Eurotopics.net

Spain's Princess Leonor, heir presumptive to the Spanish throne, has sworn an oath to the constitution at a formal ceremony on her 18th birthday. For the first time the ceremony was held in all the country's languages, but deputies from the regions striving for independence and from the left-wing ruling coalition party Sumar nonetheless stayed away in protest. Commentators are at odds over whether the country's next queen will be able to breathe new life into the Spanish monarchy.

Marina Machete has become the first trans woman to win the Miss Portugal beauty pageant. Shortly afterwards, the well-known author Miguel Sousa Tavares lashed out at Machete on the evening news of a private TV channel, saying among other things that she was not a real woman but a "series of plastic surgeries" whom he would never marry. Portuguese media voice dismay.

Israel has rejected calls by the UN and the EU for an immediate ceasefire and is stepping up its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. "Israel did not start this war. ... Calls for a ceasefire are a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. Europe's media look to the future and ask what options there are for bringing peace to the region.

Several people have been injured in antisemitic riots in Makhachkala, capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan. An angry crowd stormed the airport there on Sunday evening after a plane from Tel Aviv landed. Commentators speculate on the reasons for the heated atmosphere in the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus republic.