Eurotopics.net

Devastating wildfires have been raging in southern Europe for weeks. In many places, they are still not under control, and the next heatwave is imminent. Siberia has also been hit by the worst wildfires in the country in years: almost four million hectares of forest are on fire. Commentators make it clear that other factors besides global warming are fuelling these disasters - and that individual states can still do much to counter the fires and their effects.

An Iranian man is on trial in Stockholm, accused of taking part in mass executions of political prisoners in his home country in 1988. He was arrested while on holiday in Sweden in 2019. The Swedish judiciary cites the fact that crimes against humanity can be prosecuted worldwide and do not have a statute of limitations. Commentators hope the indictment will set a precedent.

The advance of the Taliban in Afghanistan since the withdrawal of international troops is forcing hundreds of thousands of Afghans to flee their homes. The situation is particularly dangerous for those who worked for the foreign military, and has sparked a debate in Europe about how to deal with them - and about the current asylum and deportation practices of European states.

Major demonstrations against mandatory vaccination in the health sector and the health passport took place again in several French cities over the weekend. According to the Ministry of the Interior, around 240,000 people took to the street. The Constitutional Council had previously approved the new Covid measures. But these demonstrations are about more than the conflict between measures to fight the pandemic and personal freedoms, commentators observe.