Eurotopics.net

The Czechs have now voted out a populist government, something the Slovaks succeeded in doing two years ago. In Hungary, too, the opposition has decent chances of prevailing against Viktor Orbán and his anti-European rhetoric in next year's general election. Journalists discuss what these developments mean for Central Europe and the causes of confrontation with the EU.

Diplomatic relations between Turkey and the West are once again in crisis: the ambassadors of ten countries including the US, Germany and France were summoned to Turkey's foreign ministry after they called for a "just and speedy resolution" to the Osman Kavala case. On Thursday, Turkey's Prime Minister Erdoğan adopted a harsher tone, saying that his country could no longer "afford to host" them.

Many countries in Eastern Europe are seeing a surge in Covid infection and mortality rates. More people died of coronavirus in Romania and Bulgaria on 19 October than in the rest of the EU put together, while Russia is registering over 1,000 deaths per day. Commentators examine why the pandemic is getting out of control there despite adequate vaccine supplies.

Two migrants from Syria were found dead in a minibus in Burgenland, Austria, on Tuesday. Twenty-seven other men who had been crammed into the vehicle were apprehended. The case harks back to the Parndorf tragedy in 2015, when 71 people died in a refrigerated lorry. Austria and Europe as a whole still haven't found an effective way to deal with migration, commentators lament.

Jens Weidmann, head of Germany's central bank the Bundesbank for more than a decade, is retiring at the end of the year for personal reasons. In Europe he was best known as a critic of the European Central Bank's loose monetary policy, especially under Mario Draghi. Commentators discuss what his departure will mean.