Eurotopics.net

The new report on the rule of law in the EU has come out. The focus is once again on Poland and Hungary: the EU Commission criticises cronyism in the distribution of EU funds in Hungary, restricted press freedom and discrimination against minorities. Poland has also been given an ultimatum to correct two court decisions that ignore ECJ rulings. What comes next in this smouldering conflict?

Turkish President Erdoğan has visited Varosha in occupied Northern Cyprus to mark the anniversary of the invasion by Turkish troops in 1974. Varosha, from which the Greek Cypriots fled at the time, is now a ghost town and a symbol of divided Cyprus. Despite international criticism, Erdoğan is pressing ahead with its opening. Northern Cypriot President Ersin Tatar announced on Tuesday that 3.5 percent of the restricted military zone will be re-opened to the public.

Kiev has been focusing on its relations with Beijing lately. President Zelensky had a phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for the first time, and politicians from the Ukrainian ruling party Servant of the People congratulated him on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. Ukraine has also signed a contract with China on infrastructure projects and will now be able to secure loans from Beijing.

The Spanish government has submitted a bill on "democratic memory" to parliament. It provides for a ban on the glorification of the military coup of 1936, the subsequent civil war and the forty-year Franco dictatorship, which, among other things, could mean the closure of the Valle de los Caídos memorial. In addition, the topic of democratic memory is to become a fixed part of the school curriculum.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took his own spaceship on an eleven-minute trip into space on Tuesday, just a week and a half after entrepreneur Richard Branson's space flight. Both billionaires plan to offer commercial space travel in the future, and Elon Musk also runs a space company. The space race is drawing a lot of criticism - but some observers say the accusations are oversimplified.