Eurotopics.net

Four days before the parliamentary elections a third of Italy's voters have yet to decide which party they will vote for. There is the possibility of a centre-right alliance comprising the Lega Nord, Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and the Fratelli d'Italia becoming the strongest force, and the protest party Movimento 5 Stelle the strongest single party. It could be difficult to form a government. Cause for concern?

The 27-year-old investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his girlfriend have been found shot dead in their home in Slovakia. Kuciak had uncovered a number of complex cases of tax evasion. Commentators blame politicians in Slovakia and across the EU for creating a climate in which journalists no longer feel safe.

Observers have reacted with shock and dismay to an appearance made by Turkey's President Erdoğan at an AKP event in Kahramanmaraş in southeast Turkey. The president called a little girl dressed in military uniform who was in tears onto the stage and told her that soldiers don't cry. He then asked her in an indirect way whether she would be willing to die as a martyr for Turkey.

France's government wants to reform the state-owned railway company SNCF and push through the abolition of privileges for railway employees by decree should the move fail to receive a parliamentary majority. Several trade unions have threatened with massive strikes. Commentators hope the government will get its way, to the benefit of railway transport throughout Europe.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wants to make the EU more accessible to the people of Europe, proposing on Wednesday a bicameral system consisting of the EU Parliament and a council of member states. The presidents of the EU Commission and perhaps also the EU Council would be directly elected, and in the long term the two presidencies would be fused into one. Journalists ask if this will take the EU in the right direction.