Eurotopics.net

The left-nationalist party Sinn Féin has won the most first votes in the parliamentary elections in Ireland, with 24.5 percent. Due to the complicated electoral system it is not yet clear whether Sinn Féin will also be the strongest force in parliament. Commentators wonder among other things why young voters in particular voted for the party, which is also known as the political arm of the IRA.

In Switzerland, discriminating against people on the basis of their sexual orientation will in future be a criminal offence. In a referendum on Sunday, 63 percent voted in favour of a corresponding extension of the anti-discrimination law. An initiative for more affordable housing, by contrast, was defeated. Some members of the press are sceptical about whether the results of the referendum are useful.

Coronavirus continues to spread. According to the government in Beijing the number of fatalities in China now exceeds 900. More than 40,000 cases have been registered to date. European media focus on the economic and political repercussions of the epidemic.

Mila Orriols, a 16-year-old French schoolgirl who described Islam as "shit" in a video and has since received death threats, has sparked a heated discussion about criticism of religion in France. European media see no reason why Islam should enjoy a special status and write that in a free society all believers must put up with such remarks, regardless of their religion.

Despite harsh criticism from the opposition and the EU, Poland's President Andrzej Duda last week signed a new law which foresees harsh penalties for judges. If members of the judiciary call into question the judicial reform which the PiS has been implementing in a step-by-step process since 2016 they now face fines, demotion and even dismissal. Journalists see the legal dispute between the EU and Warsaw escalating.

The election of liberal FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich as premier of the German state of Thuringia with votes from his own party, the CDU and the far-right AfD sent shock waves through Germany last week. After Kemmerich stepped down amidst the outrage the former premier Bodo Ramelow has said he is willing to run for the office again. Observers outside Germany see the way the Germany politicians have dealt with the election scandal as symptomatic.