European Union

Margaritis Schinas, the former EU Commission chief spokesperson, will become the new European commissioner for "Protecting our Way of European Life". Migration will be among the issues he will have to handle.

Hungary, whose government has been taken to court over its domestic judicial measures in recent years by the commission, will get the enlargement portfolio in the new EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen. Laszlo Trocsanyi is nominated for the position. As Hungary's former justice minister, his mandate oversaw controversial legal measures challenged by the previous commission for breaking EU rules.

Current EU commission vice-president Frans Timmermans will be in charge of the "European Green Deal" in the new commission unveiled by the president-elect Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday. The Dutch politician will also manage climate action policy and an ecological economic transition. "At the heart of it is our commitment to becoming the world's first climate-neutral continent," von der Leyen said.

Current EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova and Belgian defence and foreign minister Didier Reynders will be in charge of policing the rule of law in Europe, EU commission president-elect Ursula con der Leyen said Tuesday as she unveiled her team. Jourova, from the ruling Czech ANO party which has been mired in corruption accusations, was nominated to be commissioner for "values and democracy", while Reynders will be justice commissioner.

Margrethe Vestager, the current commissioner for competition, dubbed the "tax lady" by US president Donald Trump for enforcing EU tax and competition rules on US tech giants, will hold onto the portfolio under the new commission, EU commission president-elect Ursula von der Leyen announced Tuesday. Vestager will also be executive vice-president in the new commission in charge of Europe's digital transformation.

Putin's party United Russia defended its majority in most Russian regions in Sunday's elections. Only in Moscow, where many votes went to independent, communist and liberal contenders, did pro-Kremlin candidates suffer major setbacks. The press zeros in on opposition figure Alexei Navalny's election strategy.

Before being suspended last night by Prime Minister Boris Johnson the British parliament once again rejected his motion for a general election, meaning that there won't be a vote until the end of October at the earliest. Johnson remains adamant that the UK will leave the EU on 31 October but the House of Commons also passed a law banning a no-deal Brexit. Observers draw very different conclusions about the showdown taking place in the UK.

Four and a half months after its parliamentary elections Spain still has no government. Pedro Sánchez, the leader of the Socialists (PSOE) who won the election, needs the votes of the alternative left-wing party Podemos to be elected as prime minister. But Podemos is demanding ministerial posts in return for its support, while Sánchez refuses to form a coalition with the party. With the prospect of new elections looming once more, commentators discuss why Sánchez doesn't want the alliance.

The ZDF docudrama "Hours of Decision: Angela Merkel and the Refugees" has met with mixed reactions both in Germany and in Hungary. The film deals with the run-up to Angela Merkel's decision on 4 September 2015 to allow the refugees who had made it into Hungary to enter Germany.