Eurotopics.net

Twenty years ago the euro was introduced as bank money and three years later people could pay with it in cash. Europe's debt crisis put the euro to the test. Commentators look to the future of the common currency with mixed feelings.

According to official reports around 230 refugees tried to cross the Channel to get to Britain from France in December. On 25 December alone, 40 migrants in a dinghy were rescued. Home Secretary Sajid Javid assigned more ships to the waters to patrol the border. Concern for human lives does not seem to be a primary concern in the view of commentators.

For the first time Latvia has published documents left in the country by the former Russian secret service, the KGB. Just before Christmas the national archive published documents that had been kept under wraps for over 25 years on a website set up specifically for this purpose. But the move has triggered mixed reactions from the press.

A trade war between China and the US, new tensions between Russia and the West, chaotic Brexit negotiations, an ever more powerful populist front in Europe and protests against the elites: the world has become an increasingly troubled place, commentators conclude at the end of 2018 and note that old certainties are no longer valid.

March 29, 2019, is the deadline for the Brexit - yet there is no sign of a majority for either an orderly Brexit or a second referendum in the British parliament. As a result, both Brussels and London are preparing contingency plans for a no-deal scenario. For commentators the Brexit negotiations have been a fiasco - offering only one small glimmer of hope.