Eurotopics.net

The EU plans to discuss new sanctions against Turkey at its summit on Thursday and Friday given that efforts to ease the tensions in relations between Greece, Cyprus and Turkey have failed so far. The main topic of discussion will be punitive measures for Turkey's natural gas explorations, which are considered illegal. Comments reflect the hardening of positions.

The German media group Verlagsgruppe Passau has sold Polska Press Group, which owns 20 Polish regional newspapers and several weeklies, to the Polish state-owned company PKN Orlen, which has close ties to the ruling PiS government. Critics fear further restrictions on press freedom in Poland and call on Germany to stake a stand. Others, however, don't see the deal as a major threat.

The EU has faced Poland and Hungary with an ultimatum in the dispute over the rule of law mechanism: either they drop their veto on the next EU budget or the other 25 countries will push through the coronavirus recovery fund without them. EU representatives want to see clear signs that the two countries are willing to compromise before the EU summit on Thursday. Commentators highlight the enormous implications of the row.

Britain started vaccinating its citizens against Covid-19 today and Russia vaccinated 25,000 volunteers on Monday. Other states plan to begin their immunisation campaigns as soon as possible, leaving many people in Europe facing the question of whether or not to get vaccinated. Different commentators give different answers.