Eurotopics.net

The Slovakian government has declared an oil emergency after the country was cut off from oil supplies flowing from Russia via Ukraine through the Druzhba pipeline at the end of January. According to Ukrainian sources, the pipeline was damaged by Russian bombing. However Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has accused the Ukrainian leadership of deliberately preventing the resumption of supplies.

With just a month to go before local elections in France, the death of a suspected right-wing extremist student has sent shock waves through the country. According to French prosecutors, Quentin D. was beaten by several attackers and sustained lethal injuries on 12 February in Lyon on the sidelines of a protest against Rima Hassan, MEP of the left-wing LFI. The French government holds the LFI-affiliated militant group Jeune Garde responsible for the attack.

Talks in Geneva between representatives of Ukraine and Russia, attended by the United States, have ended after two days. Russia's chief negotiator, Putin adviser Vladimir Medinsky, described the talks as "difficult, but business-like", while in an interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of progress on military issues. However no concrete results have been announced so far.

A court case is underway in the US to determine whether social media platforms deliberately design their websites to be addictive. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted in Los Angeles that there had been temporary shortcomings in the age verification process on his platforms, but opposed restrictions such as a ban on beauty filters.