Eurotopics.net

The mayors of Budapest, Warsaw, Prague and Bratislava signed a joint declaration on Monday that founds a "Pact of Free Cities". The signatories wrote in a joint letter published before the meeting in Budapest that the initiative is aimed at establishing bottom-up democracy instead of populist solutions. A clever move? The Czech press is at odds.

Unprecedented in Spanish football: on Sunday the referees decided to suspend a second-league match between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete at half-time. Rayo fans had repeatedly aimed chants at an Albacete player whom they accused of being a neo-Nazi. Are double standards being applied with football fans in Spain?

The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) is facing serious accusations. According to a report put out by Linköping University, the Council, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and carries out research and gathers statistics on crime, has been doctoring its findings in line with political guidelines for years. Sweden's press is outraged.

There is a huge gap between the compromise measures decided at the Madrid summit and what scientists believe is necessary to protect the climate. But the fight against climate change is not yet lost, many European media stress, pointing to what can still be achieved.

Mesut Özil, who is currently playing for the British football club Arsenal, made headlines on Friday with a tweet in which he criticised China's repressive policy towards the Uighurs. Beijing reacted with a ban on broadcasts of Arsenal games, which prompted the club to distance itself from Özil. Some commentators praise Özil for courageously taking a stance, while others cast doubt on his motives.