Eurotopics.net

After 20 days of advance notice, workers in Italy have until Friday to prove that they have either been vaccinated, recovered from coronavirus or that they have tested negative. Observers expect fierce resistance to the new regulations: staff at various ports in the country are threatening blockades if the measure is not withdrawn, and lorry drivers have also threatened walkouts. The national press calls on society to stand firm.

Acting Romanian Finance Minister Dan Vîlceanu has called for a cap on health insurance contributions for the rich on the grounds that everyone receives the same treatment. Romania's health budget is already one of the lowest in the EU, and the country suffers from serious healthcare deficiencies. The media are therefore critical of the idea.

The recent opening of the first branches of the German discount supermarket chain Lidl in Latvia was big news in the national press. However, a debate is raging over whether the new stores can actually bring about the expected reduction in food prices. Commentators also point to undesirable side effects.

Four days after the parliamentary elections it is still not clear who will form the next government in Prague. The Spolu alliance emerged as the strongest force, but President Miloš Zeman, who would normally instruct the leader of the winning party to form a new government, is still in hospital. The narrow defeat of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's Ano party will nonetheless have consequences - also for Europe, according to commentators.

Chinese head of state Xi Jinping on Sunday called on Taiwan to join the People's Republic, a call Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen firmly rejected. Last week China sent fighter jets into the Taiwanese air defence zone several times. Now the Pentagon has admitted that US instructors are secretly training Taiwan's army. Commentators take very different views of the escalation.