Eurotopics.net

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama have signed a deal aimed at reducing the number of refugees arriving in Italy. Under the agreement two reception centres managed by Italy will be set up in Albania and house up to 3,000 migrants rescued at sea. Refugees who arrive by land will not be sent there. Commentators examine the motives behind the pact.

The Israeli government continues to insist that there will be no ceasefire in the Gaza Strip without the release of all hostages by radical Islamic organisation Hamas. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that he is prepared to make "tactical little pauses" to facilitate the release of hostages and the delivery of humanitarian supplies, which aid organisations say are urgently needed. Europe's press takes stock.

President Andrzej Duda has nominated the current Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of the conservative PiS to form a government, despite the opposition camp having jointly won more seats in the parliamentary elections. Duda, who was a leading member of the PiS before becoming president, said he was continuing the good tradition according to which it is the leading parliamentary group that gets the first chance to form a government. Commentators find his stance unconstructive.