Eurotopics.net

The Conservative British MP David Amess was stabbed to death on Friday while holding a meeting with constituents in Leigh-on-Sea. The police suspect the crime was connected to radical Islamism and the attack has been classified as an act of terrorism. The UK and European press discuss how elected representatives can be better protected against such attacks and at the same time remain accessible to citizens.

Emmanuel Macron on Sunday became the first French president to attend a memorial service for the victims of the Paris massacre of 1961. He described the acts of 17 October 1961 in which hundreds of people of Algerian origin holding a peaceful pro-independence demonstration were killed by police near Paris as "unforgivable for the Republic". Can this gesture promote reconciliation?

Many citizens - 60,000 according to the police, 200,000 according to the organisers - took part in a huge demonstration against fascism in Rome on Saturday. The protests were called by the trade unions after right-wing extremists hijacked a demonstration against Italy's 3G rules (vaccinated, recovered or tested) a week earlier to attack the headquarters of the CGIL trade union. The people of Italy value their democracy, commentators conclude.

Brussels has offered to ease the customs controls that have been in place at the Irish Sea border since Brexit, saying it would waive those on goods explicitly destined for Northern Ireland, among other things. Britain's Brexit Minister David Frost had called for renegotiation of the Northern Ireland Protocol and threatened to suspend it entirely. Commentators advise Brussels to adopt a clear stance.

The man suspected of killing five people with a bow and arrow in Kongsberg, Norway, has confessed to the crime. Police said they had long been keeping an eye on him over fears that he might become radicalised after converting to Islam. Europe's press focuses on how democracies can best protect themselves against such attacks.