Eurotopics.net

After meetings in London and Paris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the EU Parliament in Brussels on Thursday. Ukraine needs more arms and in particular fighter jets from the West to defend democracy in Ukraine and all Europe, he said. Europe's press is divided on the issue.

The recovery work after the severe earthquakes in Turkey and Syria continues. Europe's press comments on the first political repercussions of the disaster and speculates on those yet to come - not only, but also in the Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for May.

Polish-Belarusian journalist and activist Andrzej Poczobut was sentenced to eight years of hard labour in a penal colony on Wednesday by a court in Minsk. He has been in pre-trial detention since March 2021. The Gazeta Wyborcza correspondent was convicted on charges of endangering national security through his anti-government reporting. Poland's press is shaken.

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand occupy top slots in the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published by NGO Transparency International. Somalia, Syria and South Sudan were ranked as the most apparently corrupt countries, while Turkey and Hungary dropped several notches. The index is compiled with the help of expert assessments.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to London on Wednesday, where he addressed Parliament and met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He then flew to Paris where he met French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. On Thursday he is scheduled to address the EU Parliament in Brussels and attend the EU Summit. Europe's press analyses his priorities.