The paper clip, 19 May

The apparent end to Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war features across Europe's papers. The Financial Times writes that the EU is calling for an independent inquiry into alleged violations of human rights committed by the Sri Lankan military.

From Brussels, a range of correspondents write about the fire in the European Commission's Berlaymont headquarters, including Belgium's Le Soir, the Irish Examiner, the UK's Daily Telegraph and Italy's La Repubblica.

Croatia's Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has claimed victory for his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in Sunday's local elections, writes Vjesnik.

Svenska Dagbladet writes that the People's Party and the Christian Democrats have become the first two Swedish parties to launch their campaign videos for next month's European Parliament elections. Both videos can be seen here.

Switzerland's Tages-Anzeiger writes that the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) is running advertisements against EU membership for Turkey and Israel – even though nobody has suggested that Israel should be a member. The party is using slogans like “Abendland in Christenhand” – the Occident in Christian hands – for its election campaign for the European Parliament.

In the Czech Republic, former President Václav Havel has come out in support of the Greens. Poland's Rzeczpospolita and Slovakia's Sme pick up on the story. Lidové noviny writes that Havel also attacked policies to offer discounts to encourage car purchases as “a little monstrous”. He explained, in a controversial statement, that “it's as if someone said that concentration camps are needed because guards and prison officers need work. The question should be asked... whether we need more and more cars.” Lidové noviny is among the Czech papers with reports.

Berlingske Tidende writes that Britta Thomsen, a Danish Social Democrat MEP, has made it one of her election pleas in the European Parliament elections that all EU citizens should have access to free internet and that all children should have be given a PC for free. She said that this would help the EU fight increasing e-illiteracy.

Norway's Stavanger Aftenblad writes that support for joining the European Union is on the rise for the first time in several years. A poll shows that 42% of Norwegians now support membership, but a staggering 58% are still opposed to the oil- and fish-rich country becoming an EU member state.

Dagens Nyheter writes that an opinion poll commissioned by the Swedish People's Party has found that a majority of Swedes are now in favour of holding a new referendum about joining the euro. A majority of 51% supports holding a new referendum and also that this should be held before 2011. Sweden rejected joining the EU's monetary union in a referendum in 2003.

Bohuslav Sobotka, the Czech shadow finance minister, has said that he believes the country's budget deficit is so large that it is unlikely that the country will be able to adopt the euro until 2014. Sobotka's party, the Social Democrats, are currently the most likely victors in early elections due in October. Hospodárské noviny has a report.

Politiken of Denmark writes that José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, is trying to convince Mariann Fischer Boel to stay on as European commissioner for agriculture. Several national agriculture ministers are also said to want the 66-year-old Dane to stay on for another five years. Fisher Boel told the paper that she was currently discussing with her family what to do and said that she would make up her mind during the summer.

Sarajevo's Dnevni avaz writes that today's visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina by Joe Biden, the US vice-president, is the most important such visit since former President Bill Clinton visited ten years ago. The paper says that Biden is likely to discuss the rumoured appointment of a US special envoy for the region. Observers in Serbia hope that Biden would lean on the Netherlands to give up its opposition to the ratification of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Serbia and the EU, writes the Belgrade daily Danas.

Handelsblatt reports on growing calls for a stress test for German banks amid fears that their ability to withstand further downturn has not been properly assessed. The International Monetary Fund and the European Commission have been urging EU countries to follow the US lead and carry out tests into how much capital banks need to survive a further deterioration in the economic situation and maintain lending. Last week German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück ruled out stress tests saying they were not necessary. Süddeutsche Zeitung follows up on the interview it carried on Monday with Günter Verheugen, the European commissioner for enterprise, in which he criticised German banking supervision. the paper reports that Steinbrück has hit back at Verheugen's comments. Steinbrück's spokesman is reported as saying that Verheugen's comments showed a “surprising ignorance of the facts and a lack of understanding”.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports on the latest developments in negotiations to rescue Opel, the European division of ailing US carmaker General Motors. FAZ reports that Siegfried Wolf, chief executive of Magna, an Austrian car-parts maker interested in taking a stake in Opel, is planning to hold talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Putin is considering offering financing for the deal through Russia's Sberbank.

Die Welt reports on the ongoing wrangling between the managements of the car-makers Porsche and Volkswagen over a merger of the two firms. It reports that Christan Wulff, the president of the state of Lower Saxony where Volkswagen is located, has said that Porsche's attempt to take control of Volkswagen is a “failure”. Handelsblatt reports Volker Kauder, the leader of the Christian Social Union, as saying that Opel could go bankrupt.

