Eurotopics.net

A Polish man has set himself on fire in protest at the policies of the national-conservative government, sustaining serious injuries. Some commentators see him as a new symbol in the fight against the governing PiS party. For others the incident can be put down to media hype.

The discount supermarket chain Lidl has once again caused an outrage by removing Christian symbols: an advertisement for a new store in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas shows the city's skyline with the crosses from church steeples removed. Although the company has since apologised and withdrawn the ad, Lithuanian media are beside themselves with anger.

Turkish President Recep Erdoğan has said his AKP party must undergo a process of renewal and has called on several mayors to resign. A number of them, including Kadir Topbaş in Istanbul, have obeyed. Now pressure is growing on Ankara's long-standing mayor Melih Gökçek to step down too. Critical commentators fear this is another bid by the president to tighten his grip on power.

The Czechs will elect a new parliament on Friday and Saturday. The Ano party, led by billionaire media mogul Andrej Babiš, is ahead in the polls. Commentators discuss the rise of the controversial politician and discuss the things that make these elections special.

Spain's Constitutional Court has banned a session of the Catalonian parliament slated for this coming Monday in which the region's independence was to be declared. As a way out of the Catalonia crisis some commentators propose a complete restructuring of the Spanish state. Others believe the country would be more democratic after the secession of Catalonia.

After a country-wide billboard campaign against the Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros in the summer, the Hungarian government is now planning a referendum targeting a scheme by Soros that allegedly poses a threat to Hungarian culture and society. Hungarian commentators condemn the campaign as a propaganda trick.