Eurotopics.net

France will have a female prime minister for the second time in its history. President Emmanuel Macron has appointed former labour minister Elisabeth Borne to succeed Jean Castex in the post. The 61-year-old politician is among the handful of people who have been on Macron's governing team from the beginning. Commentators discuss the appointment.

The Spanish cabinet is today discussing a bill put forward by the leftist government that would entitle women to three additional sick days per month in cases of severe period pains. The announcement has triggered a debate about whether the law could have a negative impact on women's access to the labour market. The Spanish press argues against such reservations.

After Helsinki, Sweden's Social Democratic government is now also seeking to join Nato. Both the Finnish and Swedish parliaments will debate the issue today. Moscow has called the plans a "mistake" and threatened consequences. Concerns have also been voiced by Turkey, which as a Nato member must agree to the accession. Europe's press takes stock.

US Defense Secretary LLoyd Austin and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on Friday had their first conversation since the war began. The EU is also stepping up diplomatic efforts: leading politicians are visiting Kyiv and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron are pushing for a ceasefire as a basis for negotiations. Commentators voice doubts that these efforts will succeed.

Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine has won the Eurovision Song Contest with a record result in the audience vote. For the jurors, too, the hip-hop folk song Stefania was also among the best entries in the competition. Commentators see no problem with the fact that this year's contest was was not exclusively about music.