Eurotopics.net

Fifa President Gianni Infantino has hailed the football championship tournament that ended yesterday in Russia the best World Cup ever. Vladimir Putin announced that the world has finally realised that its image of Russia was skewed. But not all commentators are convinced the tournament was a major propaganda success for the Russian president.

Croatia's footballers have shown that they are good losers after their 2:4 defeat in the Fifa World Cup final. After their initial disappointment the team rallied and celebrated the success: never before has a Croatian national team reached the World Cup final, and the players have been commended for their team spirit and playing technique. The vice champion is therefore also getting its share of the journalists' attention.

At their meeting this Monday in Helsinki Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin plan to discuss the situation in Syria and Ukraine and arms control, among other topics. Observers in Europe worry that the Russian president may persuade his American counterpart to make major concessions. The press speculates about the results of the summit.

This Wednesday the Turkish government will end the state of emergency imposed after the attempted coup in July 2016. Since the night of the coup Turkey has proven its resilience, some commentators say. Others argue that in view of Erdoğan's sweeping powers the country will remain in a state of emergency regardless.

The euro finance ministers have given the green light for Bulgaria to join the banking union and discussed the country's accession to the Exchange Rate Mechanism II, both preconditions for the introduction of the euro. Sofia submitted a corresponding request at the end of June, although a decision will be reached in a year at the earliest. For Bulgaria's press the Eurozone accession process can't go fast enough.