Eurotopics.net

The German company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer published the first results of the final test phase of their coronavirus vaccine on Monday. According to the results, the vaccine provides protection in 90 percent of cases and there are no serious safety concerns. This means that the substance could be very close to approval for general use. But this is only one step among many on the path to nationwide immunisation, commentators warn.

Dutch Education Minister Arie Slob of the Christian Union has come under a hail of criticism for defending orthodox Protestant schools that require parents to sign a declaration against homosexuality. He invoked the principle of educational freedom, which according to the country's constitution gives schools the right to represent their views. Although Slob has since backtracked, commentators are not impressed.

The German company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer published the first results of the final test phase of their coronavirus vaccine on Monday. According to the results, the vaccine provides protection in 90 percent of cases and there are no serious side effects. This means that the substance could be very close to approval for general use. Commentators are optimistic but warn against blind euphoria.

All over Europe Biden's election has triggered a great sense of relief. Yet just days after his victory, the EU has imposed punitive tariffs on the US, an indication that the interests on both sides of the Atlantic are likely to continue to diverge. Commentators discuss what the change in the White House will mean for international politics.

The negotiations on the EU's budget and the coronavirus recovery package are due to end today. But according to media reports, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has written a letter to the EU in which he threatens to veto the budget and aid over the EU's planned rule-of-law mechanism. Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had already said on Friday that he would never agree to the mechanism. Observers doubt that the two leaders will get very far with their resistance.