On 17 April 2018, EU Debate Club was held in Room 503 of Academia Hall at Rokkodai campus of Kobe University.
　 9 participants first checked the results of Italian general elections from March 2018, in which the populist parties gained majority. Participants then discussed the main reasons why most Italians voted for the anti-immigration parties and pointed out at difficulties of forming a new government coalition in Italy.
　The debate then focused on the role of media in influencing voters' preferences and the increasing role of social media in this regard. Participants seemed to agree that the EU should focus on visualizing the positive effects of European integration, because both traditional and social media have been mainly documenting the EU's ongoing problems, such as economic crisis and refugee crisis.

　EU Debate Club is designed to familiarise students with the variety of opinions on the EU-related topics and we will continue to select important and relevant debate topics.