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.
The situation in Ceuta remains tense: around 5,000 migrants are currently living in camps in inhumane conditions, leading to clashes with local residents and the police. Nationwide protests in Spain led by the conservative People's Party (PP) and the far-right Vox accuse the central government of failing to act. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is blaming Russia and Israel for spreading disinformation that lured the migrants into the enclave.
Around 30 masked men, some of whom were heavily armed, marched through the Dutch village of Overasselt early on Tuesday morning before attacking a property. One man was killed and two police officers were seriously injured amid gunfire. The incident has sparked a debate about escalating drug-related violence. The Dutch press calls for action - and also holds drug users to account.
Children across Europe are back at school after the summer holidays, and with their return the national debates about how schools and teachers should handle the use of digital devices have reignited. Strategies under consideration range from controlled use to outright bans in schools. Commentators ask if and how smart phone use can be meaningfully integrated into school life.
Last week Denmark agreed to pay an amount equivalent to 40,000 euros in compensation to some 4,500 Greenlandic women who were fitted with contraceptive intrauterine devices [IUDs] without their knowledge or consent between 1960 and 1991. Two expert reports commissioned to assess whether this constituted genocide failed to reach a unanimous conclusion. Danish media discuss the implications of the IUD scandal.
The eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt will elect a new state parliament on Sunday. Polls show that the the nationalist-populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) could secure an absolute majority. Among other things the party is promising a tougher stance on migration, a U-turn in energy policy and a patriotic cultural policy. Commentators ask what an AfD government would mean for Europe.
The Icelanders have voted by a narrow majority against joining the EU. On Saturday, 52.8 percent rejected the resumption of accession negotiations in a referendum. The Social Democratic government initiated the vote in the hope that EU membership would offer the country better protection against territorial claims such as those made by Trump regarding Greenland. For opponents, national sovereignty and control over fishing waters took precedent.
Lucian Pahonțu has been head of the SPP, the secret service responsible for protecting high-ranking state officials, for over 20 years. Now the investigative news portal Recorder has revealed that he was a member of a unit of the notorious Securitate secret police that was involved in the bloody suppression of protests during the 1989 revolution. President Nicușor Dan has defended Pahonțu, saying "I don’t see what all the scandal is about."
Last week the European Court of Human Rights again ruled against Turkey and demanded the immediate release of Turkish businessman and cultural patron Osman Kavala, who has been held detention since 2017. Ankara has failed to comply with all previous rulings on the issue. Sources close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggest that the country is considering withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights.
Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb former general nicknamed the "Butcher of Bosnia", died on Thursday in the United Nations Detention Unit in The Hague. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2017 for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Serbia's Minister of Justice, Nenad Vujić, has announced that he will be given a state funeral - sparking a major controversy.