Eurotopics.net

Tensions in Northern Ireland have increased as a result of Brexit. The EU Commission temporarily withdrew its inspectors from the ports over security concerns triggered by threats of violence from pro-British unionists who oppose checks of shipments from Britain. What is the best solution for Northern Ireland? commentators ask.

Even after the row between the EU and Astrazeneca has for the most part been settled, criticism of Europe's approach to vaccine procurement - including calls for EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to resign - continues. Commentators examine the underlying reasons for the delays in getting vaccines to EU countries, but there are also those who praise Europe's coordinated action.

Mario Draghi is to lead Italy out of its current crisis. President Sergio Mattarella asked the former president of the European Central Bank to form a new independent technocratic government on Wednesday, after the various political parties were unable to agree on a coalition government following Giuseppe Conte's resignation. Observers see Draghi as the right man to tackle what promises to be a huge challenge.

Just a few months before parliamentary elections are held in October, the Czech Constitutional Court has changed important sections of the electoral law. The previous system put small parties - which in some cases needed twice as many votes as large parties to secure a mandate - at a disadvantage. The court upheld the five-percent hurdle for parliamentary representation, but in future electoral alliances of several parties will be able to join forces to clear it.

A Moscow court has sentenced Alexei Navalny to two years and eight months in a prison colony for violating parole from a 2014 sentence. The European Court of Human Rights had already ruled that Navalny's 2014 conviction was "arbitrary" in 2017. Europe's press sees Russia increasingly isolating itself with this verdict that was clearly politically motivated - and examines what can be done to help Navalny now.