Eurotopics.net

The dismissed judges of Poland's Supreme Court have taken their case to the European Court of Justice. They refuse to go into retirement, as the controversial judicial reform of the national conservative PiS government stipulates. Commentators highlight the risks of this conflict.

In Hungary the pro-government business tycoon Zsolt Nyerges has taken over the opposition news broadcaster Hír TV. No sooner was the change of owners completed than several journalists were fired. Since the parliamentary elections in April the two newspapers Magyar Nemzet and Heti Válasz as well as the radio broadcaster Lánchíd have been shut down. Is the free market at play here or could it all be part of a government crackdown against media it doesn't like?

The death of a 20-year-old with Down syndrome has shocked Sweden. He died after a police officer who felt threatened by the young man, who was carrying a toy pistol, shot him. This was the seventh case of a fatal police shooting this year. Sweden's press sees a number of problems with the police system that urgently need to be addressed.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has compared Croatia with Nazi Germany, saying that "Hitler wanted a world without Jews, Croatia wants a Croatia without Serbs". The statement was made at a ceremony commemorating Operation Storm, in which Croatian troops reconquered Serb-occupied territories in 1995. Commentators in Croatia note that the past is still very present in the country.

After the wildfire tragedy near Athens which claimed almost 90 lives, Nikos Toskas, Alternate Minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection, has resigned. Politicians and the media have for days been discussing the consequences of the mistakes that have come to light. The media believe that much more than one minister's resignation is needed.

In the row over the American pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been in custody in Turkey since 2016 and is currently under house arrest, the US has imposed sanctions against two Turkish ministers. Ankara accuses the pastor of supporting the Gülen movement which it claims was responsible to the attempted coup. The US insists that Brunson is innocent. Will the dispute escalate?