Eurotopics.net

It's official: Sweden is to become Nato's 32nd ally. Hungary gave its approval on Monday, removing the final hurdle. Budapest gave up its resistance after the purchase of four Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets for Hungary's armed forces was finalised during a visit by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Friday. What does accession mean for the alliance and for historically neutral Sweden?

According to his allies, the murdered Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was due to be swapped for the "Tiergarten murderer", Vadim Krasikof, who is imprisoned in Germany. Maria Pevchikh, chairwoman of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, explained that secret negotiations were at their final stage. The media discuss the implications of the negotiations and whether they were sabotaged.

"We remain committed to fully implementing and enforcing our sanctions on Russia and adopting new measures as necessary," the G7 said on a visit to Kyiv to show their support on the second anniversary of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Commentators have yet to be convinced.

The candidate of the populist Movimiento 5 Stelle (M5S), Alessandra Todde, has narrowly won the regional election in Sardinia after securing 45.3 percent of the vote against the 45 percent of Paolo Truzzu, the candidate of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia. Todde was also backed by the social democratic Partito Democratico (PD). The election was seen as a test for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and was the first of five regional elections to be held this spring.