Eurotopics.net

The path for Sweden to join Nato now appears to be clear: after months of blockading, Turkey's President Erdoğan has announced that he will submit the accession protocol to the Turkish parliament for ratification as soon as possible. Erdoğan made the announcement following a mediation meeting, Nato Secretary General Stoltenberg said. What does this mean for Sweden?

On 11 July Poland commemorates the victims of the Volhynia Massacre. Between 1943 and 1945, Ukrainian nationalists murdered tens of thousands of Polish civilians in what is now western Ukraine but was occupied by the German Wehrmacht at the time. After the two countries adopted a more conciliatory tone on the issue for the first time last year, this year Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Head of State Andrzej Duda attended a joint commemoration ceremony in Lutsk to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the Massacre.

After resigning as Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte has now also announced his withdrawal from politics. His government collapsed on Friday over disagreements about family reunification for refugees. Commentators take stock of the country's longest-ruling prime minister and ask what the future holds.

The Romanian anti-organized crime agency (DIICOT) is investigating a scandal involving three homes for the elderly on the outskirts of Bucharest whose residents have apparently been severely abused, starved and exploited. Several suspects have been arrested. There are suspicions that criminal gangs and politicians were involved. The Romanian press voices shock and is carrying headlines with the catchphrase 'homes of horror'.

The US has ceded to pressure from Kyiv and agreed to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs as part of an 800 million-dollar (roughly 730 million-euro) military aid package. Cluster munitions are controversial because of their high dud rate and are prohibited by more than 100 states. Washington has countered that the danger to civilians in the event of a new Russian advance is greater. Commentators weigh the pros and cons.