Eurotopics.net

On Saturday, International Day of Families, around 10,000 people took part in the Family Defence March in Vilnius to protest against current developments that they perceive as a threat to traditional family values, such as the Istanbul Convention and LGBT+ rights. A video speech delivered by President Gitanas Nausėda on the same day was interpreted by the organisers as a sign of support.

On June 13 the Swiss are to vote on three hotly debated environmental policy proposals. The CO2 Act aims to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, while two popular initiatives focus on the use of pesticides. The first wants to link farmers' subsidies to measures to protect drinking water and the second aims to ban synthetic pesticides altogether.

The fighting between Israel and radical Palestinians of the terrorist Hamas organisation continued unabated over the weekend. On Monday night the Israeli air force bombed more targets in Gaza, while Hamas fired rockets at the cities of Beersheba and Ashkelon. Commentators examine the factors that are blocking an end to the violence.

As the situation escalates in the Middle East conflict, anti-Israeli demonstrations and anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise in Germany. Israeli flags were burned at demonstrations in several cities on the weekend, and synagogues have been pelted with stones recent days. Commentators discuss the fact that many of the violent protests can be traced back to young men of Arab or Turkish origin.

It took several months for the vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 to get going in Europe due to vaccine shortages. But now a new problem is emerging: certain sections of the population are proving hard to reach or uninterested in the jab. Commentators look at the reasons.