Eurotopics.net

Seventy-five years ago, on 20 November 1945, the trial of 24 high-ranking representatives of the National Socialist regime began. These included Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess and aviation minister Hermann Göring. The Nuremberg Trials were the first international criminal proceedings in history and are considered to be the forerunner of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. What remains of their spirit?

Over the past few days Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly professed his commitment to Europe, at the G20 summit and on other occasions. Turkey's future is in Europe, the Turkish president said, although in recent weeks he had repeatedly railed against European values and politicians. Commentators seek explanations for this change of tone.

Angela Merkel has led the German government for 15 years. She has survived numerous crises and sat through countless rounds of negotiations with innumerable European colleagues. Europe's press hails the 66-year-old as an anchor of stability for the EU who will be difficult to replace.

Paris and Berlin are at odds over Europe's future security policy. Both expect that even under Joe Biden the US will be less active internationally than in the past. But while French President Emmanuel Macron wants to invest in a sovereign Europe that can defend itself without the help of Nato and the United States, Germany's Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said it would be an illusion to believe the continent could go it alone in security policy.

Reports from pharmaceutical companies about the effectiveness of their Covid vaccines are fuelling hopes that the pandemic could end in the near future. But many questions remain unanswered, especially those dealing with how vaccines can be distributed fairly around the world. The media are at odds over whether the market should call the shots, or whether world health is a matter that transcends the economic success of manufacturers.