Eurotopics.net

A year ago ArcelorMittal began leasing the Ilva steel plant in the city of Taranto in Italy with the obligation to buy it, but now the company wants to pull out of the deal, leaving the plant to face closure. ArcelorMittal's decision came after the Italian parliament scrapped a legal protection that the company deemed necessary for it to undertake environmental work at the plant without facing the risk of legal penalties. The press takes the politicians to task.

The celebrations in Berlin marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall will reach their climax this week. But in the months leading up to 9 November 1989 there were already many indications in Central and Eastern Europe that the communist system was on its last legs. Journalists in the east and west discuss the legacy of Europe's division and reunification.

A new law on a "sovereign Internet" came into force in Russia on 1 November. The regulation is reportedly aimed at protecting Russia against cyberattacks and requires all Internet service providers in the country to use only Russian domains and give authorities direct access to their systems. Many say the measures are designed to enable the government to block unwanted content more quickly. Is this taking Internet censorship to a whole new level?

In an interview with the magazine Valeurs Actuelles, which is seen as a far-right publication, French President Emmanuel Macron said he preferred legal migrants from Guinea or Ivory Coast to "clandestine networks of Bulgarians and Ukrainians". Kiev and Sofia have reacted with fury and summoned the French ambassadors. Bulgarian media are also incensed.

The US House of Representatives last week passed a resolution describing the mass killings of Armenians carried out in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917 as genocide. Turkey, which denies this, is incensed. A look at Europe's commentary columns reveals widely diverging views on Washington's decision.