Eurotopics.net

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe's government resigned on Friday. The background to his departure is the poor performance of the ruling party LREM in the second round of the municipal elections on June 28. In a surprise move President Macron appointed Jean Castex, the conservative mayor of the town of Prades and coordinator of the exit from the coronavirus lockdown, as the new prime minister. Europe's press is abuzz with the news.

The conservative ruling party HDZ has won a clear victory in Croatia's parliamentary elections. It won 68 of the 151 seats, the State Election Commission announced on Sunday night in Zagreb. The opposition Social Democrats (SDP) won 43 seats, with the new nationalist Homeland Movement coming in third with 15 seats. How did Prime Minister Plenković manage this clear victory?

Apart from the rout suffered by President Macron's LREM party, the most striking feature of the French local elections at the end of June was the excellent results of the Greens. A Citizens' convention had previously drawn up a series of climate protection measures. In other European countries, too, environmentally friendly measures such as wider cycle paths have met with widespread approval during the pandemic. Has the time come for green ideas to become tangible policies?

According to official figures, 78 percent of voters cast their ballots in favour of the reforms set out in Russia's controversial constitutional referendum on 1 July, while 21 percent voted against. Observers say the vote was rigged. But did the Kremlin do everything right after all?