Eurotopics.net

For roughly two weeks the Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor has been trying to block the popular messaging app Telegram. To this end it has also blocked 16 million IP addresses of Amazon, Google and other network operators in a bid to prevent Telegram from circumventing the ban. Millions of websites are currently inaccessible. Will the blockade backfire?

Madrid's regional president Cristina Cifuentes resigned on Wednesday after media published a video taken seven years ago allegedly showing her shoplifting. Cifuentes had already come under fire over reports of a faked master's degree. What will be the consequences of her downfall?

French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the need for EU reform during his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Thursday. The latter agreed to put together a compromise on the reforms by the middle of the year despite glaring differences of opinion. Journalists speculate on the reasons for Merkel's reticence.

The president, the parliament and two of Ukraine's Orthodox churches have asked the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople to approve autocephaly. This would be tantamount to his giving permission for the establishment of a Ukrainian national Church that is independent of the Moscow Patriarchate. The initiative has triggered a fierce debate in Ukrainian and Russian media.

Turkish President Erdoğan has called snap parliamentary and presidential elections for the end of June. The new presidential system that wasn't supposed to be introduced until 2019 will now come into force with these elections. Why are people in Turkey being called on to vote now of all times?

Six weeks after the parliamentary elections there is still no sign of a new government in Italy. Talks led by the speaker of the Senate, Elisabetta Casellati, also seem likely to end without any results today, Friday. The main sticking point is that the Movimento Cinque Stelle is only willing to form a coalition with the Lega Nord if the latter ends its alliance with Silvio Berlusconi and his Forza Italia party. What will become of the voters' hopes of a fresh start?