Eurotopics.net

Italian MEP Ilaria Salis of the Green and Left Alliance will retain her parliamentary immunity. The European Parliament has decided by a narrow majority. Salis faces trial in Hungary for allegedly physically assaulting right-wing extremists in 2023. Hungarian opposition figures Péter Magyar and Klára Dobrev will also retain their immunity. Which side is failing to uphold democratic principles?

Charges against two British citizens accused of passing state secrets to Beijing were dropped in September, but only now has the main reason for the acquittal been revealed: the government's refusal to officially classify China as a "threat to national security", which is a prerequisite for a conviction. Critics see the decision as politically motivated rather than legally justified.

One man's meat is another man's tofu: the European Parliament has voted 355 to 247 to ban the use of terms such as burger, steak and schnitzel for plant-based foods. If the legislation goes through, such labels would be reserved for animal products, but it has yet to receive the approval of the 27 EU member states. The media see much more than just fraudulent labelling behind the move.

France's leadership seems confident that the government crisis will soon be resolved. A new prime minister could be appointed by Friday evening, the Élysée Palace has stated. Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who resigned on Monday, are now trying to get the Socialists on board. The latter are demanding that the country's controversial pension reform be withdrawn.

In an interview with the Hungarian website Partizán, former German chancellor Angela Merkel said that she had sought to establish a new EU format for dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the outbreak of the Ukraine war in summer 2021, but the initiative failed due to resistance from the Baltic states and Poland. Merkel's statements have drawn criticism from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in particular. Europe's press takes stock.