Eurotopics.net

After a week of delay an Italian coastguard ship carrying 177 migrants has been given permission to dock in Sicily. Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini had initially threatened to have the migrants brought back to Libya if other EU member states didn't agree to take them in. Commentators voice deep concern about Salvini's anti-migrant policy.

In the run-up to the Swedish parliamentary elections on 9 September polls are pointing to a deadlock with neither the left nor the conservative Alliance winning a majority, because the Sweden Democrats are likely to garner almost 20 percent of the vote. Commentators believe it will now be virtually impossible to ignore the right-wing populist party and its arguments.

The US government apparently wants to prevent the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from going ahead. According to observers, US authorities are working out plans for sanctions on companies that take part in the construction of the pipeline that is to link Russia and Germany. While some commentators criticise Trump for seeking to influence Europe's energy policy, others find the idea not bad at all.

The European Commission wants to do more to cut CO2 emissions, adopting a new target of reducing greenhouse gases by 45 instead of 40 percent compared to 1990 by 2030. According to EU Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete all that is needed to achieve this is for current EU resolutions to be implemented. For commentators, however, the EU still isn't doing enough for climate protection.

Two forces dominate Poland's politics: the liberals and the national conservative ruling party PiS. With its populist policies the latter has cut the ground from under the leftist parties' feet. Since the parliamentary elections in 2015 they no longer even have any seats in the Sejm. A discussion has now broken out among journalists about whether the left should try to save itself with an unusual collaboration.

Die US-Regierung will offenbar den Bau von Nord Stream 2 verhindern. Beobachtern zufolge arbeiten Behörden derzeit Pläne für Sanktionen gegen Unternehmen aus, die am Bau der Gaspipeline von Russland nach Deutschland beteiligt sind. Während einige Kommentatoren kritisieren, dass Trump damit auf Europas Energiepolitik Einfluss nehmen will, finden andere die Idee gar nicht schlecht.