Eurotopics.net

The Scottish head of government Nicola Sturgeon is seeking a second referendum on Scottish independence for 2021. In 2014, 55 percent of the population voted against independence, but Brexit, which a majority of Scottish voted against, has changed the situation, commentators conclude.

May 1, 2004 saw the biggest enlargement in the history of the EU: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, as well as Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus joined the bloc and the single market. Not everything has gone as planned since the new members joined, commentators observe.

Trade Unions in many European cities mobilised demonstrations to mark May 1, International Workers' Day, yesterday. In Germany protesters called for a more social Europe, in Paris riots overshadowed the rallies and in Istanbul dozens of marchers were arrested. Commentators discuss which topics workers' representatives should be focusing on in today's world.

Merkel and Macron have brought the representatives of eight Balkan states together in Berlin with the aim of making progress in the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo. Also in attendance was EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini, who recently proposed a land swap as a way of resolving the issue. Berlin is against this solution, and rightly so, commentators say, asking what Europe's strategy for the Balkan region is.