Eurotopics.net

Robert Mugabe has passed away in Singapore at the age of 95. In the 1960s he was active in the guerilla war for independence from British colonial rule. From 1987 on his role as Zimbabwean president increasingly took the form of dictatorship, until he was toppled in a coup d'état two years ago. Commentators across Europe look back on his ambivalent biography.

British Prime Minister Johnson is refusing to budge. Today, Monday, he wants to have the House of Commons vote once more on holding a snap election. Speculation is also rife about whether he will flout a bill banning a no-deal Brexit passed by Parliament last week. When will the Brexit torment end? some commentators sigh.

Italy's new government made up of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party was sworn in on Thursday. The independent lawyer Luciana Lamorgese will take over from Lega leader Salvini as minister of the interior. Luigi Di Maio, leader of the Movimento Cinque Stelle, will become foreign minister. The new government is good news for Europe but a shaky construction, commentators observe.

British Prime Minister Johnson has suffered two defeats in the House of Commons this week: MPs said no to a no-deal Brexit and opposed his plans for a snap election. Johnson has also lost his majority in parliament. But how stable is the alliance that opposes him?

Greek authorities have registered a substantial increase in the number of refugees arriving in the islands of the Aegean Sea over the last few weeks. Turkey's President Erdoğan has now threatened to let more people flee across the Mediterranean into Europe unless the EU supports his plan to set up a "safe zone" in the north-west of Syria. Can the refugee deal with Ankara still be saved?