Eurotopics.net

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is blocking the EU's oil embargo against Russia. After defying Brussels over the ban he has now ruffled feathers in Zagreb, too. "If they hadn't taken the sea from us we would have a port," he said last week, alluding to the Dalmatian coast in Croatia, which once belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary. He argued that Hungary would need its own port to be able to import non-Russian oil. Commentators are outraged.

The press takes up the long list of reform ideas presented on Europe Day, which also marked the end of the Conference on the Future of Europe in Strasbourg. Is it realistic for members to amend the EU treaties and abandon the unanimity rule? And what to make of Macron's idea to set up a new European community including non-members?

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travelled to Budapest for a flying visit on Monday evening. The EU needs Hungary's vote for the embargo of Russian oil announced last week. Viktor Orbán, however, is still opposing the move. Commentators suspect various motives.

Robert Fico, former Slovak prime minister and current leader of the leftist opposition party Smer, demonstratively left a parliamentary meeting during a live speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, calling Zelensky a 'warmonger' and a 'liar'. Slovakian commentators are outraged.

The governments in Helsinki and Stockholm will likely decide this week whether to join Nato. Particularly in Finland, which borders directly on Russia, fears of intimidation actions by Moscow are running high. Commentators discuss what to expect and how to react.