European Union

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to Estonia, the Czech Republic and Poland this week in preparation for the EU summit in mid-September. She will also receive other EU heads of government in Germany on Friday and Saturday. Commentators ask whether the chancellor will be able to reunite Europe in view of the Brexit referendum, the Syrian war and the refugee crisis.

Turkish troops and Syrian rebels drove the IS out of the strategically important border city of Jarabulus in northern Syria on Wednesday. With this US-backed offensive Ankara is above all hoping to stop the advance of the Kurds, commentators conclude, taking different views on whether this objective is justified.

The former chief of the Greek national statistics authority, Andreas Georgiou, is on trial in Athens, charged with having tweaked budget data that were relevant for calculating the Greek bailout packages. The European Commission issued a statement backing Georgiou on Wednesday. Some commentators are incensed over what they see as interference by Brussels in Greek domestic affairs. Others warn against sparking further tensions between Greece and the EU.

More than 30 prominent Hungarians from politics, business, science and culture have protested by returning the Order of Merit of the Knight's Cross given to them by the state after journalist Zsolt Bayer was awarded the same state honour. Bayer has repeatedly made headlines with anti-Semitic and xenophobic articles. Commentators explain why Bayer was given the award.

After 52 years of civil war the Colombian government and the Farc rebels have reached a peace agreement. However, the accord has yet to be ratified in a referendum - and many Colombians oppose it. Does peace - which has only existed on paper until now - have a chance?

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania celebrated the 25th anniversary of their independence on the weekend. After the failed August Putsch of 1991 the Soviet Union recognised the sovereignty of these three states, which had already declared independence in 1990 following the Singing Revolution. Many columnists take the anniversary as an opportunity to take stock of the progress made since then.