Eurotopics.net

CDU leader Armin Laschet has been nominated as the conservative CDU-CSU alliance's candidate for chancellor in the 2021 federal elections. The decisive factor was the vote of the CDU executive board on Tuesday night, after which the CSU leader Markus Söder withdrew his candidacy saying he will now support Laschet "without rancour and with all his strength". European media emphasise Laschet's qualities compared to Söder's, who is stronger in the polls, but note that the CDU-CSU bloc has taken a battering.

In the George Floyd case, a Minneapolis court jury has found ex-police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts he was facing: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. Commentators hail the verdict as a historic and promising start in the fight against racist police violence.

180 countries in comparison: Reporters Without Borders has published its 2021 Press Freedom Index. Due to the many attacks on those covering demonstrations against coronavirus measures, Germany has slipped down two spots to 13th place, and for the first time its press freedom is only rated as "satisfactory" instead of "good". Placed 112th, Bulgaria once again brings up the rear in the EU. Commentators from both countries examine the reasons.

On Monday night, twelve leading European football clubs announced the launch of their own new league. Now the six British clubs have withdrawn their support, but the plans are not yet entirely off the table. Europe's best and most popular clubs have long been demanding more money from the marketing of the Uefa Champions League, for which the Super League would be a direct rival.

The Shanghai-based Fudan University plans to open a campus in Budapest in 2024, with a capacity of around 5,000 students and 500 teaching staff. Hungary's Minister of Innovation and Technology, László Palkovics, signed a corresponding agreement with the university's president in Shanghai in 2019. Hotly debated in Hungary, the decision is also causing consternation in neighbouring Austria.