Germany began the announced expanded controls at all its borders on Monday. Controls have been in place at the borders with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland since October 2023, and at the border with Austria since 2015. Commentators warn that the crackdown sends a devastating signal, particularly from a pan-European perspective.
The struggling US semiconductor chip manufacturer Intel has announced it is shelving plans to build factories in Germany and Poland for two years. Two factories were to be built in the city of Magdeburg at a cost of 30 billion euros - one third of which would have been financed with subsidies. The company had also planned to invest 6.5 billion dollars in the Polish city of Wrocław. Commentators take stock.
Portugal is experiencing its worst spate of wildfires in recent years. There have been several deaths, more than ten thousand hectares of pine and eucalyptus forest have been destroyed and thousands of firefighters have been deployed. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has declared a state of emergency for the worst-hit regions. Portuguese media examine causes, omissions and solutions.
The pager network of the Islamic militant organisation Hezbollah has been used as a weapon against it. Nine people were killed and 2,750 injured when a large number of pagers exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon on Tuesday. Hezbollah has accused Israel's intelligence agency Mossad of carrying out the attack. The devices had been purchased only recently because mobile phones were considered too dangerous.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has praised Italy's immigration policy during a visit to Rome. Italy had made remarkable progress in cooperating with countries along migration routes and fighting people trafficking gangs, Starmer said at a press conference with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. His comments draw criticism as well as praise.
For decades, the sale of lottery tickets has been an important source of income for the Swedish Social Democratic Party, but it is now making negative headlines: the telemarketing firm Kombispel apparently coerced senior citizens and people with dementia into buying tickets and also appears to have links to organised crime. The party denies any knowledge of such activities and has announced a "proper clean-up".
Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany's conservative CDU, has been nominated as the chancellor candidate for his party and its Bavarian sister party CSU in the country's next general election in 2025. "Merz is our man," CSU leader Markus Söder said on Tuesday, after his own withdrawal from the race.Commentators take very different views on the new candidate.
Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner responsible for single market and industrial policy, has resigned saying he is not available for re-elected Ursula von der Leyen's new EU commission. French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed his former foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné for France's commission seat in Brussels. Commentaries in Europe's press suggest that Breton's departure was not voluntary.
There has been another apparent attempt to assassinate former president and presidential candidate Donald Trump. Bodyguards noticed a gun muzzle in the bushes near Trump's golf course in Florida and fired immediately. The suspect fled but was arrested shortly afterwards. The press analyses causes and consequences.
The new Dutch government, which for the first time includes ministers from the far-right PVV, presented its government programme on Friday. Two points in particular have sparked debate: the asylum law is to be partially suspended via an emergency regulation which allows more people seeking asylum protection to be turned away. And VAT on cultural and sporting events, as well as books and newspapers, is to rise from 9 to 21 percent.
Following heavy rainfall, several countries in Central and Eastern Europe have been hit by severe flooding. There have been a number of fatalities in Romania, the Czech Republic, Austria and Poland, and more people are missing. Entire villages have had to be evacuated and hundreds of thousands of citizens are without electricity. Europe's press discusses what needs to be done now, what should be postponed, and what progress has been made.
Ukraine is urging the US and UK to allow it to use long-range missiles to attack military targets inside Russia. A meeting last week between US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer failed to produce a change of course on the issue. In the meantime, Vladimir Putin has warned that the use of Western long-range weapons would put his country "at war" with Nato. Europe's press discusses what is at stake.