Eurotopics.net

On 8 May many European countries celebrate the liberation from Nazi Germany and the end of the Second World War. Russia marks the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany with a Victory Day parade on Red Square on 9 May. This year, however, the celebrations are overshadowed by the war against Ukraine, which Putin is deliberately intertwining with the historical occasion for propaganda purposes.

In his speech on Victory Day Putin has neither officially declared war on Ukraine nor ordered a general mobilisation of the country. Commentaries published immediately before Putin's address reflect how high the expectations were for the day and its impact on the war.

The republican, pro-unification Sinn Féin party has emerged victorious for the first time in the Northern Ireland Assembly election. However, under the power-sharing system stipulated in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement it will have to divide up the top government posts with the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party. The media see the election as a clear vote against old divisions.

The far left La France Insoumise (LFI) has agreed to form an alliance with the Socialists (PS), the Communist Party (PCF) and the Greens (EELV) ahead of the French parliamentary elections in June. To prevent President Macron's newly renamed Renaissance party from winning a majority, the parties have divided the constituencies among themselves. Could this strategy work for the left?