Eurotopics.net

The agreement on grain exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea is back in force. Russia unilaterally suspended its participation on 30 October on the grounds that Ukrainian drones had attacked the Black Sea Fleet. Moscow has explained that after mediation by Turkey, Ukraine has agreed to use the humanitarian corridor and the ports only for food exports.

During a major air strike on Ukraine on Monday, parts of a Russian missile crashed into a village near the border in the north of the Republic of Moldova after being shot down by Ukrainian air defences. Romanian commentators note with concern that the small country could hardly hold its own in an emergency.

Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud party has won a clear victory in the Knesset election in Israel, securing 32 of 120 seats. In second place with 24 seats is the liberal Yesh Atid party of Prime Minister Jair Lapid, whose "anti-Netanyahu coalition" collapsed in June. Netanyahu again wants to form a coalition with the Orthodox and also with the ultra-right religious Zionists, which would have a majority of 65 seats. The press is alarmed.

The government of Giorgia Meloni has passed a restrictive ordinance in response to an illegal rave party near Modena. Participants at gatherings with more than 50 attendees could face up to six years in prison for invading other people's property or buildings or endangering public order or public health. The press sees the decree as a bad omen.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be visiting China this week and has already provoked fierce criticism ahead of his meeting with President Xi Jinping on Friday. The Chancellery issued a statement saying that not only economic issues but an "entire spectrum" of the country's relations with China, including human rights, are on the agenda. Commentators take a critical view of the trip.