Eurotopics.net

Local elections will take place in Bulgaria at the end of October. In a surprise move, the Gerb party led by former prime minister Boyko Borisov has nominated Anton Hekimyan, director of News and Current Affairs at TV station bTV, as its mayoral candidate for the capital Sofia. This will tarnish the reputation of journalism in the country, the Bulgarian press fears.

Last week 10,000 refugees arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa within three days. Shortly before, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had visited the island and presented a ten-point plan for tackling migration at the European level, calling for better redistribution of new arrivals and more effective surveillance of the EU's external borders. Europe's press voices doubts about whether this can work.

Giorgia Meloni and her post-fascist Fratelli d'Italia have been at the head of Italy's government for a year. Domestically, her government's abolition of the citizen's income and its ultra-conservative family policy have fuelled debate. In foreign policy she has proved more moderate. The press takes stock.