The British government under Keir Starmer has committed to investing 14.2 billion pounds (around 16.8 billion euros) in the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear plant on England's east coast. According to estimates the project will take around ten years to complete. There have been major delays in the construction of a similar reactor, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, and the plant is not expected to start operating until 2030, more than a decade later and costing billions more than originally planned.
The Gaza aid ship Madleen was intercepted by Israeli forces on Monday morning. The Foreign Ministry in Tel Aviv described the boat as a 'selfie yacht' and explained that the activists on board, including Greta Thunberg, had been detained and deported on Tuesday. The European press criticise both the boat action plan and the reaction.
The Nato defence ministers agreed on new capability targets on Thursday. While the details remain confidential, it's clear that there will be a significant rearmament effort. After the meeting US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said that a deal in which Nato members spend the five percent of GDP on defence that Washington has demanded instead of just two percent was within reach.
The Sudeten German Congress, the traditional annual meeting held to commemorate the expulsion of Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia after WWII, could take place in the Czech Republic for the first time next year. A proposal to this effect, together with an invitation to Brno, was announced at this year's congress in Regensburg. Czech commentators see a significant shift in Czech-German relations.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has visited US President Donald Trump at the White House. There had been much speculation ahead of the meeting, especially after Trump's heated discussions with his Ukrainian and South African counterparts, but the atmosphere during the talks was decidedly amicable and hot topics were avoided.
Estonia and Sweden have announced plans to transfer Swedish prisoners to Tartu Prison, two-thirds of which currently stands empty. Up to 600 low-risk inmates are to be accommodated there, which will secure 400 jobs, Estonian Justice Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta explained. Sweden was actively looking for ways to expand its prison system capacities, Pakosta's Swedish counterpart Gunnar Strömmer told reporters.
With a positive convergence report, the EU Commission gave the green light on Wednesday for Bulgaria to join the Eurozone. There have been repeated protests against the long-standing plan in the country recently, fuelled by President Rumen Radev's call for a referendum on the issue. Overall, the media take a positive view of the move, although there are also those who voice certain doubts.
A Berlin court has ruled that it is against EU law for border police to refuse entry to asylum seekers found on German territory during border controls, and that Germany violated asylum law when it sent back three Somali nationals at its border with Poland. The ruling comes after Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt ordered stepped-up border controls and authorised expulsions in May. Commentators take different views of the judgement.
The Hungarian ruling party Fidesz has postponed the adoption of its transparency law, which had been planned for this week, until after the summer break. The proposed law foresees harsh sanctions against all civil organisations and media outlets that have ever received foreign funding. As a reason for the postponement Fidesz parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis said that there was a consensus on the purpose of the law, but not on the methods. What's going on?
South Korea has a new president after left-wing liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung defeated his conservative rival Kim Moon-soo in a snap election and immediately took office. After several months of political turmoil that culminated in the removal of Lee's predecessor Yoon Suk-yeol from office, European commentators hope for a fresh start.
The four-party coalition government in The Hague has collapsed. Geert Wilders' right-wing populist PVV had presented plans for a significant tightening of the asylum laws last week and made the party's continued participation conditional on their acceptance, but the three other coalition partners rejected the ultimatum. After a crisis meeting on Tuesday, the PVV recalled its ministers and Prime Minister Dick Schoof resigned. Europe's press takes stock and looks ahead.