Eurotopics.net

The annual report "Education at a Glance" put out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has given poor marks to a number of countries. It shows that Germany's education system is becoming increasingly polarised, with more students at university but also more and more young people without vocational qualifications. Meanwhile, Spain has the highest proportion of poorly educated young people in the EU, the report concludes.

A month before the parliamentary elections in Poland, a visa scandal is causing a stir. While in office, a deputy foreign minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who has since been dismissed allegedly facilitated the granting of multiple-entry Schengen visas to unauthorised persons in exchange for money. Media reports talk of between several hundred and several hundred thousand such cases. Poland discusses whether the scandal will jeopardise the re-election of the anti-immigration PiS party.

The European Central Bank has raised its key interest rate for the tenth time since July 2022. The bank hopes the 0.25 percent points increase to 4.5 percent will bring down the inflation rate, which currently stands at 5.3 percent in the Eurozone. Commentators discuss whether the move will ease the burden on consumers and what side effects it could have.

Germany stopped taking in refugees from Italy at the end of August citing Italy's refusal to take back migrants who arrived in Europe via Italy and then travelled on to other countries, as it is obliged to do under EU law. Rome counters that it already has too many refugees: more than 7,000 people arrived on Lampedusa on Tuesday and Wednesday alone. Commentators are concerned by several aspects of the issue.

Storm Daniel has caused severe flooding in eastern Libya. The port city of Derna is particularly hard hit. More than 11,000 people have died and more than 10,000 are still missing after two apparently dilapidated dams burst under the pressure of the water masses. The country has been in crisis for years and this latest disaster only adds to the people's plight, commentators stress.