Eurotopics.net

The Spanish media are speculating on whether Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's People's Party (PP) will be able to stay in government. In the country's biggest corruption scandal in four decades, the so-called Gürtel case, Spain's High Court has ordered the party to pay a fine and given a number of party functionaries long prison sentences. The fact that Rajoy always played down the importance of the affair makes this judgement particularly explosive.

In a bid to secure more state support a group of parents of disabled children has been staging a sit-in at the Polish parliament for the past five weeks. A parents who cares for a disabled child receives 350 euros per month until the child reaches 18, after which the government support ends. The government is refusing to give in to demands for more funds, citing limited financial resources. Poland's press is divided over the issue.

North Korea has threatened to cancel the meeting between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, citing the US's "unilateral" demand for nuclear disarmament. Commentators don't believe Kim will really miss this opportunity for a historic meeting. But hopes for a breakthrough on June 12 are not high.

Trump's cancellation of the nuclear deal with Iran, strife within the EU over the US embassy's transfer to Jerusalem, conflict over tariffs and the military spending of Europe's Nato states: transatlantic relations are facing one test after another. Commentators examine what's at stake for Europe.

Israel has come under fire after military operations against Palestinian demonstrators in which at least 60 Palestinians were killed. EU Foreign Affairs Representative Federica Mogherini has called on Israel to respect the principle of proportionality, but a UN resolution was blocked by the US. What are the causes of the latest escalation in the Middle East?

In May 1948 David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the founding of the State of Israel with the Declaration of Independence. The 70th anniversary has been overshadowed by the conflict with the Palestinians and domestic problems. Is this the state its founders dreamed of seven decades ago?