Eurotopics.net

Alleged irregularities in the way a Master's degree was awarded to Madrid regional premier Cristina Cifuentes has triggered a debate in Spain about doctored qualifications held by politicians. Is this a hypocritical witch hunt or a necessary purge in a corrupt system?

Three days after the general election in Hungary Europe's press is still preoccupied with the landslide victory of the right-wing national Fidesz party. It discusses whether Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's model is viable and asks whether Western Europe has misjudged developments in Hungary.

The US, France and Britain hope to decide on a joint reaction to the presumed chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime in eastern Ghouta within the next few days. Russia has said rebels staged the attack in which according to the aid organisation White Helmets 42 people were killed. Commentators discuss the credibility of the West's threats and Assad's future.

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.