Eurotopics.net

At a special meeting on Tuesday the EU interior ministers failed to reach an agreement on binding conditions for taking in Afghan asylum seekers. Despite the strong desire to reach a consensus, the EU Commission failed due to opposition from Austria, Hungary, Denmark and Slovenia, among others. Instead, Afghanistan's neighbouring countries are now to receive money for taking in refugees. Europe's press is for the most part incensed.

Nato began its mission in Afghanistan 20 years ago. Today, most experts consider the strategy of building a democratic state on the basis of military support to have failed. More than 3,500 troops belonging to Nato and its allies lost their lives in Afghanistan. While some commentators point to lessons to be learned from the fiasco, others say the self-criticism has gone too far.

Two weeks ago the SPD caught up with the CDU/CSU and they were neck and neck in the polls for the first time since 2017. With less than four weeks to go before Germany's parliamentary elections, the downward trend for the CDU/CSU is continuing. While the SPD under chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz is polling at up to 25 percent, the CDU/CSU is trailing behind at around 21 percent, with the Greens at roughly 18 percent. Europe's press speculates on the consequences of an SPD election victory.