In Italy, loyalty to family groups supersedes wider interests. Russian gas kept the furnaces of Murano’s glassblowers glowing. That supply has been cut off, energy prices have gone up 14 times

Katya Adler has been the BBC’s Europe editor for over a decade so she is well placed to use her aptitude in five languages to look at the continent in uncertain times. In the first episode (3 March) of Europe on the Edge, Adler visits Italy and Germany – though she spends three-quarters of her time in Italy with just a brief spell in a Volkswagen factory and a German family’s nuclear bomb shelter bolted on at the end. This gave the programme an awkward imbalance, as if Adler was having such a good time in Italy that she forgot she was due in Lower Saxony.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login