Eurotopics.net

The French government is cracking down after yellow vest protests turned violent last Saturday. It has announced partial bans on demonstrations and is not excluding the possibility of making preventive arrests again. Counter-terrorist army units are also to be deployed to protect certain locations. Journalists ask what effect this hard line will have and what image France is projecting.

The right-wing populist Forum voor Democratie (FVD), established in 2016, has unexpectedly emerged as the strongest party in regional elections in the Netherlands. The centre-right coalition has lost its majority in the Dutch Senate as a result of the vote. Commentators voice concern over the success of the new party and the xenophobic rhetoric of its leader Thierry Baudet.

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev has resigned after almost 30 years as leader of the former Soviet republic. The Parliamentary Speaker Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will take over as president until elections are held in 2020. Commentators take stock of the situation and discuss Nazarbayev's resignation plan.

Opposition to the EU's planned copyright reform is growing. Critics argue that it amounts to censorship. The main point under attack is Article 13, under which online platforms may no longer direct users to copyrighted content. The German-language Wikipedia page went offline on Thursday in protest. Does the directive really protect those it is supposed to?

A bus driver hijacked a bus carrying 51 schoolchildren near Milan on Wednesday and threatened to douse them with fuel and set them alight. The police were able to prevent this. The perpetrator, an Italian citizen of Senegalese origin, apparently uploaded a video beforehand with the message: "Africa, rise up!" Commentators discuss to what extent the crime is linked to Italy's immigration policy.

Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have signed the new German-French friendship treaty. According to the agreement Berlin and Paris want to enhance their cooperation on Europe policy and campaign for a common foreign and security policy. While some commentators fear that the Franco-German pact excludes other states, for others the agreement points the way forward.