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.
The Greek government has announced plans to tighten the immigration laws. Illegal residence in the country is to be punishable with up to five years in prison and the maximum period of detention pending deportation will increase from 18 to 24 months. In addition, previous provisions which gave irregular immigrants the chance to obtain a residence permit after seven years in the country, is to be abolished.
Following Karol Nawrocki's victory in Poland's presidential runoff, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced a confidence vote for 11 June. Nawrocki, who was backed by the right-wing conservative PiS party, only narrowly defeated Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of the liberal-conservative government camp, securing 50.9 percent against Trzaskowski's 49.1 percent. Commentators stress the European dimension of the result.
In its 'Operation Spider's Web', Ukraine attacked five military airfields in Russia with drones launched from trucks on Sunday. According to its own reports a total of 41 aircraft were destroyed. Video footage has so far shown twelve long-range bombers in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions that had either been completely destroyed or damaged. The media discuss the impact of the attack.
According to European Commission statistics, tobacco and nicotine consumption is the biggest preventable health risk and the leading cause of premature deaths. Member states are being called upon to expand smoke-free zones and ban new products that appeal to young consumers. Europe's media take a closer look at national strategies.
The Romanian Constitutional Court has ordered a relaxation of regulations on financial transparency for public officials. Politicians and civil servants are currently required to publish details of their assets - both their own and those of direct relatives. Under the new ruling the legal provisions must be amended to stipulate that the data must be submitted to the ANI inspection body, but not made public, and information about relatives' assets will no longer required.
Scandal-plagued tech multibillionaire Elon Musk is leaving politics. His role as head of the controversial Department of Government Efficiency, which was tasked with streamlining the state apparatus and cutting government costs, was limited by law to 130 days. Prior to his exit his initially close relationship with Trump had already visibly cooled in recent weeks and his electric car company Tesla had also run into difficulties due to a slump in sales.