Czech EU presidency to be run by Erasmus-paid trainees

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

PRAGUE

Ahead of the Czech EU Council Presidency that starts in July, many university students, including those under the EU’s Erasmus project, have been drafted in to fill various roles, but they are complaining about working conditions as they will be expected to cover their own expenses. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch call to set up international anti-graft court. An International anti-corruption court to combat large-scale forms of corruption needs to be established by like-minded countries, foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra said during a meeting with EU foreign ministers on Monday. Read more.

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BERLIN

German family minister steps down following holiday backlash. Germany’s family minister Anne Spiegel has stepped down after it was revealed she went on a four-week holiday while Rhineland-Palatinate’s environment minister as her region was hit by floods. Read more.

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PARIS

French candidates call on supporters to fund failed campaigns. The Greens and the right-wing Les Républicains party are calling for donations from their supporters after falling short of the 5% threshold required in the French presidential election for minimum reimbursement of campaign spending. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

LONDON

No plans for Dover priority lane, says minister. The government has ruled out introducing a priority system for perishable goods entering the UK at Dover following disruption at the UK’s main port. Read more.

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DUBLIN

Ireland’s Ukrainian ambassador wants ‘Z’ symbol banned. The “Z” symbol associated with support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine should be banned, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland has said after a pro-Russian rally was held in Dublin this weekend. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

STOCKHOLM

Swedish parliament favours increasing defence budget to 2% of GDP. There is broad support in the Swedish parliament to raise the defence budget to 2% of the country’s GDP following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Swedish press agency TT has reported. Read more.

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COPENHAGEN

Danish health authority to buy two million iodine tablets. The health authority is increasing its stock of iodine tablets based on the advice of the country’s Emergency Management Agency, predicting a nuclear incident in Denmark’s immediate area, TV station TV2 has reported. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

LISBON

Portugal to support any EU sanction on Russian oil. Portugal will support the EU’s proposal to include oil in the sanctions against Russia, Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho said in Luxembourg on Monday. Read more.

Portuguese government to protect family incomes through price control. The government will protect citizens’ income through a price control strategy and not through measures that could contribute to an inflationary spiral, Eurico Brilhante Dias, the parliamentary leader of the socialist party, PS, said on Monday. Read more.

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ATHENS

Bulgaria and Greece advance nuclear project talks. Bulgaria and Greece have progressed in their talks about constructing a nuclear power plant, but the liability issue in case of an accident remains unresolved, according to EURACTIV’s partners in Sofia and Athens. Read more.

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ROME

Trial against Egyptian officials accused of Italian’s murder, suspended. An Italian judge on Monday suspended proceedings against four Egyptian officials accused of having kidnapped, tortured and killed the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016. Read more.

Italy, Algeria sign gas supply deal. Italy and Algeria agreed to boost gas supply to Italy to cut reliance on Russian gas after Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Algiers on Monday. Read more.

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MADRID

Government trying to curb inflation says minister. The government is trying to lower the inflation rate, which reached 9.8% in March, finance minister María Jesús Montero said on Monday. Read more.

VISEGRAD

BRATISLAVA

Slovakia may send Soviet-made fighter jets to Ukraine. Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger did not rule out the delivery of Soviet-made Mig-29 fighter jets to Ukraine after it had already delivered the air defence system S-300. Read more.

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WARSAW

Report suggests Poland’s ex-president was assassinated in 2010. The plane crash in which former President Lech Kaczyński died in 2010 was not an accident but an assassination, the long-awaited report published Monday by the subcommittee investigating the Smolensk air disaster has found. Read more.

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BUDAPEST

Orbán-favoured IT juggernaut keeps expanding. Hungarian IT company 4iG, which has won a series of recent public contracts, has merged its telecommunications portfolio with Antenna Hungária, increasing its stake in the group to 76.78%, the company told Hungarian national press agency MTI on Monday, Telex reported. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

LJUBLJANA

Front-runners in Slovenian elections yet to face off in debates. With less than two weeks to go before the parliamentary elections, the front runners to become the next prime minister are yet to face off in debates. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania prepares €3.5 billion support package for citizens. The government will soon launch multiple measures as part of an aid package worth €3.5 billion to support vulnerable populations and SMEs as prices continue to rise. Read more.

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ZAGREB

Request for allocation of new capacity of LNG terminal on Krk. The LNG Croatia company stated on Monday that existing and prospective clients could submit proposals to allocate new free capacities for the regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at this facility at Omišalj on the Croatian island of Krk. Read more.

Croatia expels 18 Russian diplomats. Croatia has expelled 18 Russian diplomats and six administrative staff members, the foreign and European affairs ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Croatia notified the Russian ambassador about reducing the number of diplomatic and administrative staff at the Russian Embassy on Monday. Once again, the foreign and European affairs ministry strongly condemned “the brutal aggression on Ukraine and numerous war crimes committed.”

Russia was once again called upon to immediately cease its military activities, withdraw its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine, and secure evacuation and aid supply routes. Croatia also called on Russia to bring those responsible for war crimes to justice. (Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)

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BELGRADE

Serbia to slowly align with restrictive EU measures on Russia, says analyst. Serbia will likely begin to align with the EU’s positions in international organisations and slowly introduce some sanctions against Russia, Igor Novaković, director of research at the International and Security Affairs Center (ISAC Fund), said on Monday. Read more.

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BELGRADE | BERN | PRISTINA

Serbian intelligence denies plan to assassinate Swiss prosecutor. Serbian intelligence forces denied accusations they plotted to kill former Swiss prosecutor Dick Marty in 2020 and then blame it on Kosovo, following an investigation broadcast on Swiss state TV. Read more.

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SARAJEVO

UK, US sanction BiH government members. The UK has sanctioned Tripartite BiH Presidency member Milorad Dodik and Republika Srpska President Željka Cvijanović, while the US has sanctioned former BiH Chief Prosecutor Gordana Tadić, from RS and Asim Sarajlić, an MP from the biggest Bosniak party SDA. Read more.

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SKOPJE

Former North Macedonia prime minister faces US sanctions. North Macedonia’s former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and former Director of the Department for Security and Counterintelligence (UBK) Sašo Mijalkov have been publicly sanctioned by the US Department of State. Read more.

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PRISTINA

Kosovo PM criticises Serbia’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ in south. Ethnic Albanians in the Presevo Valley in southern Serbia are suffering under “silent ethnic cleansing” following elections that were “neither free nor democratic,” Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said. Read more.

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TIRANA

Rama meets Scholz in Berlin amid EU accession woes. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed his support for enlargement during a press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Berlin Read more.

US sanctions Albanian media owner and ex-politician. The United States Department of the Treasury has sanctioned former MP Aqif Rakipi and media owner Ylli Ndroqi for threatening “the stability of the region through corruption, criminal activity, and other destabilising behaviour.” Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: EU, France and the UN World Food Program to announce initiatives to mitigate impact on global food security of Russia’s war on Ukraine / General Affairs Council takes place in Luxembourg.
Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz chairs meeting of special security cabinet, meets with the CEOs of major German companies in Berlin.
Austria: Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson meets head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi in Vienna.
Poland: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visits.
Czech Republic: Five central European foreign ministers meet on Ukraine, Covid / Values Commissioner Vĕra Jourová in Prague; meets Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan and other members of the government.
Croatia: The ceremony of awarding scholarships under the “For women in science” scheme in 2022 is held. The European Investment Bank presents its results in Croatia in 2021 and its plans for Croatia in 2022.
Romania: European Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius visits Romania.