Eurotopics.net

After a highly contentious court decision in which two defendants were acquitted of rape charges, Estonia is debating a reform of its sexual offence laws. One option under consideration is to stipulate in law, as in Spain for example, that sex is only legal when all parties involved have given their clear consent. The national press examines the pros and cons of such an approach.

During a meeting at the beginning of the week, the presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenka, repeated a narrative often used in Kremlin and Minsk propaganda since the beginning of the war which casts Poland as an aggressive state that wants to gain control over the Ukrainian and Belarusian territories which belonged to Poland before the Second World War. What is behind this?

The two-day Russia-Africa Summit kicks off in St. Petersburg today. Delegations from 49 countries are expected to participate, including around twenty heads of state and government, significantly fewer than at the first summit of this kind in Sochi five years ago. This time the focus will likely to be on the grain agreement with Ukraine that Moscow has refused to extend. What does President Putin have to offer?

Elon Musk is one step closer to his vision of an "everything app". Twitter has now been renamed X on the grounds that the old name was no longer suitable to the app's profile. The new concept is modelled on the Chinese super app WeChat, which has functions practically for every aspect of users' digital lives. Commentators are sceptical nonetheless.

The poll ratings of right-wing populist currents, some of which are in favour of their countries leaving the EU, are rising in several member states. In Poland, for example, Konfederacja could grow from the smallest to the third strongest force in this autumn's parliamentary elections. Europe's press asks how the trend should be faced.