The UK has announced plans to ban the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. This is part of a wider re-calibration in its relations with Israel, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Tuesday in London. France, Canada, Denmark and other countries have also announced import bans and sanctions. Will this have an impact on the upcoming elections in Israel?
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky in Kyiv on the weekend to discuss how to end the war between the two countries. Afterwards, Witkoff called on both sides to make compromises. Zelensky said that security and economic guarantees for Ukraine had been discussed. Moscow described the talks as "extremely frank" and "constructive".
It remains unclear what kind of government will emerge in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt after the AfD's election victory there. Commentators across Europe voice concern about the strong performance of the party's regional branch – which is officially classified as right-wing extremist – and what this means for Europe's security, the cohesion of the EU and democracy in other countries.
Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and her government have been in office for just under four years now – longer than any other Italian government in the last 80 years. When she first took power many feared that her party, Fratelli d'Italia, and its post-fascist roots would have a negative impact on the government's work and Italy's role in Europe. Commentators take stock.
Former General Ratko Mladić, who died in custody in The Hague on 27 August, has been honoured with a state funeral in Serbia. The EU has condemned the ceremony as "glorification of war criminals". Eight thousand Muslim men and boys were murdered in Srebrenica in 1995 at Mladić's behest. Commentators take a critical view of the way Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, is dealing with its past.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured just under 44 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt but fell short of an absolute majority in the state parliament. This means that for the first time a party classified as far right is within reach of governing a German federal state. The media debate the reasons behind the party's success, the repercussions for German politics, and what lessons Europe can learn.
Clémence Guetté, member of the French National Assemblé for the party La France Insoumise, has published a book in which she makes the case for legal recognition of friendships alongside marriage, civil partnerships and family ties. In her newly published Pour une politique de l'amitié, she proposes that people should be able to enter into a partnership agreement in which they undertake to care for one another. The French media are highly critical of the book.
In 2015, a majority of countries worldwide agreed to aim to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UN has now announced that this target can no longer be met and that the average rise in temperatures will be higher. The media examine what can – and must – be done now.
In response to the finding that Russia was behind the Leipzig drone incident, Germany is closing the Russian Consulate-General in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, which is suspected of serving as a front for Russian agents. Entry restrictions for Russians and a crackdown on the country's shadow fleet have also been announced. Meanwhile, the EU is preparing another sanctions package.
Romania missed a key EU funding deadline at the end of August by which it would have had to pass or amend a number of laws - including legislation on a gradual phase-out of coal. The country with the highest budget deficit in the EU will now lose up to 870 million euros in funding from the EU recovery fund. The Romanian media are incensed.
Nine years after the bomb attack that killed Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, tycoon Yorgen Fenech has been acquitted of orchestrating the crime. It therefore remains unclear who ordered the murder. Suspicions that members of the government may have been involved led to the resignation of the Maltese prime minister in 2020. In its Rule of Law Report, Brussels notes that Malta has made limited progress on the protection of journalists.
At the end of August, Russia switched its tactics in its air strikes against Kyiv from short, massive attacks to continuous bombardment by small groups of drones. This resulted in an air raid alert that lasted 15 hours in the Ukrainian capital. The new strategy is apparently aimed at exhausting Ukraine's air defence capabilities and causing long-term disruption to everyday civilian life.