Eurotopics.net

The fourth wave of the coronavirus is causing the number of deaths and severe cases to rise once more in many parts of Europe - in particular among the unvaccinated. The press discusses how restriction-weary citizens and their politicians should react.

A new phase in the negotiations on post-Brexit arrangements for the internal Irish border begins on Tuesday. The UK's Brexit minister David Frost is to present a new proposal. Counterproposals from Brussels are expected on Wednesday. The UK is threatening to trigger Article 16, which would lead to the suspension of parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's Ano party has narrowly lost the Czech parliamentary elections with 27.2 per cent of the vote. The winner was the centre-right Spolu alliance with 27.7 per cent, which now wants to form a governing coalition with the centre-left alliance that came in third, consisting of the Pirate Party and the Mayors and Independents (STAN). However, the mandate to form a new government must be given by President Miloš Zeman, who favours Babiš - and is currently in hospital.

Two journalists who are critical of the regimes in their countries have been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize: Maria Ressa (the Philippines) and Dmitry Muratov (Russia). They stand for all those who stand up for the ideal of freedom of expression in a world in which "democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions," the Nobel Committee said in a statement. Europe's press is delighted, but there are those who would have liked to see a bolder choice.

In the end the pressure was just too much: after initially refusing to resign from office amid ongoing corruption investigations, Sebastian Kurz finally resigned on Saturday. The 35-year-old proposed his party colleague and Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg as his interim successor, but he intends to remain ÖVP leader. Commentators don't believe much will change anyway.