Eurotopics.net

Although the government had banned traditional demonstrations because of the pandemic, several hundred people gathered in Athens on Tuesday to commemorate the student uprising of 17 November 1973, including members of the Greek Communist Party KKE. The police used tear gas to disperse the crowds. There were also demonstrations and incidents of police violence in other cities.

Hungary and Poland have followed through on their threat to veto the EU's long-term budget plan for 2021 to 2027. With this move, with which the two countries are protesting against the plan to penalise violations of the rule of law, they have also blocked billions of euros that were to be disbursed to EU states through the coronavirus recovery fund. Must the EU now renegotiate?

Maia Sandu has become the first woman to be elected president of the Republic of Moldova. In the second round she received 57.53 percent of the vote, while incumbent Igor Dodon trailed behind at 42.47 percent. Sandu, who was prime minister for a short time in 2019, is considered pro-European, but her election campaign was primarily directed against the current leadership. What factors were decisive for her victory?

Just a week after Biontech and Pfizer, US company Moderna has also announced a breakthrough in coronavirus vaccine development: according to the researchers their vaccine is 94.5 percent effective and surprisingly stable at refrigerator temperatures. Can the hurdles on the path to blanket immunization be cleared?