Eurotopics.net

The question of how to deal with Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine was at the heart of the Nato summit that ended on Thursday. Kyiv will receive 40 billion euros in military aid over the next year, including F-16 fighter jets and five air defence systems. Russia was described as the "greatest and most immediate threat", and China as its "decisive accomplice". While Ukraine did not receive a formal invitation to join, its path into Nato is "irreversible", the alliance has stressed. The reactions in the press are mixed.

After being kicked out of the ID group, the MEPs of the German AfD party were left without a group in the EU Parliament. And in the new parliament none of the major right-wing groups wanted to work with them either. Now 14 AfD members - without Maximilian Krah - have reportedly joined forces with eleven other MEPs from seven countries to form a new group called Europe of Sovereign Nations.

After Joe Biden's weak performance in the televised debate with Donald Trump and gaffes at the Nato summit, calls for him to withdraw from the US presidential race are growing louder. Current polls put the incumbent behind Trump. Despite Biden's repeated avowals that he won't step aside, the debate in Europe's press continues.

The victory of the leftist Nouveau Front Populaire alliance in the second round of the French snap election has left the country facing a challenging coalition-building phase. The NFP (180 seats) only narrowly beat the Macron camp Ensemble (163 seats) and the right-wing populist RN (143), with 289 seats needed to secure an absolute majority. For this as well as other reasons the commentaries reflect major doubts as well as euphoria.