Eurotopics.net

The number of coronavirus infections is rising in many places in Europe. The French and Belgian governments have introduced strict laws enforcing the wearing of masks to counter this trend. In Austria such a law was introduced and then abolished, only to be introduced again soon afterwards. Many commentators also take the view that wearing masks should be made compulsory to avert a second wave and a new lockdown.

After the murder of a 27-year-old student by her ex-boyfriend the campaign group We Will Stop Femicide has called for nationwide protests in Turkey. According to the organisation 474 women were murdered in Turkey in 2019, but the real figure is likely to be far higher. Turkish commentators try to explain the roots of the violence.

The EU member states did not adopt a proposed passage making the payment of EU funds conditional on respect for the rule of law at their recovery summit. Hungary in particular fiercely opposed the text. Now the Council of Ministers is to vote on similar a rule, but here too, it is unclear whether it will obtain the necessary majority to pass. Many commentators conclude that not enough is being done to fight corruption and authoritarianism.

Austria's Constitutional Court has ruled that a substantial part of the legislation passed by the government in Vienna in the first phase of the coronavirus pandemic was unconstitutional, including a ban on entering public spaces and a regulation stipulating that only shops with a surface area of less than 400 square metres were allowed to remain open. The country's press complains that Vienna has shown blatant disregard for the country's laws.

Yuri Dmitriev, head of the human rights NGO Memorial in Karelia, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison. In a trial that has dragged on since 2016 he was charged with sexually abusing his foster daughter. Dmitriev has brought mass murders committed in Karelia during the Stalin era to the public's attention. The trial is clearly politically motivated, observers conclude.