Ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, lack of progress in the fight against climate change, uncertainty over the new US presidency: Europe will also face major challenges in 2025. Commentators discusses how the EU should position itself.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico surprised both friends and foes with a visit to Moscow shortly before Christmas. His country is in a predicament because Ukraine is refusing to extend a deal allowing the transit of Russian gas via its territory to Slovakia for 2025. Following his visit to Putin, Fico said he would cut off Slovakian power supplies to Ukraine if it continued to refuse transit. He also offered his country as a venue for peace negotiations with Ukraine to Putin.

In 2024, almost half of the world's population was asked to go to the polls: a real super election year. What lessons can be learned from the results? And what are the chances of a successful democratic new beginning in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime? Commentators take stock.

In its defensive war against the Russian invasion, Ukraine suffered a number of setbacks in 2024. Neither the Kursk offensive that began in August nor the long-awaited permission to use imported weapons to attack military targets in Russia have brought the breakthrough Kyiv had hoped for. The world is now nervously waiting to see whether Trump, as the future US president, can force the parties to negotiate - and what such negotiations might lead to.

Wars and climate change are not the only global problems the approximately 8.14 billion people living on our planet face. As the year draws to a close, the media reflect on the social and health-related well-being of humanity as a whole.

A car attack at the Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has left five people dead and more than 200 injured. The detained suspect is a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia who had been granted asylum in Germany. He was known to the authorities as a fierce critic of Islam and for having made threats of violence, among other things. Europe's press discusses the ramifications of this act of terrorism.

Hungary's decision to grant political asylum to MP Marcin Romanowski, who is wanted by the Polish authorities, has led to a dispute between Warsaw and Budapest. Romanowski was deputy justice minister in the PiS government that was voted out of office in 2023. Poland's public prosecutor general has charged him with corruption and embezzlement of public funds. The polarisation of society is reflected in the press in both countries.

Elon Musk, who has been appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the future Department of Government Efficiency, is already exerting his influence: on his initiative Trump called on Republicans in Congress to vote against a budget compromise with the Democrats. A government shutdown was only narrowly averted. Commentators voice concern - also because Musk is increasingly active in Europe too.

This year the traditional image of Christmas as a peaceful celebration with Christian roots uniting families and society is showing major signs of wear and tear. Commentators take a closer look.

In the Avignon rape trial, the main defendant Dominique Pelicot has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Over a period of 10 years he drugged his former wife Gisèle Pelicot on a regular basis and offered her for rape to strangers on the Internet. Through video recordings 50 of these men were identified and tried, almost all of whom were also given harsh sentences. A glance at Europe's opinion pages shows why the case cannot be forgotten now.

At his annual press conference, question and answer session and public phone-in, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again presented a positive picture of the situation in his country: the economy is doing well and the Russian army is continuing to 'liberate' territory in the Ukraine war, he said. Commentators shake their heads in dismay.

The transit contract that regulates the supply of Russian natural gas through Ukraine expires on 1 January. Russia's state-owned company Gazprom uses this route to supply pro-Russian Transnistria with energy free of charge - but also to deliver gas to a large power plant in Tiraspol which then sells electricity in the Republic of Moldova. Both parts of the country have now declared a state of emergency.