Eurotopics.net

The fate of Belarus after its presidential election remains completely open: the protests continue but President Alexander Lukashenka has given no indication that he is willing to offer the opposition concessions, much less step down. Europe's media speculate on how things could develop in the country.

In 2020, Earth Overshoot Day came later than in the previous year for the first time. On 22 August - more than three weeks later than in 2019 - humanity had consumed the natural resources that the Earth can regenerate in the course of a year. Thanks to Covid-19 humanity's environmental footprint shrank this year. But is this trend sustainable?

Russian opposition politician and independent corruption sleuth Alexei Navalny is in a coma. According to his staff, investigators found a potentially deadly substance in his organism. The common assumption is that he was poisoned. Europe's media speculate about who did it and what the motives were.

The EU heads of state and government do not recognise the results of the Belarus's presidential election. In their declaration after an emergency summit on Wednesday they also condemned the violence against demonstrators. Commentators say that the EU can achieve little on its own and that real influence on the situation in Belarus can only come from Moscow.

According to a new survey, more than half of Scots would now vote for independence from the UK. In a referendum in 2014 they voted by a slim majority in favour of staying inside the United Kingdom. Brexit and the London government's controversial coronavirus policy are considered to be the reasons for the increased support for independence. Is the end of the UK looming?