headline: "Definitively burying the Cold War, Americans and Russians challenge Europe".

Return to power

In Bulgaria - which hopes to join the alliance - Standart daily concurs, declaring that Nato has restored Russia as a global power.

The Alliance is turning from a military to a predominantly political organization, it observes.

Sofia's Trud calls 28 May the day that the Iron Curtain completely collapsed.

For this, it gives credit to the West, but twice as much to Mr Putin.

But the real news in Bulgaria is the adoption of an enlargement declaration at the Nato Parliamentary Assembly in Sofia.

Bulgaria was included among seven countries named - apparently against US wishes.

"Defying US, assembly adopts country-naming declaration", trumpets the tabloid 24 Chassa in a headline.

"Europe backs us for Nato, US doesn't", agrees Standart.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.