Eurotopics.net

While Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has received a boost through the victory of his right-wing nationalist Lega party in the EU elections, his coalition partner, the Five Star Movement, has suffered severe losses. Salvini is now threatening to dissolve the government unless his plans, especially for a flat tax, are approved. His muscle-flexing horrifies some critics and amuses others.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has nominated a woman as interim chancellor. Brigitte Bierlein, currently president of the Austrian Constitutional Court, is to become the first female chancellor in Vienna, and will head a caretaker government until the elections in September. The decision meets with approval in the media - although some point out that the question of who will succeed Sebastian Kurz is the least of Austria's problems right now.

Polls suggest the Social Democrats have good chances of winning the parliamentary elections in Denmark next Wednesday and replacing the conservative government. The question is whether they will be able to govern alone or have to seek coalition partners on the left of the political spectrum, because the Social Democrats' election campaign has not been without fault, commentators note.

Losses in the gas turbine sector have led General Electric to announce it will axe some 1,000 jobs at its Belfort plant in eastern France. The US technology firm took over the energy division of the French Alstom group in 2014 and promised to create hundreds of new jobs in Belfort. Commentators blame the French government for the job losses, on several fronts.

Latvia's parliament has elected Egils Levits, 63, as the country's new president. He was deputy prime minister and minister of justice before being appointed to the European Court of Human Rights. The fact that he graduated high school and college in Germany is seen as a sign of his cosmopolitan outlook. Observers see that as a big plus - as long as he doesn't show off.