Eurotopics.net

What experts predicted since the start of the pandemic is now accepted among the general population: SARS-Cov-2 is here to stay. In view of stagnating vaccination rates and highly contagious variants like Delta, commentators are now wondering how much longer it will be before the virus is no longer a major threat.

The Taliban's deadline for the Western forces' evacuation operations expired a week ago. Now the 27 EU foreign ministers have agreed on several "benchmarks" which the government in Kabul should fulfil if it wants to receive money from Europe. While some commentators voice astonishment others discuss what exactly the terms should be.

Saturday will mark the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, when terrorists hijacked planes and crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon killing 2,996 people (including the 19 attackers) and injuring more than 6,000. The US reacted with stricter surveillance laws and its War on Terror, which after the first invocation of the Nato defence clause included the mission in Afghanistan and the Iraq war which began in 2003.

The French president has pledged billions in funds to help the city of Marseille get back on its feet in the face of bloody gang wars, crumbling infrastructure and social problems. The Marseille Plan, which Macron presented on Thursday during a three-day visit, includes four billion euros in investment commitments for schools, housing and security in the poverty-stricken high-rise neighbourhoods. Commentators think little of the initiative.

He was a composer, conductor, songwriter, politician and activist. He achieved world fame with the film music for Zorba the Greek and was revered as a folk hero in his homeland. Mikis Theodorakis died last Thursday in Athens aged 96. The government ordered three days of national mourning, and his coffin has been laid out in Athens Cathedral so people can pay their last respects.

The inauguration of the new Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro this weekend was marked by fierce clashes between police and protesters. Citizens blocked access to the country's historical capital Cetinje, where the ceremony took place, in protest against what they consider excessive Serbian influence. Commentators examine the events against the backdrop of close but complicated Serbian-Montenegran ties.