Eurotopics.net

In Bucharest, around 300 anti-vaccine activists stormed past police guarding the parliament building and pushed their way into the inner courtyard. The Romanian parliament is currently debating "vaccinated, recovered, or tested" rules in the workplace. The protest was initiated by the ultranationalist AUR party, which is itself represented in the parliament. Columnists urge politicians not to give in to the protesters.

Chile has elected former student leader Gabriel Boric Font as its new president. The 35-year-old ran for a broad left-wing coalition under the name Apruebo Dignidad (I approve Dignity). He now plans to reform the education and health systems, build new housing, promote women and indigenous people, fight drug cartels and raise taxes. Europe's press has high hopes.

Inflation is soaring in Turkey and the population is groaning under the weight of rising prices. The government's announcement of an increase in the minimum wage, pensions and civil servants' salaries has done little to alleviate the pressure. The Central Bank has lowered the key interest rate again in a bid to lure foreign investors, and a rapprochement with Armenia is intended to help the economy, but commentators doubt these measures will be successful.

The Russian government supports a bill introduced to the Duma that explicitly makes torture by police officers, investigators or in the penal system a serious criminal offence. The bill is the Kremlin's response to repeated allegations of torture, for example when videos of cruelty in a prison in Saratov recently became public. Can the law really put an end to these practices?

Centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has announced that he will not support the social and climate protection bill put forward by US President Joe Biden. Given the Democrats' razor-thin majority in the Senate, this could mean the end of the reforms that are the centrepiece of Biden's political agenda. European media insist that at least certain parts of the package must be saved.