After his election as US president, Donald Trump's first picks for key foreign policy positions have become known. Military veteran and Fox News presenter Pete Hegseth is to head the US Department of Defence, while Marco Rubio is under discussion as the next Secretary of State and Mike Waltz as the new National Security Adviser. Both are considered hardliners vis-à-vis China and have criticised the current policy on Ukraine. Europe's press weighs in.
Another major row has broken out in Vilnius in the process of forming a new government: contrary to previous statements, the Social Democrats have announced that they will form a coalition with the centre-left party Vardan Lietuvos and the populist party Nemuno Aušra (NA). NA's leader, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, was forced to give up his seat in the Seimas before the elections after making antisemitic statements. President Gitanas Nausėda has said he will reject any ministers put forward by NA.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has resigned from his post after coming under fire for his handling of an abuse scandal in the Anglican Church. As head of the Church of England, he was criticised for not making public decades of abuse against over 100 boys and young men by a Church employee who died in 2018.
The Italian judiciary has once again halted the plans of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to have refugees' asylum applications processed outside the EU. A court in Rome ruled that the detention of seven migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh in a reception centre in Albania was unlawful. The way in which countries of origin are designated as safe had previously been criticised by the courts. The press takes a closer look.
After the collapse of the traffic light coalition between the SPD, FDP and Greens, Germany seems headed for new elections on 23 February, according to the latest plan. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had initially hoped to get certain major decisions through parliament before holding a vote of confidence in the Bundestag. Europe's press observes the situation in Berlin with concern, but also sees opportunities.
On the evening of 9 November 1989, the authorities of the communist German Democratic Republic opened the border crossing points to West Germany and West Berlin. Less than a year later, Germany was unified and the East-West conflict seemed to be a thing of the past. The historic date prompts Europe's press to take a critical look at old and new dividing lines.
Almost two weeks after flash floods that claimed more than 200 lives, over one hundred thousand people took to the streets in Valencia and other Spanish cities on Saturday calling on regional president Carlos Mazón to resign over his late and inadequate response to the disaster. Commentators analyse the demands.
During the election campaign, Donald Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine in just 24 hours if elected president, but gave no indication of how he intended to keep this promise. Europe's media examine the next US president's options for bringing about a peace deal and what consequences it could have.
