Eurotopics.net

The EU is set to ease its labelling requirements for genetically modified foods. Negotiators from the European Parliament and member states have agreed that products where existing genes have been "modified" but no foreign genes have been inserted will no longer require mandatory labelling. What are the ramifications?

The path is now clear for Andrej Babiš to become the Czech Republic's new head of government. President Petr Pavel has agreed to appoint him prime minister on Tuesday, after the multi-billionaire announced that he is transferring his company Agrofert to an independent trust to resolve the existing conflict of interest. Pavel had made this a precondition for the appointment. The Czech press takes stock.

Federica Mogherini, former EU foreign affairs representative and current head of the College of Europe in Bruges, has been been formally accused of corruption. The European Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating Mogherini, her deputy and EU official Stefano Sannino over alleged secret agreements relating to an EU-funded degree programme at the elite university. Commentators inquire into the causes and consequences.

US emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spent five hours on Monday trying to negotiate a peace deal with Vladimir Putin on Ukraine. According to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, agreement was reached only 'on a few points', and Washington and Moscow 'still have a lot of work to do'. Both sides agreed to keep quiet about the results of the negotiations. Europe's media see this as treading water.

The presidents of the four Visegrad states – Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland – met in Esztergom, Hungary, on Wednesday. But Poland's right-wing conservative head of state Karol Nawrocki cancelled a planned meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after Orbán visited Putin in Moscow last week.