Eurotopics.net

The EU Commission has asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to impose fines on Poland. This comes in response to the ECJ's ruling demanding the suspension of the controversial Disciplinary Chamber in Poland's Supreme Court, which can review and dismiss judges and prosecutors. So far, the government has not complied. What can the penal proceedings achieve?

In a trial that was closed to the public, the Belarusian civil rights activist Maria Kolesnikova has been sentenced to eleven years in prison and her defence lawyer Maxim Znak to ten years. The opposition, the EU and Amnesty International have sharply criticised the sentence and called for the release of all political prisoners in Belarus. Commentators are dismayed but voice hope that the Belarusian opposition will win out in the end.

In Romania, the three-party governing coalition consisting of the national liberal PNL, the conservative USR Plus and the ethnic Hungarians' party UDMR has collapsed. The six ministers of USR Plus announced their resignation on Monday after Prime Minister Florin Cîțu sacked his justice minister Stelian Ion last week over disputes about EU funding and judicial reforms. USR Plus is now considering submitting a motion of no-confidence together with the ultra-nationalist AUR party.

Three women and six children arrived in Sweden from IS detention centres in Syria on Monday. Two of the women have now been arrested. There are reports of other women and children of Swedish origin in the camps. Terror experts warn that those brought back could be further radicalised in Sweden. The national press reflects just how thorny this issue is.

French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo died on Monday aged 88. After starting out in theatre, Belmondo rose to fame in the late 1950s through Jean-Luc Godard's Nouvelle Vague films. Later, he turned to comedies and action films that topped box office charts all over Europe. Commentators pay tribute above all to the versatility of the man known and loved as "Bébel".