Eurotopics.net

The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, has been hit by a major crisis: in the aftermath of a corruption and harassment scandal involving the husband of Academy member Katarina Frostenson, three of the other members who are elected for life have walked out. Not only Swedish commentators are wondering what this means for the Academy's future.

The conservative Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet will be published for the last time today, Wednesday. Its owner, Lajos Simicska, an oligarch and former Fidesz supporter who now fiercely opposes Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, announced the newspaper's closure on Tuesday. Journalism must not be sacrificed for the sake of personal interests, commentators admonish.

Eight years after the plane crash that killed then Polish president Lech Kaczyński and over 80 dignitaries near the Russian city of Smolensk, the government in Warsaw has unveiled a memorial to the victims in Warsaw. What meaning does the monument have for the ruling PiS and Poland as a nation?

Hungarians will elect a new parliament on Sunday. The clear favourite in the elections is the national-conservative ruling party Fidesz, which polls predict will get around 50 percent of the vote. The opposition, however, is hoping it can win a victory by forging a cross-party alliance. Should Prime Minister Orbán be worried?

In reaction to the Cambridge Analytica scandal Facebook has pledged to provide less data on its users to third parties in future. In addition, searches for profiles using email addresses or telephone numbers will be no longer be possible. Commentators nevertheless remain sceptical that Facebook's system will undergo any fundamental changes.

The Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont is to be released on bail after judges of the district court in Schleswig, Germany, rejected Spain's extradition request. They ruled that Catalan independence had not been pursued in a violent manner and that consequently the Spanish judiciary's rebellion charges were untenable. Will this prompt Spain's politicians and judges to review the situation?