Eurotopics.net

US President Trump has announced that the US is interested in purchasing Greenland. The partially sovereign Arctic territory is still a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark and is largely subsidised by it. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has answered: "I hope very much that this is not meant seriously." Commentators examine what goals Trump could be pursuing with the plan to purchase the island.

Food, medicine and gas shortages, border controls and bottlenecks, protests and unrest - a government document leaked to the Sunday Times outlines the potential grave consequences of a no-deal Brexit. British MPs are calling for an early end to the summer recess. Europe's commentary columns also voice alarm.

Germany's GDP sank by 0.1 percent in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. International trade conflicts and uncertainties surrounding the Brexit are being cited as primary causes. Observers fear Germany's negative growth could have an impact on other countries. What steps should Europe's biggest economy take?

Since Boris Johnson took over as prime minister opposition to his hard Brexit course has been growing in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Northern Irish Catholic nationalist party Sinn Féin has even brought up the possibility of reuniting Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland so that the former can remain in the EU. Irish commentators already envisage the emergence of a new state.

In the wake of explosions at several locations in Denmark including a police station and the Danish Tax Agency in Copenhagen the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced that border controls would be reinstated between Denmark and Sweden. The Danish police has arrested a suspect from Sweden. Are such controls the right way to protect Denmark against criminals from its neighbouring country?

The Berlin Wall came down in 1989, allowing citizens of the GDR to travel freely to the West for the first time in 28 years. Thirty years on Europe is commemorating this event - and commentators are drawing different conclusions about the history of Germany's division.