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In today’s news from the Capitals:
Ukrainian refugees in Poland will have to cover half of their accommodation costs from March onwards, according to plans the European Commission says it was not notified of. Read more.
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EDITOR’S TAKE
Spain’s love-hate circus of failed coalitions and strange alliances. Spain’s political landscape could be material for a circus production ahead of regional elections in May and general elections in December, as left-leaning governing partners PSOE (S&D) and Podemos (The Left) are clinging to a sinking marriage, whereas right-leaning opposition parties PP (EPP) and Vox (ECR) are trying to resist a not-so-secret love-hate relationship. Read more.
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EUROPEAN SPECIAL REPORT
Berlin aims to fend off drugs shortages without general prices adjustments. A draft law tabled by the German government aims to avert drug shortages in the face of rising production costs. But generics producers warn that the plans are inadequate and broader price adjustments are needed to reach this goal. Read more.
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BERLIN
EU paper predicts sombre future for the German economy. The EU’s largest economy is steering towards a bleak future, with businesses more pessimistic than during the height of the pandemic, a leaked EU paper reads. Read more.
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PARIS
Macron wants Constitution to include right to abortion. French President Emmanuel Macron is in favour of enshrining the woman’s right to abortion into the Constitution, and he plans to introduce a bill before parliament in the next months. Read more.
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VIENNA
‘No shortcuts’ to EU accession, Austria tells Moldova amid fears of Russian coup. There are no shortcuts to EU accession, Austria’s EU Minister Karoline Edtstadler said during her trip with seven of her European counterparts to Moldova on Wednesday, where she also expressed solidarity towards the country where many fear Russia’s agression could also spread. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
LONDON
UK FM, EU top diplomat urge Taliban to remove restrictions on women. The Taliban should reverse restrictions on women’s rights and freedoms, according to a joint statement released by the foreign ministers of 23 countries and EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI | BUDAPEST | STOCKHOLM
Hungary backs Finnish, Swedish NATO membership, unclear on ratification date. Hungary has made it clear that it favours NATO accession for Sweden and Finland, as it has now clearly placed itself in the “Western camp”, though it still remains unclear as to when parliamentarians will vote on the matter. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
Stoltenberg: Quran burnings should not prevent Swedish NATO membership. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke out strongly on Wednesday against Turkey’s demands that Sweden changes its freedom of expression laws, just one day before NATO talks between Sweden, Finland and Turkey were set to resume. Read more.
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VILNIUS
Lithuanian government considers law on barring Russian travellers. The Lithuanian government wants the parliament to pass a separate law restricting travel of Russian and Belarusian citizens, something which is now imposed under a state of emergency resolution that needs to be periodically extended. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME
Italian PM Meloni in power game with Salvini over migration. Following a migrant boat tragedy in Calabria, which left at least 72 people dead, a Council of Ministers will be held in Cutro on Thursday with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and League’s Matteo Salvini expected to cross swords over migration. Read more.
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ATHENS
Greek ministers mocked railway workers’ warning about train tragedy. Greek railway workers had warned the Greek government for years about the increased possibility of a train accident, but these warnings were denounced as “groundless” by ministers who even replied with irony, according to new videos published on social media. Read more.
EU Parliament mission: Rule of law in Greece faces ‘very serious threats’. The rule of law situation in Greece is on the edge, given the poor media reporting, threats against journalists, and severe shortcomings in the justice sector, a mission of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) concluded during a visit to Athens. Read more.
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MADRID
Spanish PM says opposition shares far-right’s ‘old-fashioned’ gender policy views. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accused centre-right opposition party Partido Popular (PP/EPP) of sharing old-fashioned views with the far-right party VOX on gender policies in a clash in parliament on Wednesday. Read more.
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LISBON
Portuguese energy sector needs €60 billion by 2030, government says. According to energy transition and decarbonisation plans, Environment Minister Duarte Cordeiro said on Wednesday, the energy sector would see at least €60 billion of investment, mainly private, by 2030. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BRATISLAVA
Slovak centre-right crumbles as PM forms new party before elections. Acting Prime Minister Eduard Heger announced he and some of his ministerial colleagues are forming a new party ahead of the September elections. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czech cybersecurity office labels TikTok a security threat. The state cybersecurity watchdog issued an official warning and labelled the Chinese application TokTok as a threat, following in the footsteps of the US, the European Commission and Canada. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
LJUBLJANA
Motion to declare Russia a sponsor of terrorism voted down in Slovenia. The proposal for a resolution that would recognise Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism tabled by the opposition Democrats was voted down by parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee on Tuesday even though the European Parliament passed a similar resolution last year. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgaria pushes for equalisation of EU farm subsidies. The government will send an official request to the European institutions, insisting on the revision of the multiannual financial framework and the equalisation of EU subsidies for all agricultural producers, Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev announced on Wednesday. Read more.
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BELGRADE
EU’s Lajcak to meet Vucic and Kurti separately ahead of Ohrid. The EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajčak, will separately visit Pristina and Belgrade in preparation for a high-level meeting in Ohrid on 18 March. Read more.
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SKOPJE
North Macedonia signs €1.3bn motorway deal with Turkish-US consortium. The government in Skopje signed on Wednesday a deal worth €1.3 billion with Turkish Enka and its joint venture partner, US Bechtel, for the construction of motorways connecting it with ports in Albania, Bulgaria and Greece, Nova Makedonija reported. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albania mulls changes to anti-money laundering rules amid greylisting woes. The Albanian parliament’s Laws Commission has started examining proposed amendments to anti-money laundering laws at a time the country languishes on the FATF grey list and is pursuing a controversial fiscal amnesty initiative. Read more.
AGENDA
- EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council convenes to discuss asylum and migration, internal security, and more; Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson attends;
- Trade ministers hold an informal meeting to discuss EU trade relations and increased competitiveness, trade support to Ukraine, and more; European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis attends;
- Vice President Frans Timmermans gives a keynote speech at the Cycling Industries Europe’s 2023 Summit in Brussels;
- Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas co-chairs the meeting of EPP interior ministers;
- Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica meets with the Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn in Helsinki;
- Financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union Commissioner Mairead McGuinness participates in the first trilogue between the European Institutions on the Banking Package; Holds a videoconference with members of the Pan European Insurance Forum (PEIF);
- Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton holds videoconference with French Economy and Finances Minister Bruno Le Maire;
- Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni delivers a video message at the New Techniques and Technologies for Statistics (NTTS) conference 2023, organised by Eurostat;
- European Parliament President Roberta Metsola attends the EU Parliament’s Conference of Presidents;
- Belgium: Sweden and Finland hold talks with Turkey over their bids to join NATO;
- Italy: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits;
- Czech Republic: Swearing-in of new Czech president Petr Pavel;
- Russia: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosts his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
