Eurotopics.net

Soaring energy prices pose a challenge for the EU as a whole, but also for individual member states, which are weighing up different measures to ease the pressure on their citizens. Commentators are particularly concerned about the approaching winter.

When Swedes go to the polls to elect a new parliament this Sunday, the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats have a good chance of becoming the second-strongest parliamentary group and senior partner in a right-wing governing alliance. The national press is concerned at the prospect of strong results for the party, which emerged from the far-right milieu.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the Western sanctions are a failure and a "threat to the whole world". Shortly beforehand the Kremlin had escalated the current energy crisis by completely stopping gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on the grounds that the G7 and EU are planning to impose a price cap on Russian energy imports. Commentators warn against taking Moscow's narrative seriously.

Journalist Ivan Safronov has been sentenced to 22 years in prison in Moscow on charges of betraying military secrets to foreign intelligence services. Safronov's supporters have gathered evidence that all the data Safronov revealed came from publicly accessible sources. Commentators decry the sentence as another blow to freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has sounded the alarm. The situation at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is controlled by the Russian military, is "untenable", according to the report put out by the Agency after a visit to the facility. Commentators examine why the report fails to accuse Russia of war crimes and see the IAEA in a difficult position.