Eurotopics.net

For months Hungary has been delaying its ratification of Sweden and Finland's bid to join Nato. A delegation led by Csaba Hende, Hungary's deputy parliamentary speaker, visited the two countries this week to discuss the issue. Commentators review the reasons for Orbán's delaying tactics and whether this strategy could succeed.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is travelling to Paris on Friday for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. This marks the first summit meeting in five years after relations between London and Paris cooled significantly over Brexit. This time round the focus will be on finding a coordinated response to migration. Commentators hope relations between the two countries will enter a new phase.

Petr Pavel was sworn in as Czech president in Prague on Thursday. Unlike his predecessors, the 61-year-old former Nato general is considered pro-Western and pro-European. Commentators anticipate a return to the values cherished by Václav Havel which were put on the backburner over the past two decades.

The British government has presented a plan for drastic changes to UK asylum laws aimed at deterring people from crossing the English Channel in small boats to enter the country. Under the planned legislation, migrants arriving via this route would be deported to their country of origin or a third country without judicial review. Because the law contradicts the international right to asylum, commentators are sceptical about whether the plan is at all realistic.

The investigation into who carried out the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines continues. Journalistic research has now revealed that the findings of intelligence services point to Ukraine. According to these investigations, a pro-Ukrainian group may have carried out the attack. For Europe's press, the mystery is far from being solved.