European Union

After electoral defeats for her conservative CDU party in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, German Chancellor Merkel has admitted to making mistakes in her refugee policy in recent years. Her admission comes too late and won't make any impact on voters, some commentators believe. Others feel the move could give the chancellor and her party a boost.

Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have opposed EU refugee quotas and instead proposed the model of "flexible solidarity" at the EU summit in Bratislava. The concept aims to allow member states to decide for themselves how they will help ease the crisis, taking into account their respective experiences and capabilities. Will the Visegrád states' anti-refugee stance win out?

The European Commission has blocked a retail tax introduced by Warsaw on the grounds that the levy, which means that companies with large turnover pay more taxes than those with low turnover, may breach EU state aid rules. Brussels wants to destroy Polish retailers, some commentators argue. Others warn Warsaw not to get into a fight with the European Commission.

Police in New Jersey have arrested a 28-year-old US citizen of Afghan origin in the wake of bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey. 29 people were injured in the attacks on the weekend. Commentators say such attacks will play right into the hands of Donald Trump in the presidential election campaign.

The UN member states have agreed on non-binding principles for dealing with refugees and migrants at the Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis in New York. People must force their governments to improve the situation of refugees, some commentators urge. Others say more must be done to fight the causes of the exodus.

Putin's United Russia party won the Duma elections on Sunday with a big lead against three other parties with close ties to the Kremlin. Once again there were reports of irregularities, and voter turnout was lower than in 2011. Voters see no point in going to the polls at all anymore, commentators write, describing the Duma as a pro forma institution.