Europe at a glance
Dublin
Coalition talks: Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has rejected the idea of a “grand coalition” between his Fine Gael party and Fianna Fáil, its historic rival, in order to keep Sinn Féin out of government. Instead, he said he would “relish” the chance to rebuild his party in opposition. Irish politics has been upended by the shock election result a fortnight ago, in which Sinn Féin – the left-wing party that was once the political wing of the IRA, and is still regarded with distrust by many voters – took the largest share of the popular vote (24.5%). Fianna Fáil took 38 seats, Sinn Féin 37, and Fine Gael 35, leaving no obvious route to a stable coalition majority in the 160-seat lower house. Unless TDs (members of the lower house) can form a majority in support of a new leader – seen as unlikely – Ireland faces months of coalition talks, with Varadkar as caretaker Taoiseach, and the possibility of a new election ( see page 22).
Paris
Film academy quits: The entire governing board of the César Academy, the film industry body which awards France’s equivalent of the Oscars, resigned en masse just weeks before this year’s ceremony on 28 February. More than 400 actors, producers, directors and movie personalities had denounced the “dysfunction” within the academy and demanded “profound reform” after Roman Polanski’s latest film, An Officer and a Spy, topped its list of nominations for this year’s Césars. The French-Polish director has been wanted in the US since 1978, when he fled the country rather than face prison after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. The head of the academy, Alain Terzian, had insisted that the Césars “should not take moral positions”. However, following the backlash, the academy said it would work with France’s culture ministry to bring about “root and branch reform”.
Milan, Italy
Nun on the run: An Italian woman on the run from police managed to evade arrest for two years by posing as a nun and enjoying free stays at convents across northern Italy. The case has similarities to the 1990 comedy caper Nuns on the Run, starring Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane. But rather than fleeing from vengeful criminals, the 47-year-old Italian – identified by police only by her initials, R.T. – was trying to escape a conviction for fraud and theft; she had been sentenced in Sicily to 28 months in prison. One of her ruses was to ring up a convent posing as a mother superior and ask if her “niece” could stay at the convent for a while. At other convents she simply turned up dressed as a nun and was allowed to stay. Her luck ran out earlier this month when a nun at a Benedictine convent in Gallarate, in Lombardy, grew suspicious about her identity and rang the police.
Paris
Sex tape: Benjamin Griveaux (pictured), President Macron’s candidate for Paris mayor, quit the race last week, when images from a video of him masturbating were published online by Petr Pavlensky, a Russian performance artist. The woman to whom Griveaux sent the material (along with explicit text messages), 29-year-old student Alexandra de Taddeo, is now the artist’s girlfriend. Pavlensky has been arrested and could face two years in prison for violating privacy laws. Macron’s allies have speculated that the operation to humiliate his candidate could have had Kremlin involvement.
Rome
Salvini faces trial: Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s anti-immigrant League party and the former interior minister, faces trial on charges of kidnapping. He has been accused of abusing his powers when, as interior minister last year, he prevented 131 rescued migrants from disembarking from a coastguard boat. Last week, Italy’s Senate voted to lift Salvini’s parliamentary immunity in the case, meaning he could face 15 years in prison (and be banned from politics) if convicted. Salvini said he remained proud of what he had done – “and I’ll do it again as soon as I get back into government”, he added.
Minden, Germany
Anti-Muslim terror plot: The German authorities say they have broken up a far-right terrorist group that was allegedly plotting deadly attacks on ten mosques across the country. Police say the group, calling itself “The Hard Core”, was inspired by the atrocity in Christchurch, New Zealand last year, and was planning to murder politicians and Muslim asylum seekers in the hope of provoking a civil war. Twelve suspects were arrested in raids across Germany last Friday; a range of weapons were seized. Police had been monitoring the group for five months and had infiltrated it. They made the arrests following a meeting last week in the town of Minden, when it became clear that the group was readying for an attack.
Athens
Refugee camps on hold: The Greek government has suspended plans to build new refugee camps on several islands in the Aegean, in the face of fierce opposition from residents. Currently, the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros are home to more than 50,000 refugees, housed in overcrowded and insanitary makeshift camps. Ministers wanted to requisition and clear huge areas of land to build more suitable accommodation. However, local people fear the camps would be permanent, damaging tourism in the islands: many hotels and restaurants have already seen their takings cut in half. The government has warned that it will reactivate the plan unless a better solution can be found. Kostas Moutzouris, the regional governor, welcomed the suspension of construction plans, but said that “ultimately it’s back to square one, with no clear solution in sight”.