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In today’s news from the Capitals:
VILNIUS
Lithuanian parliamentarians have proposed to equate the black and orange ribbon of Saint George and ‘Z’, the symbol used to mark the vehicles of Russian forces in Ukraine, with Nazi and communist symbols. Read more.
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BERLIN
Defence spending vote threatens to expose cracks in German coalition. The €100 billion defence spending package could fall through in parliament if pacifist wings of the governing parties are not reigned in. Read more.
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PARIS
Zelenskyy slams French companies still operating in Russia. Companies still operating on Russian soil are sponsoring “Russia’s war machine”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the French parliament on Wednesday. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
ING to stop funding oil and gas drilling. Dutch bank giant ING has announced that it will no longer finance new oil and gas fields and that it plans to invest more money in developing renewable energy such as solar and wind power. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
COVID-19 ‘now everywhere’ in restriction-free Finland. COVID-19 is making a strong comeback in Finland, where all mandatory restrictions were recently lifted, and people believed the worst to be over. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
Opposition leader: ‘No longer neutral’ Sweden must apply for NATO membership. Sweden must apply for NATO membership as it is “no longer neutral”, Ulf Kristersson, president of the Moderate party in opposition, told SVT’s Morgonsstudio in an interview on Wednesday where he repeated his call for membership. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME
Draghi calls for open dialogue to stop China from siding with Russia. Open dialogue must be kept with Beijing so that it does not take sides with Russia, Prime Minister Mario Draghi told the House and the Senate ahead of the European Council summit. Read more.
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ATHENS
Greek minister says sanctions aim to bring down Putin. The sanctions imposed on Russia by the West are designed to destabilise President Vladimir Putin from the inside, Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said in an interview, triggering the opposition’s reaction. Read more.
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MADRID
Pressure mounts on Spanish government to solve trucker’s strike. Many sectors of the Spanish economy are putting pressure on the government, urging the executive to find a solution to the trucker’s strike, causing roadblocks disrupting supply chains across all sectors, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported. Read more.
VISEGRAD
PRAGUE
Czech MEP slams Scholz, says Kyiv needs more weapons. Germany became a target of criticism due to its reluctance to act and provide Ukraine with more military support, as has been requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Read more.
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WARSAW
Polish judge reinstated after losing job to Supreme Court debacle. Igor Tuleya, whose case has become a symbol of the Polish government’s violation of judges’ independence, has been judicially reinstated to rule on criminal cases. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
Old issues persist, elections watchdog says about Hungarian elections. Previous recommendations to improve elections in Hungary remain unaddressed, and the concentrated media market is a problem, Europe’s international election watchdog said in an interim report about the upcoming parliamentary elections. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Lavrov asks Slovakia to stick to international treaties. Slovakia sending the S-300 air defence system to Ukraine would violate the 1990 agreement between Czechoslovakia and the then Soviet Union, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BELGRADE | PRISTINA
Quint: Pristina’s refusal to let Serbs cast ballots undermines EU aspirations. The countries of the Quint on Wednesday voiced their great disappointment with the Kosovo government’s decision rejecting their proposal to let Serbian citizens vote in the Serbian elections from Kosovo, stressing that Pristina’s stance would undermine its European aspirations. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Former Romanian president confirmed as secret police informant. Traian Basescu, a former president of Romania, has collaborated with the communist-era secret police, the High Court said in a final ruling on Wednesday (23 March). Read more.
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SOFIA
Defence Minister: Bulgaria well protected amid war in Ukraine. Bulgaria is well protected while the Russian war in Ukraine rages on some 300 kilometres from the country’s borders, said Defence Minister Dragomir Zakov. Read more.
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ZAGREB
Croatian minister receives threats. Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak has confirmed that after she did not extend a contract with the Omega software company, she received threats – though she did not officially report them, EURACTIV’s partner Jutarnji List, has reported. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Highest Slovenian Court dismisses motion to ban opposition parties. The Slovenian Constitutional Court has dismissed a petition to ban two leftist opposition parties because they failed to denounce communism, a ruling that came just before the official start of the general election campaign. Read more.
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BELGRADE
EU ambassador in Belgrade warns of risks as energy is becoming weaponised. Russia’s attack on Ukraine has underscored the importance of energy independence because “resources have become weaponised,” the chief of the EU Delegation in Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, has said, adding that the bloc would work on overcoming these challenges together with Western Balkan countries. Read more.
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SARAJEVO
Demand to abolish House of Peoples powers violates Dayton agreement. The leading Bosniak SDA party’s demand to abolish the powers of the upper house of parliament of the Bosniak-Croat Federation entity is an attempt at toppling the Dayton peace agreement, the leader of the Bosnian Croat HDZ BiH party, Dragan Čović, has said. Read more.
Croatian central bank warns inflation could rise from 9% to 12%. The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) known as CBBH estimates inflation will hit 9.2% for the first half of 2022, meaning the bank has significantly adjusted its upward inflation estimates compared to forecasts made in December.
The CBBH noted that current estimates are made based on very variable data but according to their calculations, the most certain inflation rate will amount to 9.2%. According to the variable data estimates, the bank also pointed out that inflation could reach as much as 12.3% in the worst-case scenario.
This scenario will be made possible if inflationary pressures increase further due to additional disruptions on international markets, bottlenecks in distribution chains or domestic price shocks that are not related to price trends on international markets. (Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)
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PRISTINA
Kosovo expands sanctions against Russia, Belarus. Kosovo has expanded the scope of its sanctions against Russia and Belarus, following in the footsteps of the EU. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albania to elect new president in May. Albania will have a new president by the end of May, Taulant Balla, leader of the Socialist Party’s (PS) parliamentary group, has said. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: NATO summit at 10am, followed by G7 leaders’ meeting around lunchtime, followed by EU summit from 4.30pm / European Parliament plenary session continues in Brussels / EU negotiators hold talks on a Digital Markets Act.
- Sweden: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses Swedish parliament via video-link.
- Czech Republic: Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides is in Prague to meet the Czech Republic’s health and agriculture ministers.
- Greece: French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly signs contract for sale of additional frigates and Rafale jets.
- Croatia: Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman visits Germany.
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Alexandra Brzozowski, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson]
Source: euractiv.com
