Eurotopics.net

Athens placed its armed forces on alert on Tuesday after Ankara announced plans to begin exploratory drilling for natural gas off the Greek island of Kastellorizo - in an area belonging to Greece's Exclusive Economic Zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. There are also reports of Turkish fighter jets flying over Kastellorizo. Why does Turkey keep provoking Greece?

A new nuclear power plant is scheduled to go into operation in August in Belarus's Ostrovets district, just 45 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. Lithuania has criticised the safety standards at the plant, but has so far been unable to persuade its neighbours Latvia and Estonia to leave the post-Soviet Brell power grid and dispense with the cheap energy from Belarus. Commentators take different views on how urgent the matter is.

The EU member states reached a historic agreement for the biggest budget and financial aid package in the bloc's history early on Tuesday morning. Instead of the initially proposed 500 billion, 390 billion euros will be distributed in the form of direct corona grants, and another 360 billion as loans. A watered-down version of the wording linking payments to observance of rule-of-law criteria was also included. Was the struggle for a deal worthwhile?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Mikhail Degtyarev, a member of the Duma, as the new governor of the Khabarovsk region in the far east of Russia following the arrest of the former governor Sergei Furgal. Like Furgal, Degtyarev is a member of the populist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). There have been mass protests in Khabarovsk since Furgal's imprisonment. The press doubts that the newcomer will appease the protesters.

Many countries, including those outside Europe, are currently seeking strategies for stopping the spread of coronavirus without having to resort to drastic measures again. After the number of cases had stabilised in many places, a growing number of localised outbreaks are now occurring. Commentators discuss what states and citizens can do to prevent a potential second wave.