Eurotopics.net

After Mikhail Gorbachev's death on Tuesday a fierce debate has broken out about his historical legacy. Russian state media blame the former leader for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Other commentators lament that the opportunities opened up by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate were wasted.

Thanks to EU mediation Serbia and Kosovo have reached a partial agreement in the dispute over mutual recognition of documents for crossing the border between the two countries: from now on, Kosovar citizens may travel to Serbia with their ID documents while Kosovo continues to accept Serbian papers. No agreement was reached on car registration plates, however. The press still sees plenty of potential for conflict.

In future it will take longer and be more difficult and more expensive for Russian citizens to obtain a Schengen visa. The EU foreign ministers agreed to suspend the 2007 visa facilitation agreement, meaning that a complete halt to the issuing of tourist visas is off the table for the time being. Commentators criticise the compromise solution.

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis has once again rejected calls for his resignation over the wiretapping scandal. He still refuses to explain the wiretapping, saying he knew nothing about it. Commentators also discuss the scandal also against the backdrop of next year's elections.

Turkish pop diva Gülşen was detained on Friday and placed under house arrest on Monday. At a concert in April she had said jokingly about a member of her band that if he was perverted it was because he'd gone to a religious İmam Hatip school.