Eurotopics.net

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed assailants ambushed a convoy of the World Food Programme, killing the Italian ambassador Luca Attanasio as well as his guard and driver. The attack took place in the resource-rich area where DRC meets Uganda and Rwanda. The Interior Ministry has blamed Hutu rebels.

The Bulgarian government has discarded its previous vaccination plan to prioritise certain groups and is now giving everyone access to the vaccines with immediate effect. The campaign was slow getting off the ground with just 120,000 doses administered since December. But thirty thousand Astrazeneca jabs were administered last weekend. Is this a major success in the face of widespread scepticism?

US President Joe Biden announced the US's return to world politics and reaffirmed his country's commitment to old alliances at the Special Edition of the Munich Security Conference on Friday, which was held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. Commentators discuss how Europe should now position itself vis-à-vis the US - especially if relations with Russia and China continue to cool.

Over the weekend the Greek police arrested the former artistic director of the National Theatre, Dimitris Lignadis. He had resigned earlier in the month, among other things after being accused of sexually abusing minors. Critics accuse the government of covering up the affair, also because Lignadis is a friend of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The debate over whether those who have had the Covid-19 vaccine should be able to return to normal life more swiftly with the help of vaccination passports, as is being planned in Denmark and Sweden, wages on. Unlike a fortnight ago, the European press seems largely in favour of it now.