Eurotopics.net

After US President Donald Trump reiterated his threats to take over Greenland, several European leaders have voiced opposition to the move. "It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland," reads a joint statement by Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, the UK and Denmark. Commentators discuss how Europe can respond.

The Slovakian parliament passed a new law in December that makes criticism of the Beneš decrees a criminal offence. In the post-war period, these decrees led to the expatriation and expropriation of the German and Hungarian minorities in Czechoslovakia. In Hungary, there have been protests against the law, but only by the opposition, while Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has remained silent on the issue.

Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States, his former deputy Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as interim president in the parliament in Caracas. Rodríguez condemned the "kidnapping" of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, only to declare her willingness to cooperate with Washington shortly afterwards.

An arson attack on Saturday has left tens of thousands of households in south-west Berlin without electricity, heat or hot meals. A far-left activist group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) has claimed responsibility, saying its aim was 'to cut off the power feeding the powerful'. The power supply is expected to be restored gradually today. What does the attack say about the state of the country?

As the year 2025 draws to an end, commentators in Europe's press take stock and conclude that just twelve months into his second presidency Donald Trump has not only upended the situation in the US, but in international politics, too. However, some take hope from the fact that he is not as firmly in the saddle as he pretends to be.