Eurotopics.net

A photo showing Turkish opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu standing on what was apparently a prayer rug with his shoes on went viral on the weekend. Muslims remove their shoes when they enter a mosque or use a prayer rug. Propaganda media close to Erdoğan are now hyping the incident. A major faux pas or much ado about nothing?

Finland is now officially the 31st Nato member state. On Tuesday in Brussels, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto signed and presented the accession document to his US counterpart Antony Blinken, who will place it in safekeeping in Washington. Meanwhile Sweden's accession continues to be blocked by Turkey. Europe's commentators take different views of the enlargement.

Donald Trump has become the first former president of the US to be indicted on felony charges. He was arraigned in a New York court yesterday, charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with illegal campaign financing and hush money paid to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels. The press discusses whether the trial could end up working in Trump's favour.

The conservative National Coalition Party has won a narrow victory in Finland's parliamentary elections, securing 20.8 percent of the vote, just ahead of the right-wing populist Finns Party with 20.1 percent and Prime Minister Sanna Marin's Social Democrats with 19.9 percent. The main issues in the election campaign were public finances and the national debt. Commentators focus on the advance of the right and its consequences.