Eurotopics.net

Following allegations of corruption against the Ministry of Defence, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed a new defence minister. Olexiy Reznikov submitted his letter of resignation on Monday and will be replaced by Rustem Umerov, who was involved in the negotiations on the Black Sea Grain Initiative, among other things. Europe's press discusses the reasons for the move.

Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on resuming the deal brokered by Turkey and the UN on exports of Ukrainian grain have failed. The West must first lift its sanctions on trade in Russian agricultural products, Putin said after the meeting in Sochi. Commentators voice disappointment.

After a vote in April, Paris has become the first European capital to banish rental electric scooters from its streets. The ban came into effect on September 1 in response to numerous accidents and dangerous situations caused by the city's 15,000 e-scooters, which will now be sent to other cities in France, Europe and Israel. Commentators are glad to see them go.

Portugal's armed forces are suffering from serious personnel shortages. A growing number of military staff and soldiers are quitting due to poor working conditions. The ruling Socialist Party PS has now proposed opening up the army to foreign citizens to combat the shortage of new recruits. Commentators are divided over whether this is a good idea.

Czech opposition leader and former prime minister Andrej Babiš is withdrawing from the media industry. His Agrofert holding company will sell the Mafra media group, which publishes the newspapers Mladá fronta Dnes and Lidové noviny, to the investment group Kaprain, owned by multimillionaire Karel Pražák. With this move Babiš is also reacting to a recent tightening of the law against politicians having conflicts of interest. Commentators look behind the scenes.