Eurotopics

1 week ago | eurotopics.net | Pilar Rahola |Javier Cercas

15 April 2025The Peruvian-Spanish winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Mario Vargas Llosa has died aged 89. A controversial figure, not only for his literary work, Vargas Llosa was also politically active and against dictatorships in South America. In 1990 he ran for the Peruvian presidency on a liberal economic programme but lost the runoff to Alberto Fujimori. From 1990 to 2023 he wrote regularly for the Spanish newspaper El País.

1 week ago | eurotopics.net | Bárbara Reis |Vitor Santos |António Costa

Without immigrants Portugal would have a real problem, Jornal de Notícias stresses: “The far right never misses an opportunity to link the foreign population with phenomena such as crime using more or less absurd arguments. ... It was the same when we learned at the beginning of the week that 1.6 million immigrants live in the country. ...

2 weeks ago | eurotopics.net | Mark Schieritz |Henry Donovan |Hansjörg Friedrich Müller |Tonia Mastrobuoni

The Spectator sees too many concessions to the SPD: “When mainstream conservatives betray their principles, they don't convert their voters to progressivism - they orphan them politically, leaving them susceptible to radical alternatives. ... Merz had positioned himself as the saviour who would restore his party's conservative credentials after years of Merkelian drift. He has instead revealed himself as just another spineless politician, willing to sacrifice principle for power.

2 weeks ago | eurotopics.net | Ian Williams |Gregor Scheu |Romaric Godin |Emilian Isaila

If Trump believes he can force a deal like this, it just goes to show how little he understands about Chinese history and culture, writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung: “To this day, China's colonial period, in which Western powers subjugated and colonised the country in a series of opium wars, is collectively referred to as the '100 years of shame'. ... Back then the country vowed never again to be humiliated by other nations. This principle still defines its political self-image today. ...

2 weeks ago | eurotopics.net | Matej Lahovnik |Felix Kiefer |Alexander Mühlauer |David Pontes

Slovenia's former economics minister, Matej Lahovnik, warns in Slovenske novice against getting caught in a tariff spiral: “As long as they remain a threat, no one gets hurt. But once they are implemented, there will be catastrophic fallout on all sides. .... Higher tariffs mean more expensive imports, which leads to higher inflation and lower growth. It's as if one person shoots another in the knee and that person shoots back.