Eurotopics.net

Military violence came to a head in Myanmar at the weekend, when more than 100 people were killed by soldiers in the deadliest crackdown yet. The UN Security Council has convened a meeting to discuss the situation on Wednesday. The US has already suspended a framework trade agreement with the country and is apparently preparing to tighten existing sanctions. Several European states have condemned the violence.

Germany's Constitutional Court has instructed German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier not to sign off on a law ratifying the EU's coronavirus recovery programme, saying the court must first investigate a legal challenge to Germany's participation filed by a group led by former Alternative for Germany leader Bernd Lucke. Lucke argues that the mutualisation of debt the package forsees is illegal. Europe's commentators express astonishment and dismay.

Historians have handed Emmanuel Macron their report on France's role in the Rwandan genocide two years after he commissioned it. They conclude that France bears "heavy and overwhelming responsibilities" for the killings and speak of "blindness" and "failure", but say they found no evidence of French complicity. For commentators, this report can only be a start.

The EU has announced plans to expand the customs union to include Turkey, in a bid to encourage Ankara to find a constructive solution to its disputes with Athens and Nicosia. In 2018, the EU officially decided not to start negotiations with Turkey due to constitutional problems, and in December 2020 it threatened sanctions over Ankara's gas explorations. Why the change of heart?

The front runners are Israel, the US, and the UK. These countries have made much faster progress in vaccinating their populations against the coronavirus than the countries of the EU. Observers look at why the European Union is lagging so far behind and discuss how the speed and acceptance of vaccination can be increased.