German minister: Putin should not go shopping on Champs Elysée

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

BERLIN

Harsher sanctions should be imposed on Russian President Vladimir Putin for deploying troops at the Ukrainian border, Germany’s new Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht told the weekly Bild am Sonntag on Sunday. Putin should “personally feel the consequences” of his actions and not be allowed to “go shopping on the Champs Elysée in Paris anymore,” she added. Read more.

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PARIS

France plans to launch ‘vaccine pass’ by end of January. The French government hopes to launch vaccine passes by the end of January, government spokesman Gabriel Attal told news channel LCI on Sunday. The new pass, which aims to increase vaccination rates, will replace the current sanitary pass as PCR or antigenic tests will no longer be sufficient to enter restaurants or cinemas. Read more.

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VIENNA

Austria introduces PCR test entry requirement for vaccinated. To fight the spread of the Omicron variant, Austria introduced stricter entry requirements on Monday. Travellers will now have to show a valid PCR test in addition to their COVID certificate. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

LONDON

More chills for Johnson after Frost quits. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will take over responsibility for negotiating on the future of the Northern Ireland protocol following the shock resignation of Brexit minister David Frost on Saturday. Frost quit saying that he had become disillusioned with the direction of Boris Johnson’s government, citing decisions to reintroduce COVID restrictions and failure to move towards being a low tax and low regulation economy. Read more.

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DUBLIN

Irish government has no plans for further restrictions this year. The government has no plans to introduce additional COVID-19 restrictions before the end of the year, a spokesperson for Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

HELSINKI

Europe’s biggest nuclear reactor receives permission to start tests. The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland has granted the country’s fifth nuclear reactor permission for initiating and conducting low power tests. Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) is set to start regular electricity production in June 2022 and will be the biggest in Europe. Read more.

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COPENHAGEN

Experts: Denmark punished for its efficient COVID-19 testing. Denmark is being punished on a global scale for efficient COVID-19 testing, according to Danish experts who say the country should instead be praised for its ability to detect the Omicron variant. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ATHENS

Greece amends COVID-19 rules for foreign travellers. As the Omicron variant spreads fast but amid pressure from tourism companies, the Greek government amended restrictions for those entering Greece. The aim is for people not to end up in hospital’s intensive care units, Greek health minister told EURACTIV Greece. Read more.

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ROME

EU chief praises Italy for its fast-growing economy, criticises high youth unemployment. “The Italian economy is growing faster than at any time in this century,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at an opening of the academic year speech at the Cattolica University in Milan, but highlighted the problem of high youth unemployment. Read more.

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VALLETTA

Maltese government leaves 223 migrants stranded at sea. Maltese authorities have refused to allow the disembarkation of over 200 migrants rescued within its own search and rescue area last week. Read more.

VISEGRAD

PRAGUE

Czech stance on climate policy to stay in a rut despite new leadership. Despite Czech voters ditching the government of Andrej Babiš, the new administration’s stance on climate and energy policy will change little. Under the new five-party coalition, the Czech Republic will remain on the pro-nuclear front. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovak government’s €300 incentive to convince elderly to get jabbed failed. The €300 the government promised to everyone above 60 if they got the COVID-19 vaccine has not brought the desired effects so far, Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský admitted. Read more.

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WARSAW

Thousands protest Polish media law. Thousands of people protested outside the Polish president’s palace on Sunday against a new media law that critics say is aimed at silencing the country’s main independent news channel TVN24.

The bill sought by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party government was passed by parliament in a surprise vote on Friday. If signed into law by the president, it would prevent companies from outside the European Economic Area from holding a controlling stake in Polish media companies, which would force US group Discovery to sell its majority stake in TVN, one of Poland’s biggest private TV networks. (EURACTIV.com)

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SKOPJE

Macron to facilitate Sofia-Skopje dialogue. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to take steps to facilitate the Sofia-Skopje dialogue, and to move things forward, French Ambassador Cyrille Baumgartner said in an interview on TV Alsat’s “360 Degree” show. Read more.

Sekerinska will not be in the new government. Former SDSM party leader Radmila Šekerinska, who resigned as Zoran Zaev’s deputy party leader early this year but kept her position of defence minister, has announced that she will not be part of the next government. She blamed the party for “not learning the lessons”, after a candidate close to her – Jovan Despotovski – performed poorly in the leadership contest, losing to Zaev’s handpicked candidate Dimitar Kovačevski. Šekerinska was a strong adversary of Zaev inside the party. (Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)

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SOFIA

Bulgaria’s new government puts pressure on chief prosecutor to resign. The new ruling coalition is pressuring Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev to resign, arguing that he fails to fight high-level corruption. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania still wants to optimise national recovery plan. Romania’s new Agriculture Minister Adrian Chesnoiu has said he will try to find a way to include some agriculture projects in the national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP). Since they entered the government about a month ago, representatives of the socialist party PSD have repeatedly spoken about the need to change the NRRP, although Brussels signalled it would be a bad idea. Read more.

