Eurotopics.net

National conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda won the first round of the presidential election in Poland on Sunday. But with just under 42 percent of the vote he fell short of an absolute majority. Now he must face liberal rival Rafał Trzaskowski in a runoff vote on July 12. Commentators take stock.

The Greens are the big winners of the second round of local elections in France, taking key cities such as Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Strasbourg. Until now Grenoble was the only large French city to have a Green mayor. Emmanuel Macron's LREM party cut a poor figure in the elections. Commentators believe the Covid-19 pandemic has also played an important role in the outcome.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis and its former subsidiary Alcon have agreed to pay 345 million euros to US justice authorities to end a probe into allegations that they paid state-run hospital and clinic employees in Greece bribes between 2012 and 2015. The allegations have not been cleared up one way or another. Greek media examine the political repercussions of the scandal.

Germany is due to take over the EU Council presidency on 1 July. Commentators voice hopes that Angela Merkel will be able to restore stability and balance in the midst of the coronavirus crisis but also express concern about future relations with the US.

After several months of negotiations Lufthansa shareholders approved a government rescue package of nine billion euros on Thursday. Like almost all other airlines, the German company has been hard hit by coronavirus crisis. For commentators, the decision is reason enough to reconsider not just the future of former state-owned airlines in their countries, but that of the sector in general.