In Bulgaria, the conservative Gerb party led by former prime minister Boyko Borisov has agreed on a governing coalition with the socialist BSP, the right-wing populist ITN and the party of the Turkish minority DPS. Gerb MP Rossen Zhelyazkov is to become prime minister. Will this put an end to the protracted political crisis that has led to seven successive elections?
After a controversial election which the opposition claims was rigged, Portugal, the former colonial power, sent its foreign minister rather than its president to the swearing-in ceremony of the new president of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo. Protests against Chapo's election have been ongoing for months and more than 300 people have died in clashes with security forces, according to reports by civil society organisations.
The eight Nato states bordering the Baltic Sea have agreed on a joint strategy to counter acts of sabotage at a summit in Helsinki. As part of their Operation Baltic Sentry, warships and drones will be deployed to monitor shipping traffic. There have been several incidents of damage to Baltic pipelines and data and power cables in recent months. Ships belonging to Russia's shadow fleet are the prime suspects.
There are growing signs that an agreement in the Gaza war is imminent. A draft agreement provides for the exchange of 33 Israeli hostages for around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and a 42-day ceasefire, with Israel's army withdrawing from parts of the Gaza Strip. During this time further releases and a long-term ceasefire would be negotiated.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced an action plan to tackle the country's escalating housing shortage. Empty flats are to be converted into affordable rental flats with the help of subsidies and tax breaks and 3,300 public flats are to be built as an initial measure. In addition, there will be new restrictions on holiday flats and property ownership by non-EU citizens.
Incumbent Zoran Milanović has won a second term as Croatia's president in the runoff vote on Sunday. He secured more than 74 percent of the vote, easily beating former minister Dragan Primorac, who was supported by the conservative ruling party HDZ. Milanović comes from the Social Democratic Party. He was prime minister from 2011 to 2016 and has held the office of head of state since 2020.
US President-elect Donald Trump plans to meet with President Vladimir Putin soon to discuss Russia's war against Ukraine. Talking from his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump said he knew that Putin wanted a meeting and that a conversation was being prepared for the near future, stressing: "We have to end this war." Commentators are divided.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has announced last week that content on Facebook, Instagram and Threads will no longer be reviewed by third-party fact-checking teams. Instead, as with Elon Musk's X platform, the company will rely on user comments as a corrective. The change will initially only apply for the US. Europe's press sees it as symptomatic of a global trend and discusses appropriate responses.
Russia's war against Ukraine, China's threatening stance in the South China Sea and vis-à-vis Taiwan, and now Donald Trump's statements regarding Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada have sparked fears that the world could be on the verge of a new battle for spheres of influence reminiscent of 19th century expansionism and colonialism. Europe's press discusses the role Europe should play in such a scenario.
At its party conference in Riesa in the German state of Saxony, the Alternative for Germany party (AfD), parts of which are categorised as far right, has chosen Alice Weidel as its chancellor candidate. In her closing speech Weidel called for borders to be closed, gender studies to be abolished and wind turbines to be pulled down. The controversial term "remigration" was included in the party's election programme. Commentators see a radicalisation.
On 9 January Karol Nawrocki, the right-wing conservative PiS candidate in the Polish presidential elections slated for May, stated that he did not envision Ukraine in either the EU or Nato until "important civilisational issues" for Poland were resolved. The remark refers to the Volhynia massacres of 1943 in which tens of thousands of Polish civilians were massacred by members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Until now the PiS had advocated speedy accession for Ukraine.
The devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area are still only partially under control: at least 24 people have died, hundreds of thousands have been evacuated and thousands of homes and buildings have been burned to the ground. The LA Fire Department has described it as "one of the most destructive natural disasters" in the history of the Californian metropolis. Commentators see different causes, dangerous narratives and numerous necessary consequences.