Eurotopics.net

Hundreds of thousands of Romanians have signed a citizens' petition to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 14 after a case in which a 15-year-old boy was killed with a knife and axe and then burned and buried by three other minors, including a 13-year-old, in the western Romanian municipality of Cenei. Romanian Justice Minister Radu Marinescu has announced plans to review the criminal laws applying to minors.

The free trade agreement concluded between the EU and India will abolish or reduce customs duties on 90 percent of the bilateral trade and save European exporters up to four billion euros annually in duties, according to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The media highlight the global political significance of the partnership and the associated risks.

Following the bloody crackdown on mass protests in Iran there are growing signs that a military response from the US could be imminent. US President Donald Trump has ordered the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and accompanying warships to be deployed to the region. Tehran has threatened to respond "immediately and powerfully" in the event of an attack. Commentators question the motives behind a military strike.

In the dispute over President Petr Pavel's refusal to appoint Filip Turek, honorary president of the co-governing party Motorists for Themselves, to a ministerial post, the party's leader, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka, has upped the stakes. He has threatened that if Pavel continues to refuse he will inform Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte that Pavel is disregarding the constitution and therefore unfit to represent the country at the 2026 Nato Summit in Ankara in July.