Eurotopics.net

Summer holidays at last! And an opportunity for commentators to look back over a year of teaching in the pandemic - and to consider what lessons can been learned for next year.

England plays against Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley stadium on Sunday. Bookmakers are tipping England as favourite - if only by a hair's breadth, and perhaps because they are playing at home. But journalists from Italy and Hungary are convinced that the squadra azzura will triumph.

EU Commission President von der Leyen plans to launch proceedings against Hungary for violations against the rule of law following the summer break. According to a new report there are more than enough grounds to do so. Hungary, which recently ruffled Brussels' feathers with a new anti-LGBT law, is now facing funding cuts. Commentators shed light on the motives and tactics of both sides.

In Amsterdam, the award-winning investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries was shot and critically injured on Tuesday. De Vries has uncovered numerous crimes and police corruption and had a popular TV show covering high-profile criminal cases. Most recently, he acted as an adviser to the chief witness in a major trial against members of a criminal gang. For commentators, the attempted assassination was not only directed against de Vries personally.

The UK plans to drastically tighten its asylum law. British Home Secretary Priti Patel spoke of the "most radical changes in decades". The plans include life imprisonment for smugglers, the interception of boats on the open sea and reception centres in third countries. Anyone entering the country illegally will have fewer rights from the outset. Not only aid organisations are appalled.

Two weeks after losing a vote of no confidence and one week after resigning, Sweden's Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has been re-elected by a narrow majority. The vote of no confidence was initiated by the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats after the Social Democrats and the Left Party had a falling-out. Observers point to numerous flaws in Sweden's political landscape.