Eurotopics.net

Conflict-laden issues including the New Silk Road are setting the agenda at the EU-China summit today, Tuesday. Brussels wants China to commit to fair and free trade relations. But commentators point out that Europe doesn't hold much sway over its second most important trade partner anymore.

Roughly six million Israelis are called on to elect a new parliament today, Tuesday. Polls put PM Benjamin Netanyahu and former army chief Benny Gantz neck and neck. Netanyahu has stated that if he is re-elected he will annex parts of the West Bank. What are his chances of another term?

The militia forces led by General Khalifa Haftar, which control large swathes of Libya, are now advancing on Tripoli, where the internationally recognised government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj is based. A UN Security Council resolution calling for a halt to the attacks was blocked by Russia. Commentaries in the press testify to a tricky situation.

After the election victory of Thierry Baudet's Forum voor Democratie (FVD), the established conservative parties in the Netherlands are seeking ways to win back voters. The right-wing populist party founded in 2016 unexpectedly emerged as the strongest force in regional elections in mid-March. Commentators follow the developments with concern.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in several German cities on Saturday to protest rising rents. At the same time an initiative for a referendum was launched in Berlin calling for large real estate companies to be expropriated. Commentators inside and outside Germany discuss how to tackle the challenge of providing affordable living space for all.