Eurotopics.net

After the inflation rate in Turkey soared to 36 percent in December 2021 the country experienced a surge in energy prices and rents at the turn of the year: electricity became 50 percent more expensive for households with low consumption, and for consumers of more than 150 kWh per month prices increased by up to 130 percent. The price of natural gas, petrol, social housing and bridge tolls also rose noticeably. Can the Erdoğan system survive all this?

The EU Commission has presented a proposal to the member states for investments in nuclear and gas-fired power plants to be classified as climate-friendly. The draft is considered a compromise solution, with concessions in particular to France on nuclear energy and Germany in the area of natural gas. Europe's press is divided over the initiative.

A Russian court has banned the Moscow-based Human Rights Centre run by NGO Memorial and its umbrella organisation Memorial International. Memorial, which has been conducting research since 1991 on state crimes committed during the Soviet era, was charged with repeatedly violating the country's "foreign agent" rules. Observers see little chance of an appeal being successful.

France has taken over the rotating EU presidency for the next six months. At the same time, President Emmanuel Macron is fighting to be re-elected in the presidential elections in April and trying to kill two birds with one stone by implementing his ambitious reform agenda to modernise the EU, the press notes. Will this help Europe - and how will it go down with voters?