Eurotopics.net

According to a decision taken by the EU Commission at the same time as it froze funds from the Cohesion Fund for Hungary in December, funding from the European Union's Erasmus programme for 21 foundation-managed Hungarian universities will be suspended. Brussels justified the measure pointing to conflicts of interest and the risk of corruption given that high-ranking politicians sit on the universities' boards of trustees. Commentators are at odds over the move.

EU chief negotiator Maroš Šefčovič and on the British side UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris reportedly reached an agreement on sharing data about the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland at a meeting on Monday. In a joint statement the deal was hailed as a "new basis" for talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Commentators are optimistic.

With four women murdered by a partner or ex-partner since the start of the year and eleven killed by male violence in December 2022, femicide statistics have Spain's government on high alert. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has condemned the violence as "macho terrorism" and called on police departments to be more vigilant. Commentators discuss how to tackle the problem.

Vladimir Putin has once again changed the commander-in-chief of the Russian troops in Ukraine: the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov will replace General Sergei Surovikin, who was only appointed in October. Commentators see the comeback of the old guard in the Kremlin and fear a new major offensive in Ukraine.

Police have begun a clearance operation in the village of Lützerath in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. The deserted village is to be bulldozed so that energy company RWE can mine the site for the lignite that lies beneath it. While the company has secured the mining rights, environmentalists have occupied the village in protest at the plans, arguing that coal mining should be banned in view of the climate crisis. Who is right?

In the Czech Republic, the three leading candidates - ex-prime minister Andrej Babiš, former general Petr Pavel and economics professor Danuše Nerudová - are in the final phase of their campaigns before the first round of the presidential election on Friday and Saturday. Commentators are at odds over which candidate is best qualified for the highest office of state as well as over the direct election procedure.