Eurotopics.net

After a handshake with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Demilitarized Zone Donald Trump became the first US president to cross the demarcation line and set foot on North Korean soil. Afterwards, the two leaders had a conversation in which they agreed to resume the stalled talks on de-nuclearisation. Observers are infuriated by the meeting.

The EU and the South American trade block Mercosur have agreed on a major trade deal. First launched in 2000, the negotiations between the EU on the one side and Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay on the other were concluded last week. No less than 772 million people now live within the trade bloc. Is this good news?

In an interview with the Financial Times, Russian president Vladimir Putin criticised liberalism, in particular regarding the way liberal democracies have dealt with migrants. Liberalism is obsolete; the majority of the population doesn't want it, he maintained. Europe's commentators roundly reject the president's assertions.

After a tough round of talks at a special summit on Sunday evening the chances of the Dutch social democrat Frans Timmermans occupying the EU's top job have increased, although there was still no sign of a conclusive agreement on Monday morning. While some commentators voice annoyance at the prolonged tug of war, others point to the advantages of this way of filling top EU posts.

Forty-two refugees have been waiting for over two weeks to disembark from the Mediterranean rescue ship Sea-Watch 3. Disregarding a ban from Rome which has been provisionally upheld by the European Court of Justice, the crew sailed into Italian waters on Wednesday and anchored off the island of Lampedusa. What does the conflict tell us?