Eurotopics.net

The party congress of the ruling liberal-conservative Civic Democrats (ODS) in Prague welcomed the idea of building a US military base in the Czech Republic with great applause. But the project also has its detractors, and now, as expected, a fierce row has broken out. Yet the whole dispute is hypothetical because the US has no plans to build a base in the Czech Republic - as Prague newspapers smugly note.

After winning the most votes in the first round of the French presidential election, incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen will face off in a run-off for the presidency, as they did in 2017. Europe's press discusses how the playing field has changed for both despite a similar constellation.

Now it’s Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer who who is trying to mediate in the Ukraine war. On Monday he travelled to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin in person, becoming the first EU leader to meet with Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine. While there he called for an investigation into war crimes like the one in Bucha. Commentators discuss what the visit can achieve in the current situation.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital on the weekend. On the one hand, the UK has supplied Ukraine with weapons without hesitation since the beginning of the war, but on the other hand it has been slow in imposing sanctions on Russian oligarchs for a long time. Commentators criticise the PM for putting himself in the limelight.