Eurotopics.net

In a speech that went on for almost four hours at the Moscow-based Valdai Discussion Club on Thursday, Vladimir Putin, like Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu before him, accused Ukraine of planning to build a 'dirty bomb'. Russia itself would only use nuclear weapons to defend itself, the Kremlin leader affirmed, declaring his willingness to negotiate. Europe's press laments the verbal escalation.

Friday October 28 marks the centenary of Mussolini's March on Rome, which brought Italy's National Fascist Party to power in 1922. A few days after the swearing-in of the new Italian government under the post-fascist Giorgia Meloni, commentators ask what remains of Mussolini's spirit in Italy and Europe - and why.

The Ukraine war has highlighted how vulnerable a centralised energy supply based on fossil energy sources is. A study in 2017 already showed how Ukraine could switch to 90 percent renewables by 2050, but went unnoticed at the time. Now the war could force a shift away from large-scale projects and towards decentralised and renewable energy sources. Commentators say this is exactly the right strategy.

The Turkish human rights activist and chair of the Turkish Medical Association Şebnem Korur Fincancı has been arrested for "terror propaganda" after she said on a pro-Kurdish TV station that there should be an independent investigation into Turkey's alleged use of chemical weapons against the PKK in northern Iraq. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has now called for her resignation as head of the association. Commentators suspect political motives.

A lunch in Paris to iron out their differences: after the three-hour meeting between French President Macron and German Chancellor Scholz on Wednesday, the German side said the talks on rising prices, energy supplies and armament projects had been productive. Joint working groups are now to be set up to deal with these issues. Commentators discuss the Franco-German axis.