Eurotopics.net

Just over a year after being elected French president, Emmanuel Macron has been awarded the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen. The jurors said they were honoring Macron in recognition of his vision of a new Europe. But without Berlin's approval Macron's dream will remain unfulfilled and the award will be no more than a consolation prize, commentators point out.

Left-wing student and civil rights movements came to a head in many countries 50 years ago. The so-called "68ers" championed democracy, social freedom, emancipation, the environment and other causes. What made the movement what it was?

On the 200th birthday of Karl Marx a bronze statue was unveiled in his home town of Trier in south-west Germany - a controversial gift from China. At a ceremony marking the opening of several exhibitions, EU Commission President Juncker stressed that Marx must be understood in the context of his times. A look at Europe's press shows that this is no easy task.

Opposition members demonstrated on Sunday in several Russian cities in anticipation of Vladimir Putin's fourth inauguration. Supported by representatives of the pro-Kremlin National Liberation Movement and men wearing Cossack uniforms, the police attacked the demonstrators with truncheons and made a number of arrests. In the view of commentators the state won't achieve its goals with this crackdown.

Air France-KLM CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac has resigned over the pay dispute that has raged between the company and its pilots since early February. French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has accused the employees of acting irresponsibly and warned that the Franco-Dutch airline holding company could collapse. The media discuss ways out of the crisis.

Sweden's ruling Social Democrats plan to tighten the country's asylum policy by introducing harsher measures against asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected. Under a proposal presented on Friday, among other measures eight years must pass before those rejected can reapply. Swedish commentators find these steps incomprehensible.