Eurotopics.net

On January 27, 1945, units of the Red Army liberated the largest Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Around 1.1 million people were murdered in the complex. Since 1996, January 27 has been a day of remembrance in Germany for the victims of National Socialism, and since 2005 it has been the UN's International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Commentators discuss how the memory of the atrocities can be kept alive.

In the wake of Berlin's decision to allow deliveries of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, a large alliance is emerging to equip the country with battle tanks and similar vehicles. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has now said that in Moscow these and other arms deliveries are viewed as "direct participation in the conflict". Europe's press examines the potential consequences.

Citizens of the Czech Republic will elect a new president in the second round of the presidential election this weekend. They have the choice between retired general and former Nato second-in-command Petr Pavel and former prime minister Andrej Babiš, who caused a furore during the election campaign when he questioned Czech solidarity in the framework of Nato collective defence. Commentators criticise the way the campaign was conducted.

The wiretapping scandal in Greece continues to make waves. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is now facing a vote of no confidence put forward by the opposition party Syriza, whose leader Alexis Tsipras accuses Mitsotakis of lying when he claimed not to have known that the Greek National Intelligence Service was wiretapping politicians, ministers, military officers and journalists. Commentators have harsh words for the PM.