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In today’s news from the Capitals:
The leaders of Germany, France, and Italy are travelling to the Ukrainian capital on Thursday (16 June) to pledge their backing to the war-torn country in a bid to quell the increasing dissatisfaction of Kyiv over their reluctant support.
However, analysts warn that the visit, which comes as Brussels gears up to give its verdict on Kyiv’s EU candidacy bid, has domestic political underpinnings and is unlikely to change the substance of Berlin, Paris and Rome’s policies towards Ukraine. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Ukraine, energy security top priorities for the Czech EU Presidency The Czech government presented its priorities for its upcoming EU Presidency on Wednesday (15 June), foregrounding the issues of Ukraine’s EU candidate status, alongside energy security, EURACTIV Czechia reports. Read more.
PARIS
Moldova’s EU bid must not be ‘dissociated’ from Ukraine’s, Macron says. Europeans owe Moldova a positive and clear signal on its EU membership application, French President Emmanuel Macron said in Chisinau on Wednesday. Read more.
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VIENNA
New Austrian digital skills university launch a ‘muddled mess’. The Institute of Digital Sciences Austria will start operating in 2023 despite criticisms levelled by academia for its financing structure, the Council of Ministers decided on Wednesday. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
LONDON
Ministers ‘undeterred’ by human rights court block on Rwanda asylum flights. UK ministers insist that they will press ahead with plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda as part of a £120 million deal, despite the first flight to east Africa being cancelled on Tuesday following a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights. Read more.
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DUBLIN
Ireland, Microsoft join forces to boost national cybersecurity. Ireland’s government has joined a programme run by tech giant Microsoft to strengthen national resilience against cyberattacks. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finland should not wait for Sweden on NATO, says foreign committee chair. Finland should not tie itself to Sweden while both countries wait for their NATO application process to proceed, the chair of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Jussi Halla-aho, said on Tuesday. Read more.
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VILNIUS
Lithuanian businesses hit by Chinese sanctions offered loans. Lithuanian businesses that suffered difficulties due to China’s sanctions can now apply for working capital loans, the economy ministry has announced. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Historic heatwave hits Spain. The current heatwave gripping Spain is set to continue until at least the end of the week, with temperatures already reaching 43.2 degrees celsius, the country’s meteorological agency AEMET said on Wednesday. Read more.
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ROME
Gazprom announces 15% gas cut to Italy. Russian giant Gazprom will cut its gas supplies to Italy by 15% due to the back-and-forth between Russia and Europe over energy supplies, the company said on Wednesday. Read more.
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LISBON
Portugal creates six-month work visas, scraps immigration quotas. Foreigners can now stay in Portugal for six months under a new work-seeking visa approved Wednesday, eliminating the quota regime for immigration, Ana Catarina Mendes, the minister of foreign and parliamentary affairs announced. Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
Israeli tours to Poland suspended following safety dispute. Israel wanted to return to organising school trips to Poland but was met with resistance by the country’s authorities, who say travellers, accompanied by armed security guards from Shin Bet, the country’s internal security service, give the impression of Poland being a hateful, anti-Semitic country. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Slovak media reaches record low levels of trust. Trust in the media has dropped to record lows in Slovakia, with fewer people trusting the media compared to last year, a new survey from the Reuters Institute of Journalism found after surveying 46 countries. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BELGRADE
Serbia eyes interconnector to bring Russian oil from Hungary. Serbia would be interested in building an interconnector with neighbouring Hungary because its northern neighbour gets its oil from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline, which is not under Western sanctions, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Wednesday. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgarian government unlikely to survive no-confidence vote. The 120 signatures from opposition MPs to dismiss Speaker of the National Assembly Nikola Minchev shows the government risks losing the no-confidence vote field by GERB on Wednesday as 121 votes are needed to overthrow the cabinet. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Romania receives first gas extracted from new Black Sea development. Romania received the first quantities of natural gas extracted from the Midia Gas Development (MGD), the first new offshore gas development in Romania in more than three decades. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenia to deregulate motorway fuel prices. Prices of motor fuels sold along motorways will be deregulated on 21 June as the country returns to a pricing model in force before October 2020, under which margins on petrol and diesel sold at service stations outside motorways are capped but prices at motorway service stations are not. Read more.
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BELGRADE
“Z” makes Ukrainians feel unsafe in Serbia, ambassador says. Ukraine expects support from its partners in Serbia, Kyiv’s Ambassador to Belgrade Volodymyr Tolkach, who pointed to the prominent display of the letter “Z” – symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – at various events as a source of discomfort for his compatriots. Read more.
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PRISTINA
Kosovo to raise minimum wage, pensioner protests ignored. Parliament has approved a new bill to increase the minimum monthly salary to €250 but has no plans to raise pensions in parallel despite this being required by the Constitution and war veterans calling for such a measure during recent protests. Read more.
Agenda:
- EU: Eurogroup, Social Policy Council.
- European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen meets Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob.
- Committee meetings at the European Parliament.
- Switzerland: UNHCR publishes its annual report.
- United Kingdom: Bank of England decision on monetary policy.
- Czech Republic: Government meets European Parliament Speaker Roberta Metsola ahead of EU presidency.
- Bulgaria: Prime Minister Kiril Petkov visits Azerbaijan.
- Serbia: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visiting Serbia, where he will meet with President Aleksandar Vučić, parliament Speaker Ivica Dacic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, and Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković.
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Eleonora Vasques, Sofia Stuart Leeson]
Source: euractiv.com
