Eurotopics.net

The European Court of Justice on Friday issued a temporary injunction requiring Poland to immediately cease brown coal mining in Turów. The Czech Republic had brought the suit before the court because the groundwater level is sinking on the Czech side of the nearby border. What does the dispute mean for Poland and Polish-Czech relations?

A "catastrophic failure" of leadership at the start of the pandemic: this is the accusation Dominic Cummings, the prime minister's key advisor at the time, has levelled at the British government. He says Boris Johnson did not take the virus seriously, that there was no plan, and that swifter action could have saved tens of thousands of lives. For commentators, the House of Commons hearing provides bitter insights.

The EU has closed its airspace to Belarusian airlines and imposed further sanctions on individuals after the forced rerouting of a Ryanair commercial flight to Minsk. The plane en route from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk on Sunday, ostensibly because of a bomb threat, but then the Belarusian dissident Roman Pratasevich, who was on board, was arrested. Europe's press calls for a more radical reaction.

Policymakers in Europe are facing a new problem: not everyone who has the option to get vaccinated is willing to. In collaboration with Muslim organisations the Danish Health Authority has now published an information brochure, as there is less testing and vaccination in areas with a high Muslim population. The press, however, is not impressed.

The reaction to the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis on 25 May 2020 reached far beyond the US. People around the world took to the streets to demonstrate against racism and for equality. But taking stock one year after the events, many observers are disappointed.