Eurotopics.net

Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska is under fire over a new investigation into the events at the Moroccan-Spanish border crossing in Melilla on 24 June. At least 23 people died and dozens went missing when migrants attempted to storm the border fence and cross into the Spanish exclave. The Minister of the Interior insisted at the time that the Spanish police had acted according to the law.

At the fifth meeting of the Nato foreign ministers to be held this year, Russia's war against Ukraine is once again the focus of attention. This time the diplomats are focusing on how to supply Ukraine's suffering population with electricity and water this winter. Europe's press voices concern about the unity of the alliance.

According to the government of Qatar, Germany has signed a gas export deal with the state-owned enterprise Qatar Energy. Under the agreement, up to two million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year will be supplied supplied to Germany for 15 years as of 2026. Commentators criticise that the deal runs counter to the current debates about climate protection and holding the World Cup in Qatar.

Since 2019 there have been no long-distance rail connections between Spain and Portugal. The infrastructure and trains on the Portuguese side are in a state of total disrepair. Now Portugal's Prime Minister António Costa has presented the National Railway Plan, an extensive investment programme for rail transport. Commentators criticise wrong priorities and a lack of cooperation between Madrid and Lisbon and point to similar woes in France.

The six-party opposition alliance led by the Kemalist CHP presented its draft for a new Turkish constitution on Monday. The key aim of the proposed reform is a return to parliamentarianism and the renunciation of the presidential system which has been in force since 2018 and concentrates power in the hands of the incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Opposition media take stock.