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ZAGREB

Croatian referendum campaign against COVID certificates has enough signatures. The results of the far-right Bridge party’s referendum campaign against COVID-19 certificates and to regulate the work of the national COVID-19 crisis management team are expected to be known on Wednesday (22 December), but the party announced it already had enough signatures. Read more.

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BELGRADE

Shelters in Serbia house 4,578 migrants, 322 of whom are children. There are currently 4,578 migrants housed in 13 shelters and asylum centres in Serbia, 322 children, the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migrations has said in a press release. Read more.

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BELGRADE | WESTERN BALKANS

RECOM: Political oligarchs in the Western Balkans glorifying war criminals. Remembrance policies were in the hands of oligarchs using them for manipulation and glorifying convicted war criminals, said RECOM Reconciliation Network coordinator Natasa Kandić on 17 December. Read more.

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ZAGREB | SARAJEVO

BiH: No security threats for Croatian president. The police and security services in Bosnia and Herzegovina have said they did not receive any information of a threat to the security of Croatian President Zoran Milanović. Read more.

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SARAJEVO

Bosniak party leader calls for NATO’s engagement. The biggest Bosniak SDA party has called for a larger NATO and EUFOR contingent in the country over the Serb entity, Republika Srpska’s, plan to transfer state-level powers in defence and security, the judiciary and taxes to the entity level. Read more.

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BUDAPEST | SARAJEVO

Hungarian foreign minister: We will veto EU sanctions against Dodik. Budapest will veto any proposal to impose EU sanctions on Milorad Dodik, Serb member of the tripartite BiH Presidency, Foreign and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote on his official Facebook profile. Read more.

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PRISTINA

Kosovo approves 2022 budget amid parliamentary disquiet. The parliament of Kosovo approved a €2.75 billion budget for 2022 in an extraordinary Friday session that was boycotted by the opposition. Read more.

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TIRANA

Infighting in Albanian opposition continues for second weekend. It was another divisive weekend for Albania’s Democratic Party as Chairman Lulzim Basha, and founder, ex-president and prime minister and persona non grata in the US, Sali Berisha, both held votes to oust the other. Read more.

Protests called ahead of Serbian president’s visit to Tirana. Ex-prime minister, president, and current persona non-grata in the US Sali Berisha has called for demonstrations ahead of Serbian President Alexander Vucic’s visit to Albania tomorrow. The protest is scheduled for 4 pm in front of the prime minister’s office and is in response to the Open Balkan initiative.

Vucic will be joined by Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev who will sign a number of agreements with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to facilitate free trade and movement between the three countries. Berisha referred to Vucic as “the young Slobodan” and “Milishevic’s Goebbels.” (Alice Taylor | Exit.al/en)

AGENDA:

EU: Environment ministers meet in Brussels / Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius meets with new German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, new Bulgarian environment minister Borislav Sandov / Commissioner Margrethe Vestager meets with Poland’s Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa.
Belgium: Brussels Airlines flight crew strike over conditions.
Netherlands: EMA gives decision on Novavax’s Covid vaccine / MH17 trial prosecutors sum up, start making sentencing demands.
Switzerland: Restrictions on those not vaccinated against Covid-19 come into effect.
Poland: President Andrzej Duda to meet his Lithuanian and Ukrainian counterparts within the framework of the Lublin Triangle in Huta, Ukraine.
Czechia: New Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský is heading to Bratislava for his first official international visit.
Bulgaria: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrives in Sofia to meet with new Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and President Rumen Radev.
Romania: Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca visits Brussels and will meet European Council President Charles Michel.
Croatia: The National Bank (HNB) will hold a ceremony marking its 30th anniversary and the event is addressed by President Zoran Milanović, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Deputy Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner, HNB Governor Boris Vujčić, and former governor Marko Škreb.
Serbia: President Aleksandar Vučić to visit Tirana for two days, where he and the prime ministers of Albania and North Macedonia, Edi Rama and Zoran Zaev, are to take part in a conference of the Open Balkans regional cooperation initiative.
Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky hosts summit with counterparts from Poland and Lithuania, Andrzej Duda and Gitanas Nauseda.