Eurotopics.net

Ireland is set to have a budget surplus of around ten billion euros this year, according to Finance Minister Michael McGrath. The main reason is that corporate tax revenues are much higher than expected. By 2026 the annual surplus is set to rise to over 20 billion euros. Commentators discuss what to throw the money at.

Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria are sticking to their import bans for Ukrainian grain, allowing only conditional onward transit. Their markets have been flooded with grain from Ukraine because the intended land transit routes for its grain exports have become exceedingly expensive and complicated and traffic on the shipping routes has been reduced despite the grain deal. The EU Commission now plans to introduce temporary restrictions to bring the blockade to an end.

Hunters in northern Italy caught the she-bear JJ4 who killed a jogger, but her fate now is undecided. After a court responded to protests by suspending the orders to shoot her, a decision about whether to carry out the death sentence is due for May 11. Commentators see the case as an opportunity to reflect more generally on human coexistence with wild animals.

China's ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, has sparked outrage in countries of the former Soviet Union after saying in a TV interview that they have no "effective status" in international law. There is "no international accord to concretise their status as a sovereign country," he said. Commentators also condemn his comments as a major faux pas.

While Western countries are evacuating their citizens from Sudan, fighting between the army of de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo continues. The death toll now exceeds 400. A ceasefire to mark the Muslim religious holiday Eid al Fitr on Friday did not stop the hostilities.