Eurotopics.net

Documents known as Safepasses are being introduced in Cyprus this week which give vaccinated citizens access to diverse venues and facilities in the coming weeks. The certificates provide confirmation that the carrier has either recovered from Covid, been vaccinated with at least one dose or tested negative on a rapid test in the past 72 hours. The Cyprus Bar Association has called the decision to introduce the documents unconstitutional. The country's media are also critical of the move.

US President Joe Biden has triggered a global debate with his proposal to temporarily lift patent protection for Covid-19 vaccines. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has indicated that the EU is ready to discuss the proposal, but stressed that allowing exports was the key measure for the time being. Europe's commentators also discuss how vaccines can best be distributed fairly.

France and the UK are locked in a major dispute over post-Brexit fishing licences in the English Channel. French fishing boats threatened to blockade the harbour of the Channel island of Jersey. Both countries have deployed naval vessels to the area. Commentators discuss what can be done to prevent such confrontations.

According to a media report, Czech Deputy Prime Minister Jan Hamáček offered to conceal the involvement of Russia's intelligence services in an attack on an ammunition depot in the Czech Republic in exchange for Moscow supplying the country with a million doses of Sputnik V. Hamáček denies the accusation but has not been able to disprove it. Commentators are nonplussed by this latest development in Czech-Russian relations.

The ambulance service in the Estonian capital of Tallinn has given its employees an ultimatum: those who haven't been vaccinated by the middle of May will have their contracts terminated. A member of staff contacted the media to report the new policy. Estonia's press discusses whether mandatory vaccination is justified.

Eight people died in a fire in an unregistered hostel in the centre of Riga at the end of April. The subsequent police investigation brought to light serious problems in this and other illegal hostels in the Latvian capital. The media criticise what appears to be a systemic lack of state supervision.