The Council of Europe's Venice Commission has indirectly issued a warning to Romania following the annulment of its 2024 presidential election. Although the Commission says it does not consider itself responsible for examining this specific case, it recommends that elections only be annulled on the basis of clear, transparent and publicly accessible evidence, and that affected parties be given the opportunity to present their own points of view.
The sale of the 100-hectare former Rákosrendező freight yard by the Hungarian state to the Emirati Eagle Hills Group has led to a conflict between the opposition-led capital and the national government. Also because a company belonging to the municipal authorities has a purchase option on the site - and the city council now wants to exercise it. The national press is also at odds over the megaproject.
Under pressure after months of demonstrations, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević - considered a close confidant of strongman President Aleksandar Vučić - resigned on Tuesday. Europe's press looks back at the protests that started last November after a newly renovated concrete canopy collapsed at Novi Sad railway station, killing 15 people.
An AI model launched by Chinese tech company DeepSeek has sent the share prices of several US tech companies into a downward spiral. The new R1 chatbot was reportedly developed at a far lower cost and requires significantly less computing power than its competitors. Europe's press asks where our continent stands in this context.
Italian prosecutors are investigating Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other members of her cabinet in connection with the release and repatriation of a Libyan police official who is wanted for war crimes by the international criminal court (ICC). Meloni explained in a video message that she is suspected of aiding and abetting a crime, among other things, but she is not obliged to resign and will "not be blackmailed or intimidated".
Yesterday marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. Only gradually did the world realise the true extent of the Nazis' crimes. Auschwitz, where the Nazis murdered at least 1.1 million people, has come to epitomise the Holocaust. Poland marked the anniversary with a commemorative ceremony attended by international high-ranking guests and Auschwitz survivors. Europe's press reflects.
According to official sources in Minsk, Alexander Lukashenka has been re-elected president of Belarus for the seventh time in a row with 87 percent of the vote and an 86-percent turnout. The EU has criticised the election process, in which no real opposition was allowed, as a "sham election that was neither free nor fair". How should the West behave towards the Moscow-oriented autocracy on its doorstep?
Several priceless Romanian gold artefacts were stolen from the Drents Museum in Assen in the Netherlands late on Friday night. Among the looted exhibits on loan for a special exhibition about the ancient kingdom of Dacia were the Helmet of Coțofenești, a ceremonial golden headdress dating back 2,500 years, as well as three gold bracelets. For commentators, the theft is about far more than the loss of gold and silver artefacts.
Donald Trump has suggested resettling most of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip in Jordan and Egypt, where he said they could "live in peace for a change". Both countries immediately rejected the idea, while far-right circles in Israel have endorsed it. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned against the repercussions of a mass displacement of the ruined coastal strip's inhabitants.
Tens of thousands across Greece took to the streets to demand justice for the victims of the Tempi train crash on Sunday. A team of experts commissioned by the bereaved has uncovered new evidence that almost half of the 57 people who died in the crash were not killed by the collision but by an explosion caused by flammable liquids which one of the two trains was transporting. The media look at why criticism of the way the accident has been handled continues?
78 people died early last week in a fire at a ski resort hotel in the Bolu moutains in Turkey. The hotel's owner and manager as well as several more people have been arrested. The tourism minister of the ruling AKP party and the opposition CHP mayor blame each other for lacking safety checks; apparently there were blatant violations of the fire safety regulations.