The EU Commission looks likely to backtrack on its plans to ban the combustion engine in 2035: in an interview with Handelsblatt newspaper, Sustainable Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas has declared himself "open to all technologies". Previously German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote a letter to Brussels asking it to continue to allow "highly efficient" combustion vehicles in addition to hybrid cars.
A breakthrough in the negotiations on the war in Ukraine seems a long way off. In the Black Sea, for the first time, Ukraine attacked oil tankers heading for Russia. Military and security issues are high on the agenda in every country – and Putin is making insinuations about a war with Europe. Is the continent on the verge of an even bigger conflict? The media assess the situation.
A key position has become vacant in Ukraine following Andriy Yermak's resignation. Zelensky's chief of staff stepped down after six years in office in connection with the corruption scandal in the Ukrainian energy sector. His home was searched, but no charges have been brought against him so far. The media assess what the development means for the country and the negotiation process.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent a letter via his lawyer to President Isaac Herzog asking for a pardon. In 2019 Netanyahu was charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust - and of having received luxury gifts to the value of 174,000 euros, including jewellery, cigars and champagne. He recently claimed that pardoning him would promote the "reconciliation our country so desperately needs".
The shuttle diplomacy aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine is gathering pace: representatives from the US and Ukraine met in Florida over the weekend to discuss changes to President Donald Trump's peace plan. Meanwhile, US negotiator Steve Witkoff is set to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today, Tuesday. Commentators ask where things will go from here.
The 17th German-Polish intergovernmental consultations took place in Berlin on Monday. Key agenda points were military collaboration, cross-border transport infrastructure and the politics of memory. Germany also returned cultural assets to Poland that were stolen during World War II. The media in both countries are trying to fathom why the relationship has still not really warmed.
Last week and again on Monday, tens of thousands took the streets in Bulgaria. The demonstrations, the largest in years, are in protest at the government's draft budget for 2026, which proposes a hike in taxes and social security contributions. Corruption allegations are also in the air. Riots have broken out in Sofia, and demonstrators have clashed with the police.
As part of his first foreign tour since his election as Pope, Leo XIV paid a three-day visit to Turkey. His visit coincides with the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, at which the foundations for the ecumenical creed were laid. Leo XIV also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom he praised for his peace efforts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Two referendums were held in Switzerland this week. An initiative aimed at introducing a 50-percent inheritance tax on wealth exceeding 50 million Swiss francs (53.6 million euros) was rejected, with 78 percent voting against the measure, the proceeds of which would have been used to finance climate protection measures. In the other referendum, no less than 84 percent voted against an initiative to introduce compulsory national service for women.
France's army is to be strengthened by voluntary military service. There will be no conscription for the time being and service will be limited to the "national territory", President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday. This followed a statement by the Chief of the Defence Staff General Fabien Mandon, who warned that the country must be prepared to "lose its children" faced with the Russian threat.
Britain's Treasury chief Rachel Reeves presented the budget on Wednesday. By combining tax increases to the tune of 30 billion euros, more child subsidies and less debt, Keir Starmer's Labour government hopes to lead the country out of crisis. The budget proposals are "fair but necessary," Reeves claims. Opinions from the press are divided.