Eurotopics.net

After more than nine years, Operation Barkhane, an anti-insurgent operation led by the French military in Mali, has officially ended, and France has withdrawn its last soldiers. The operation aimed to fight Islamist terrorist groups in the region. Since the military junta came to power in the West African country, relations between Bamako and Paris have deteriorated drastically. Commentators take stock.

A green, white and red flame has become the focus of the Italian election campaign: despite criticism, the post-fascist party Fratelli d'Italia is sticking to the symbol on its logo, which is supposed to represent the eternal flame on the tomb of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The party's leader Georgia Meloni distanced herself from antisemitism and the suppression of democracy under fascism, but commentators remain sceptical.