Eurotopics.net

The French parliament passed parts of a new security law in its first reading on Friday. Under the new legislation pictures of police operations will no longer be allowed to be distributed publicly, while the police will receive greater powers regarding camera surveillance and weapons. The proposed law has provoked fierce protest from the media and civil organizations, and this is reflected in the commentary columns.

Once Austria's rigorous lockdown ends on December 6, the government plans to introduce mass coronavirus testing according to the Slovakian model. Teachers and police officers are to be tested first with rapid antigen tests, followed by the rest of the population. Austrian media highlight opportunities and pitfalls of various test strategies.

European leaders were unable to settle the dispute over Hungary's and Poland's veto of the EU budget on Thursday. The two countries are resisting the plan to apply the rule of law mechanism in the distribution of EU funds and coronavirus aid and now have the backing of Slovenia. For Europe's media, this could spell the end for one of the bloc's key principles.

Switzerland will vote on November 29 on a popular initiative known as the Responsible Business Initiative (KVI) which sets out standards for Swiss-based companies with respect to environmental and human rights and extends their liability for abuses of these rights, also in their operations outside the country. Commentators from Switzerland and abroad are divided on whether this approach is suitable for achieving the declared objectives.

Erdoğan has called for a permanent two-state solution for Cyprus. "There are two peoples and two separate states in Cyprus," he said during a visit to Nicosia and the coastal district of Varosha. So far, efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus question have revolved around a reunification between the two separate parts of the island.