Eurotopics.net

The British government plans to take steps to ensure that fewer migrants enter the country via the English Channel. Around 4,000 people have already made the crossing this year - twice as many as in the whole of 2019. Home Secretary Priti Patel has complained that France was doing too little to stop the crossings. Royal Navy ships are to be deployed to force small boats carrying migrants to turn back. The national press is divided on the issue.

Andrej Kiska, Slovak President from 2014 to 2019, has announced that he is leaving politics at the age of 57 for health reasons. Kiska never shied away from confrontation with the Fico leadership and many Slovaks consider him to have considerably advanced the rule of law in the country. Commentators discuss how lasting his legacy will be.

According to official sources Viktor Lukashenko won 80.2 percent of the vote in Belarus's presidential election on the weekend. However, opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya (who officially received only 9.9 percent) rejected the results. Security forces have resorted to brutal measures to break up the ensuing mass protests. Europe's press analyses the situation and discusses how the international community should react.

After almost a week of fierce protests, Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his government ceded to public pressure and resigned on Monday. Diab made a televised speech in which he said the political system was partially responsible for the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut. The corruption is larger than Lebanon itself, he said. But the Lebanese people won't be satisfied with the executive's resignation, observers say.

The new school year starts this week in some European countries. In some places a fierce debate is raging about whether and to what extent schools can go back to normal despite the pandemic. Europe's commentators reflect on the unprecedented challenges posed by the end of the summer holidays.