US President Donald Trump has announced that tariffs of 25 percent will apply for all imports of steel and aluminium as of 4 March. This means that for the first time Europe will also be affected by Trump's new tariff policy - both as an exporter and as a result of third countries shifting their exports to the European market. The media discuss the consequences and possible countermeasures.

A long-prepared and technically complicated step took place without a hitch on the weekend: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania severed their last remaining connection with the post-Soviet electricity system, known as the Brell ring, on Saturday, and synchronised their electricity grids with the rest of Europe. Commentators hail the switch as a historic step but also point to the challenges it poses.

Two weeks before Germany's Bundestag elections take place, the chancellor candidate of the ruling SPD, Olaf Scholz, and the CDU/CSU candidate Friedrich Merz have faced off in a prime-time TV debate. There were no fierce verbal attacks but the audience share was high at more than 40 percent. Commentators' assessments of the debate vary widely.

US President Donald Trump stated in an interview that he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine. The time of the phone call between the two leaders remained unclear. The Kremlin would neither confirm nor deny that it took place. Commentators examine the situation and express both scepticism and cautious hope.

Klaus Iohannis was supposed to have stepped down in December, but the annulment of the 2024 presidential election led to an extension of his time in office. Wrongly so, according to Romania's far-right parties, who have called for his impeachment on the grounds that the maximum ten-year term has been exceeded. The liberal USR party backed the motion and now Iohannis has announced his resignation to forestall a parliamentary vote on his impeachment. The move elicits a mixed response from the press.

In Kosovo, the current ruling party has emerged as the winner of the parliamentary elections with just under 42 percent of the vote but has lost its absolute majority, meaning that the left-wing nationalist prime minister Albin Kurti will likely need coalition partners. Two conservative parties each secured around 20 percent of the vote. Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, is seeking EU membership.