Eurotopics.net

Exactly five years after the brutal crushing of a mass anti-government demonstration in Bucharest on 10 August 2018, charges of abuse of office and unlawful use of violence have been brought against 16 police chiefs and officers who were involved in the crackdown. Commentators voice disappointment with the proceedings - also because not a single politician is on trial.

At a summit this week the eight Amazon nations declared their commitment to conserving the rainforest and demanded global financial assistance to this end. However, concrete targets for ending deforestation remain a matter for each individual state and there was no joint declaration on reducing coal, oil and gas production in the Amazon region. Europe's press voices disappointment and calls on industrialised countries to assume more responsibility.

The Economic Community of Western African States (Ecowas) will hold a meeting today to discuss how to react to the political situation in Niger. The coup plotters have refused to reinstate the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and the constitutional institutions. The military junta which is now in charge in Niger also ignored a deadline after which Ecowas had threatened with military intervention. Europe's press discusses what the West can do.

Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, co-founder and parliamentary spokesperson of Spain's far-right Vox party, has announced that he is leaving politics. Vox's performance in the general election on 23 July was very disappointing for the party, which ended up losing 19 seats. With his departure it loses one of its more moderate representatives. What does this mean for Vox and for Spain's party landscape?