Eurotopics.net

The Ukrainian parliament has passed a law banning religious organisations from having links with Russia. They have been given nine months to put an end to such ties, failing which they will face a ban. The law first and foremost targets the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - not to be confused with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine - which has been formally independent since 2022 but is considered to be affiliated with Moscow.

After the hiatus of the Summer Olympics, the French are once again focussed on finding a new government. President Macron has made it clear that he is unwilling to nominate anyone from the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire for the post of prime minister. Although the alliance won the most seats in the parliamentary elections it could not form a stable government, Macron has said. Europe's press reflects on the intractable situation.

On the pretext that Ukraine has stationed up to 120,000 troops on the border to his country Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenka has now deployed his military in the Gomel region, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported. Kyiv has warned Minsk not to make a tragic mistake and succumb to pressure from Moscow, demanding that the Belarusian troops be pulled back beyond the firing range of their missiles.

Just days before the elections in the East German states of Saxony and Thuringia, the AfD, recently categorised as a suspected right-wing extremist party by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is ahead in the polls. It stands to win around 30 percent, followed by the CDU and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in third place. Commentators see a rocky road ahead.