Eurotopics.net

The triumph of the right-wing populists that many had feared in the European elections did not come materialise. While they did gain some ground, populists are still far from forming the strongest group in the EU Parliament. Commentators nevertheless see their influence on political culture growing - above and beyond concrete election results.

A row has broken out in Valea Uzului, Transylvania, over a military cemetery that commemorates Hungarian soldiers who fell in the First World War. In April a neighbouring Romanian-speaking community set up a memorial site with 50 cement crosses commemorating Romanian soldiers there. Unknown persons emptied bags of refuse onto the site and last week fighting broke out between Hungarians and Romanians outside the cemetery.

A dispute over an uninhabited granite islet in the northeast Atlantic has flared up once more. Rockall lies in an oil-rich area around 400 kilometres northwest of Ireland and Scotland. On the weekend Scotland threatened to take action and deploy patrol boats against Irish fishermen who it claims are fishing in the area illegally. Ireland's press fears that the dispute could be the first of many.

Denmark is poised for a change of government after the Social Democrats led by Mette Frederiksen emerged as the strongest party in the general election. The Danish People's Party, by contrast, saw its share of the vote halved. The outcome of the election is widely attributed to Frederiksen having copied the right-wing populists' hardline stance on immigration. Europe's commentators discuss the change of strategy.

In a bid to become the world's third-largest carmaker Fiat Chrysler proposed a merger to French manufacturer Renault, but has now withdrawn the offer after the French government - which has shares in Renault - demanded job guarantees. The conflicting interests of the state and the market are responsible for the failed merger, commentators conclude.