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In today’s news from the Capitals:
European defence is not about declaring that we have an EU army, Czech President-elect Petr Pavel said, suggesting that even French President Emmanuel Macron changed his mind and admitted the need to strengthen the European pillar of NATO instead of creating a joint EU army. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Will efforts to ban the combustion engine fall at the final hurdle? With the news that Germany may abstain from a vote on ending the production of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035, the fate of the long-negotiated law on CO2 standards for cars and vans is now uncertain. Read more.
Ukraine: 92% want EU membership by 2030. Ninety-two per cent of Ukrainians favour EU membership by 2030, the latest poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) finds. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in December 2021, only 67% said they would vote ‘yes’ in a referendum for immediate accession. Read more.
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PARIS
French MPs pave way to dropping legal limit on nuclear in energy mix. Lawmakers voted in favour of doing away with the 50% legal limit on nuclear in the country’s total energy mix on Thursday as part of France’s larger efforts to build newer, more modern nuclear plants. Read more.
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BERLIN
Gunpoint negotiations with Russia impossible say Scholz. Nobody can hold talks if they are being held at gunpoint, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told lawmakers on Thursday, pushing back on calls for peace talks with President Vladimir Putin. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
Qatargate: Belgium to decide on the release of Tarabella, Kaili. Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella and former European Parliament’s VP Eva Kaili, who is currently incarcerated in Belgium for alleged participation in the corruption scheme at the heart of the Qatargate scandal, will know on Friday whether they will be kept in detention. Read more.
Belgian Constitutional Court to rule on prisoner swap treaty with Iran. The Belgian Constitutional Court on Friday will decide whether to cancel the Belgium-Iran prisoner swap treaty, which would allow for a Belgian aid worker who is convicted of espionage to be swapped for an Iranian diplomat facing prison for having planned a bomb attack. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
LONDON
UK Royal Navy ship seizes vessel with weapons in Gulf. Royal Navy ship HMS Lancaster seized weapons from a vessel travelling south from Iran while completing a routine security patrol after a US fixed-wing Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform detected a suspected smuggling vessel. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
COPENHAGEN
Denmark presents controversial plan to shorten Master’s programmes. The length of many Master’s degrees is to be halved, according to the education reform plan presented by the government on Thursday – a move experts and the opposition believe will greatly harm the Danish education system. Read more.
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VILNIUS
Lithuanian PM: Europe should exclude Russia from its security system. Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė believes that Europe should develop its security system without Russia. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME | ATHENS
Athens fumes after Italy’s accusations over deadly migrant shipwreck. A high-ranking government official in Athens has denounced as “clumsy” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi’s statement that Greece’s “strong containment” migration policy – even with pushbacks – forced a boat with migrants to go directly to Italy, resulting in a tragedy which killed more than 60 people. Read more.
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MADRID
Spanish construction giant headquartering in Netherlands causes uproar. The unexpected announcement by the Spanish construction giant Ferrovial to move its headquarters from Madrid to The Netherlands over better tax policies prompted a storm of reactions in Spain on Thursday, with left-wing junior coalition member Unidas Podemos accusing the corporation of being “anti-patriotic”. Read more.
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LISBON
Portugal’s EDP to invest €3 billion in the country. Electric utility company EDP plans to invest €3 billion in Portugal by 2026, according to the strategic plan update released on Thursday, which corresponds to 12% of the total planned investment of €25 billion. Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
Polish government to continue using TikTok, questions EU staff ban. The Polish government will continue using TikTok, including for electoral purposes, the ruling party PiS, which has also asked the European Commission to provide further justification for its recent decision to ban the social media app from staff devices, said. Read more.
EU court orders Poland to change forest rules. Poland must quickly change its forest management laws as the EU Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that it violates the EU animal and bird settlement directive and prevented environmental organisations from questioning the government’s afforestation plans. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
Hungarian parliament delays Swedish-Finnish NATO accession vote. Parliament will decide on Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession on 20 March instead of 6 March, delaying accession for another two weeks, according to the new session schedule adopted on Thursday. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BELGRADE
Russia pressures Serbia over alleged arms for Ukraine. Moscow has demanded an official explanation from Belgrade about reports that Serbia, one of Russia’s traditional allies, had delivered a batch of rockets to Ukraine. Read more.
Serbia doubles subsidies for green car purchases. The subsidies available for purchasing new electric and hybrid vehicles will now amount to about €2.5 million (294 million dinars), twice as much as what was allocated last year, a newly adopted Serbian government decree states. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgarian government doubles down on unfair retail trade practices. Retail chains in Bulgaria have caught the eye of the authorities as the Commission for Consumer Protection has revealed the high rate of violations and suspected unfair trade practices in the retail sector. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albanians protest over triple femicide by convicted rapist, murderer. Crowds of activists and members of the public, including women and children, gathered outside of the Albanian Ministry of Justice on Thursday evening to protest over the murder of three women by a man with a long history of rape, domestic violence, and femicide. Read more.
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PRISTINA
EU remains positive despite Serbian backtrack, Kosovar disappointment over deal. Following Serbian President Aleksander Vucic’s apparent backtrack on plans to sign the EU-brokered proposal to normalise relations between Serbia and Belgrade, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke of his disappointment to parliament on Thursday while the EU remains positive. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenia mulls faster labour market access for asylum seekers. Slovenia is considering shortening the time asylum seekers must wait before accessing the labour market, with the Interior Ministry saying on Thursday that a proposal is already in the pipeline. Read more.
AGENDA
- EU: Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides holds call with Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Liashko;
- Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Mariya Gabriel holds videoconference with the European RoundTable of Industrialists – ERT;
- Germany: Fridays for Future calls for global climate strike;
- United States: President Joe Biden hosts German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
