Eurotopics.net

A citizens' initiative calling for a ban on gay marriage is on the verge of success: on Wednesday one of the two chambers of the Romanian parliament approved by a large majority the call for a referendum on amending the constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The other chamber has yet to give its approval. The Romanian press is as divided over the issue as the people themselves.

Austria's conservative Vice Chanceller Reinhold Mitterlehner has resigned. The social democratic Chancellor Christian Kern has said he wants continue the coalition with the conservatives but a snap election has become increasingly likely. Commentators see the resignation as the result of a power struggle from which above all Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz stands to benefit. But Kurz shouldn't rejoice too soon, others warn.

Three sisters have perished in a presumed arson attack on a Roma family in Rome. They lived together with their parents and eight other siblings in a caravan parked outside a shopping centre. Italy's press is shocked and calls for urgent action in view of the moral decay in the capital and the failed integration of minorities.

Emmanuel Macron is entering Sunday's second round of voting in the French presidential elections as the favourite. Recent polls give the candidate of the movement En Marche! a 20-point lead over his rival Marine Le Pen, leader of the Front National. The significance of the election extends far beyond France and the next five years, commentators believe.

The citizens' fight against corruption in Romania continues. Hundreds of people once again took to the streets on Wednesday - and achieved a stage victory: the Senate's legal committee withdrew its support for a draft law for an amnesty that would have seen people convicted of corruption released from prison. But Romanian journalists explain that the people haven't won the battle yet.

The political crisis sparked by the financial problems of the ailing Agrokor group is coming to a head in Croatia. The ruling coalition comprising the right-wing conservative HDZ and the reform party Most has collapsed due to criticism of Finance Minister Zdravko Marić's ties to the group. Prime Minister Plenković now wants to continue governing without Most, and Marić has only narrowly survived a vote of no confidence. Commentators accuse politicians of plunging the country into chaos.