Eurotopics.net

Budapest's left-wing mayor Gergely Karácsony has launched a bid to become the lead candidate of a coalition of opposition parties aimed at unseating Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. To this end he announced the establishment of Alliance 99 (the 99 stands for 99 percent of the citizens). Hungary's main opposition parties on the left and right had already decided last year to run together against Orbán's Fidesz, which has been in power since 2010, in the 2022 parliamentary elections.

The Belarusian state television broadcaster ONT aired a lengthy interview with the imprisoned government critic Roman Pratasevich in which the 26-year-old blogger - breaking down in tears at times - admitted to organising protests against President Lukashenka and said he in fact admired the president. Belarusian opposition activists in exile and Pratasevich's parents are convinced that the interview was the result of torture.

The Ukrainian government has presented a draft law aimed at the "deoligarchisation" of the country. Those who are oligarchs according to the definition stipulated in the draft must register and disclose their income on an annual basis. In addition, they are prohibited from financing political parties and purchasing state property. The media are sceptical that this is the right way to break the power of oligarchs in Ukraine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on MPs on Twitter to oppose the new government coalition announced by opposition leader Yair Lapid on Wednesday. With 61 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, the coalition has a razor thin majority. Europe's media doubt whether the new government can really bring about change - and whether Netanyahu will really have to step down after 12 years.

After five years of tough negotiations, representatives of the EU states and the European Parliament have agreed on new legislation that will force large multinational companies in the EU to disclose their profits and tax payments. The measure is aimed at boosting tax transparency. Is this a major breakthrough on the path to more fair taxation?