In the dispute over massive budget cuts, French Prime Minister François Bayrou has called a confidence vote for 8 September. He made the announcement after conferring with French President Emmanuel Macron. If the vote fails, it will mean the end of Bayrou's minority government. Europe's press is alarmed.
In Poland, a major controversy has broken out over social benefits for Ukrainian refugees. Polish President Karol Nawrocki has lodged an objection to the government's Ukraine aid law, which is intended to guarantee benefits such as child benefit and social assistance until March 2026. Commentators see symptoms of a declining willingness to help, as well as risks for Poland and Europe as a whole.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift and American professional footballer Travis Kelce have got engaged in Missouri. A news story which would normally only make headlines in the tabloids and in fan circles is making waves well beyond, and has even drawn comment from the US President. Europe's press also asks: what does this say about our society and our times?
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visited the Republic of Moldova to mark its Independence Day on Wednesday, appearing together with President Maia Sandu in the capital Chișinău. The country will elect a new parliament on 28 September. The press profiles the small state on the fault line between the EU and Russia.
Ukraine has fired twice this month at pumping stations that form part of the Druzhba pipeline in western Russia, interrupting the transit of Russian crude oil to Belarus and the EU. Hungary and Slovakia have protested against the attacks, both in Kyiv and Brussels, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán even complaining to US President Donald Trump. Commentators shed light on the complex web of economic and political interests surrounding oil deliveries.
UK right-wing populist Nigel Farage has said that if he becomes prime minister he would introduce radical measures against illegal immigration, including mass deportations to countries like Iran, Eritrea and Afghanistan and sending asylum seekers to isolated British overseas territories. Farage's Reform UK party is currently leading the polls, which is upping the pressure on Keir Starmer's Labour government.
Following the resignation of Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, his former Labour Minister Inga Ruginienė has presented a new governing coalition consisting of her social democratic LSDP party, the populist Nemuno Aušra, the Farmers' and Greens' Union (LVŽS) and two independent MPs. The national press is alarmed by the fact that it includes politicians with extreme views.
Since the summit meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska, there is growing concern among Europeans that the outcome of the war in Ukraine will be decided solely by Washington and Moscow. Commentators see Europe on the sidelines in other areas too, and ask how much geopolitical clout the continent has.
Twenty people, including five local journalists, have reportedly been killed in Israeli attacks on a hospital in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. Reuters, AP and Al Jazeera have confirmed that journalists working for them were among the victims. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a "tragic mishap", the circumstances of which were now being investigated. Must journalists put their lives at risk to cover the situation in Gaza?
Donald Trump is upping the pressure on the US Federal Reserve, which is supposed to be independent of government influence. The president has now announced the immediate dismissal of Lisa Cook from the Board of Governors. The move is legally controversial and unprecedented in the history of the central bank. Europe's press takes a closer look.
Addressing the refugee crisis at a press conference on 31 August 2015, then Chancellor Angela Merkel used the the slogan "We can do it" - an expression of her conviction that working together, states and society would be able to cope with the rapidly rising number of asylum seekers flooding into the EU. The media take stock a decade later.
