Eurotopics.net

Malta, Italy and Spain have refused to allow two vessels carrying 49 refugees whom they rescued from the Mediterranean in December to dock in their ports. The pope has urged the European states to take them in. Commentators are dismayed that his appeal is going unheeded.

France's government wants to pass tougher demonstration laws to crack down on violence at protests. The new legislation could be modelled on the laws dealing with football hooligans. There were once again violent incidents during the yellow vest protests on Saturday. Commentators are unconvinced that the violence will end anytime soon.

After announcing in mid-December that he would withdraw US troops from Syria, Trump has now partially back-pedalled. The plan has met with massive opposition from his government and prompted Defense Secretary James Mattis to tender his resignation. Now Trump apparently wants to delay the withdrawal and reach an agreement with other countries. The president's zigzag course has commentators shaking their heads.

Robert Habeck, leader of The Greens in Germany, has deleted his Facebook and Twitter accounts. He explained the decision saying that Twitter made him "more aggressive, louder, more polemic and more exaggerated" than he cares to be. He also said he wanted to better protect his data, as he had also been a victim of the recent major hacker attack. Commentators discuss his move.

The Lithuanian parliament is currently debating a proposal put forward by the Radio and Television Commission aimed at banning information deemed to be damaging for the state. The way in which such content is being defined has commentators alarmed.