Eurotopics.net

Romania's Defence Minister Vasile Dîncu resigned on Monday citing difficulties working with President Klaus Iohannis, who is also chief of the Romanian armed forces. Iohannis had severely reprimanded Dîncu after the latter suggested that negotiations with Russia were the only chance for peace in Ukraine and that Ukraine was not capable of negotiating because it was not prepared to make territorial concessions.

When Czech President Miloš Zeman hands out state distinctions at Prague Castle on 28 October to mark Czechoslovak Independence Day, the heads of the country's two chambers of parliament will be absent. The head of state didn't invite the country's second- and third-ranked politicians on the grounds that they are not loyal to him. Commentators are incensed.

Giorgia Meloni outlined her government's policies in her first speech to the Italian parliament as prime minister. The new prime minister said she plans to stand up more for "national interests" in the EU, prevent migrants from crossing the sea to Italy, promote childbearing and continue support for Ukraine. She has never sympathised with fascism, she stressed. Commentators are divided.

The UN Security Council has met to discuss repeated accusations by Russia that Ukraine is planning to use biological weapons or so-called "dirty bombs" that spread radioactive material. Western diplomats see Russia's accusations as an attempt to divert attention from its own war crimes and a threat. Commentators are full of foreboding.