Two months after the Danish elections, a four-party centre-left coalition government has emerged which, however, still falls short of a parliamentary majority. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats will work together with the Socialist People's Party, the social-liberal Radikale Venstre, and the Moderates. Frederiksen is now set to begin her third term in office.
The European Union plans to establish deportation centres in non-EU countries. Representatives of the European Parliament and governments of the member states have reached a corresponding agreement, although it is not yet clear where the hubs would be located. The measure complements the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will take full effect on June 12. Press responses are for the most part critical.
Hungary's new prime minister, Péter Magyar, wants to amend the constitution to allow him to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office, whom he accuses of having been too loyal to the former ruling party, Fidesz. The head of state has allowed the deadline for his resignation, set for 31 May, to pass. Under the current constitutional provisions the president is elected by the parliament for a five-year term.
In Turkey, the main opposition party CHP is under intense pressure. At the end of May a court ordered the removal of party leader Özgür Özel on the grounds that his election in 2023 was not in accordance with the rules. Under the ruling, former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is to lead the party instead. The judgement has triggered a leadership crisis in the form of an open power struggle between Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu.
Armenia will hold parliamentary elections on 7 June. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is hoping that the vote will bolster his pro-Western course. At the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union in Kazakhstan, which Pashinyan did not attend, Vladimir Putin threatened to suspend economic cooperation with the country. Russia has already imposed import bans on certain Armenian goods.
While the US and Iran are engaged in negotiations for a peaceful solution, the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate. On Monday the Iranian regime threatened to suspend negotiations with Washington if Israel continues its military operations in Lebanon. In response, US President Donald Trump spoke to both sides and then announced that there would be no further fighting.
The Partit Laburista (Labour Party) has won Saturday's general election in Malta for the fourth time in a row. Prime Minister Robert Abela had brought the election forward by a year in order to secure a new mandate in the context of the ongoing geopolitical crises. Although the EU's smallest member state recorded an economic growth rate of four percent last year, the consequences of the war in Iran and inflation have fuelled fears of an economic downturn.
Two people were injured on Thursday night when a drone struck a block of flats in Galați, Romania. According to official reports the drone was Russian and carrying an explosive payload. At the same time, the Ukrainian Danube port of Reni, 20 kilometres away, was attacked. Romania ordered the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Constanța. Commentators see this response as insufficient.
Despite a series of corruption scandals, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is clinging to his post: at a congress of his party's youth organisation on Sunday, he ruled out new elections. Police raided the headquarters of his Socialist Party (PSOE) in Madrid last week, and former socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been placed under investigation over alleged influence-peddling.
In its fight against the Hezbollah militia the Israeli army has advanced further into southern Lebanon, capturing the strategically and symbolically important Beaufort Castle and raising the Israeli flag there for the first time in 26 years. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and the UK have criticised the advance and called on both Israel and Hezbollah to cease hostilities.
Scenes of violence have overshadowed Paris Saint-Germain's (PSG) victory over Arsenal in the Champions League final on Saturday: clashes broke out between masked individuals and the police in 15 French cities, mostly in the Paris region. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 416 people were arrested across the country.