European Union

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Welcome back! For a few happy weeks, officials were able to put Europe’s multiple crises to the back of their minds. No longer.

Those returning to their desks in Brussels, Berlin, Paris and beyond are confronted with a Hydra of misery: the refugee crisis rolls on, growth is still stagnant, and security concerns are mounting following a string of terror attacks.

A potentially huge referendum in Italy awaits as does another chance for Austria to vote in a far-right president. The fallout from Turkey’s failed coup creates instability at the EU’s border and – if the EU-Turkey refugee deal falls apart – further trouble in its core.

On top of all this, Britain has to decide how to extricate itself from the EU. Welcome back, indeed.

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to Estonia, the Czech Republic and Poland this week in preparation for the EU summit in mid-September. She will also receive other EU heads of government in Germany on Friday and Saturday. Commentators ask whether the chancellor will be able to reunite Europe in view of the Brexit referendum, the Syrian war and the refugee crisis.

Turkish troops and Syrian rebels drove the IS out of the strategically important border city of Jarabulus in northern Syria on Wednesday. With this US-backed offensive Ankara is above all hoping to stop the advance of the Kurds, commentators conclude, taking different views on whether this objective is justified.

The former chief of the Greek national statistics authority, Andreas Georgiou, is on trial in Athens, charged with having tweaked budget data that were relevant for calculating the Greek bailout packages. The European Commission issued a statement backing Georgiou on Wednesday. Some commentators are incensed over what they see as interference by Brussels in Greek domestic affairs. Others warn against sparking further tensions between Greece and the EU.

More than 30 prominent Hungarians from politics, business, science and culture have protested by returning the Order of Merit of the Knight's Cross given to them by the state after journalist Zsolt Bayer was awarded the same state honour. Bayer has repeatedly made headlines with anti-Semitic and xenophobic articles. Commentators explain why Bayer was given the award.