Eurotopics.net

The EU Commission has presented a new strategy and legislative proposal for the European defence industry. The plans foresee 1.5 billion euros in investments in the defence sector and require that by the end of the decade 50 percent of EU spending on weapons and ammunition is to go to manufacturers within Europe, compared to the current 20 percent. More joint EU purchases are also planned.

Berlin has been hit by a wiretapping scandal which has sparked major controversy over the last few days: Russian media published a 38-minute recording of a briefing on Friday in which senior Bundeswehr officers discussed the possibility of German Taurus cruise missiles being used by Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly rejected the idea of Taurus deliveries to the country.

In recent years it was mainly Viktor Orbán who, with his pro-Russian stance which contradicted that of Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, caused trouble within the Visegrád group. Now he has found an ally in Slovakian Premier Robert Fico. Meanwhile, Poland and the Czech Republic have grown closer together since Donald Tusk's election victory.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, at least 100 Palestinians were killed as they tried to access food from aid trucks in the north of the Gaza Strip. The true circumstances of the incident remain unclear: Israel has confirmed the tragedy, but rejects accusations that Israeli forces fired into the crowd. Commentators see the incident as symbolic of the current situation in Gaza.

In his State of the Nation address on Thursday, Putin sent warnings of a nuclear war to the West and made promises to the Russian people. Two weeks before the Russian presidential election, he held out the prospect of a support programme for families, investments in the healthcare sector and an increase in the minimum wage. But he failed to impress commentators with his promises.