Eurotopics.net

Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Janša has presented the agenda for his country's EU presidency to the EU Parliament. The battle against Covid and cyber attacks are top of the list along with advancing digitalisation and climate protection. Janša's speech was awaited with some trepidation due to his questionable views on democracy and climate change and his closeness to Viktor Orbán, but he avoided making any barbed comments. So is everyone friends again?

Countries in Europe now have some of the highest vaccination rates in the world. But the pace is slowing down in many areas, with people not turning up for their vaccination appointments. The summer weather and low infection rates are making people hesitate even if they are not anti-vaxxers. Commentators appeal to citizens' sense of responsibility and discuss the limits of freedom.

A reshuffle at Volkswagen is cause for celebration among Croatian commentators. The luxury brand Bugatti will no longer be made by the parent company but by a joint venture between subsidiaries Porsche and Rimac Automobili. Founded in 2009 and based near Zagreb, Rimac builds electric sports cars, and Porsche has a 24 percent share in the company.

Countries in Europe now have some of the highest vaccination rates in the world. But the pace is slowing down in many areas, with people not turning up for their vaccination appointments. The summer weather and low infection rates are making people hesitate even if they are not anti-vaxxers. Governments are fighting back with a number of incentives - not always with media approval.

In the wake of the plane hijacking and the resulting EU sanctions on Minsk, the number of migrants crossing the border from Belarus into Lithuania has risen to well over 100 per day - many of them people who have travelled from Iraq, Syria and Russia. Lukashenka has confirmed that he is deliberately not stopping drug traffickers or mass migrations at the border. Lithuania has now declared a state of emergency.

Temperatures hit 49.6 degrees Celsius last week on Canada's Pacific coast, a region not previously known for its hot weather. Temperatures in the range of 40 degrees are also expected this week. The country has seen several hundred heat-related fatalities and more than 100 wildfires are raging, also in the north-west of the US. Commentators discuss whether the event might force politicians and climate change sceptics to rethink.