The Financial Times runs a commentary on managerial changes at Thales, one of Europe's dominant defence groups. “Denis Ranque – and his company's minority shareholders – have fallen victim to what can only be described as conduct unbecoming on the part of the French government,” it writes.

Dagens Industri writes that the price of electricity on Nord Pool, the Nordic electricity bourse, has fallen dramatically in the last eight months. While the price was €0.067 per kilowatt hour last September, the price for April was €0.035 kw/h. The fall in the price is benefiting consumers hugely, it writes, but is also giving Sweden's battled industry some breathing space in the economic and financial crisis.

Austria is to remain a member of CERN, the European nuclear research institute, writes Der Standard. Chancellor Werner Faymann overruled his research minister, Johannes Hahn. Faymann said that Austria's reputation was more important than other considerations and that the cost cuts that would have been achieved with leaving CERN should now be made elsewhere, Die Presse writes.

Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that the European Court of Justice will rule today on whether retailers other than licensed pharmacies can sell over the counter drugs. The case has been brought by supermarkets and chains, such as Doc Morris, who want to be able to offer everyday medicines such as painkillers. Handelsblatt also previews the ruling.

Italy's La Stampa reports from Turin on violent demonstrations against, among other things, the G8, which Italy currently chairs. Il Giornale explores the role of Marxist-Leninist and anarchist groups in recent public unrest in Italy.

A range of central European papers report that Polish politicians are annoyed with a video clip produced by the European Commission to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. “Some things are left out, there are short-cuts, evident mistakes and instances of inappropriate use of images: the list is long”, the Czech Republic's Lidové noviny quotes Poland's ambassador to the EU as saying. Jan Tombinski pointed out, for example, that the video fails to mention “world-famous legends of the largest anti-communist freedom movement in Poland, including [Pope] John Paul II”. Solidarity is not mentioned. The Czech publication Týden says that the Poles also believe the clip overstates the role of Germany. Other reports are in Germany's Die Welt, and Slovakia's Pravda and Sme. From western Europe, Belgium's De Standaard provides coverage.

The communist era also features in the Czech papers, with a report on a demand for an apology from political prisoners. Jirí Paroubek, the Social Democrat leader, has demanded an apology because the confederation of political prisoners refused to allow the Social Democrats to give a speech at a memorial. They denied the claim. A significant number of older Social Democrats were members of the pre-1989 communist party. Hardcore communists have a sizable representation in parliament through the unreformed  Communist Party. Lidové noviny has a report and commentary.

In the Czech Republic, rows between President Václav Klaus and ex-Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek persist. Last week, Klaus claimed that Topolánek's government was the most “lobbied” in Czech history. “I feel sorry for him. Lukeš, Kovarcík, Kožený, Velek, Ulcák... Soucek, Janoušek and others of Klaus's men,” Topolánek yesterday said to Mladá fronta Dnes, listing supposed businessmen-friends of Klaus. “He will say he doesn't know them. Decency commands us to silence. That's probably what he's relying upon. I'm not sure how long we'll endure that,” he said.

Klaus has also caused ripples in Germany, where Sudeten Germans have protested against an award, the Golden Peutering, given to Klaus. Lidové noviny has a report.

Switzerland is still debating whether and how to participate in the EU's anti-piracy mission off Somalia, Atalanta, writes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. The decision to participate has in principle been taken, but it is still not clear in what form the decision will pass into law and whether parliament will vote on it before the summer break.

France's Le Figaro reports that Carla Bruni, the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has written to the Myanmar government to demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the winner of the country's last democratic elections. Suu Kyi, who has been imprisoned at home for years, is currently facing the threat of imprisonment after an American made an unsolicited visit to her house. Belgium's De Standaard reports that EU foreign ministers condemned the court action against Suu Kyi but did not opt for stricter sanctions at this stage.

Il Giornale looks at the current uneasy state of politics in Georgia, where opposition parties have been demonstrating against President Mikheil Saakashvili for months.

Helsingin Sanomat writes that Finns have the highest consumption of alcohol per person in the Nordic region. The paper writes that a survey by Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare has found that Finland has for the first time passed Denmark as the Nordic country with the highest alcohol consumption – each Finn now drinks an estimated 10.4 litres of pure alcohol every year.