Eurotopics.net

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić announced his early resignation on Sunday, as he had already indicated back in June. He will now stand as the lead candidate for the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in the snap parliamentary election on 25 October. If he wins the election he could continue to pull the strings in Belgrade as prime minister. The media speculate on whether his strategy will pay off.

Jordan Bardella, the leader of the right-wing populist Rassemblement National, is facing accusations about controversial comments made during his youth. According to the investigative news website Mediapart, he made "obsessively antisemitic" written comments when he was a political activist between 2013 and 2015. The RN's rising star, now 31, denies the allegations and has said he intends to take legal action against the media outlet.

Xi Jinping, China's president and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, is due in Washington for a state visit today. The talks between the two superpowers will focus on contentious issues of global relevance: the truce reached last year in the trade war over tariffs and rare earths is due to expire in November. The regulation of AI, Taiwan, Iran and Ukraine are also on the agenda.

The Left Party under lead candidate Elif Eralp secured a clear victory in Berlin's state elections on Sunday, claiming around 26 percent of the vote. Mathematically, a red-red-green coalition led by The Left Party is now a possibility. What would that mean for Germany's capital and for Europe?