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In today’s news from the Capitals:
BRUSSELS | ATHENS
In Europe, conservative Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis presents himself as a pro-European modernist, but in Greece, he is creating a “regime” aiming to control the media and justice, former prime minister and main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras told EURACTIV Network in an exclusive interview.
“It is a shame for our country to be ranked 108th in terms of press freedom, in the last place among European countries, even lower than Viktor Orbán’s Hungary,” Tsipras said, referring to the 2022 press freedom report by the Reporters Without Borders. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch cabinet to reveal plans for new nuclear power plants. The cabinet will reveal its plans to develop two new nuclear power stations in the Netherlands this week. Read more.
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BERLIN
Western leaders gear up against Chinese influence. To tackle the growing influence of China and its belt and road initiative, Western leaders launched a Western counter-initiative worth $600 billion to lessen the Chinese economic grip on low- and middle-income countries. Read more.
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PARIS
France finds cross-party support for constitutional right to abortion. Members of President Emmanuel Macron’s party have announced that they will push to amend the French Constitution to make abortion a constitutional right, following the US Supreme Court’s controversial decision. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
LONDON
UK presses on with changes to Brexit deal despite EU opposition. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government will press ahead on Monday (27 June) with legislation to scrap rules on post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland, setting up further clashes with the European Union. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finland’s new digital ID aims to bolster gender neutrality. Proving one’s identity is set to become possible next year through a digital identification app available for smartphones and tablets that aims to prevent gender-based discrimination and promote work-based immigration. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Sanchez defends Morocco’s handling of Melilla border incidents. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has come under fire, including by members of his own government, for defending the actions of Moroccan authorities in response to the attempted border breach by migrants at the Spanish enclave Melilla. Read more.
Spain approves anti-crisis package targeting energy companies. The government on Saturday approved a new anti-crisis package of €9.1 billion, aimed at reducing inflation’s negative impact on the most vulnerable and targeting windfall profits made by big energy companies this year. Read more.
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LISBON
UN secretary-general apologises for not protecting oceans. While in Portugal for a youth conference, UN Secretary-General António Guterres apologised on Sunday for the lack of attention older generations and policy-makers give to the oceans, stressing that it is still a slow process to reverse the problem. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BRATISLAVA
Slovakia unable to implement COVID recovery plan as planned. Slovakia is unable to implement the national recovery and resilience plan as it was conceived a year ago due to new conditions, Liva Vašáková, director of the recovery plan department at the government office, admitted to EURACTIV Slovakia. Read more.
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WARSAW
Russia removing Polish flag from Katyń monument angers Poles. The removal of the Polish flag from a memorial to Polish soldiers murdered by Soviet forces in Katyn in 1940 on Friday (24 June) was met with criticism in Poland, with some saying it is part of Russia’s ongoing anti-Poland campaign. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
Landslide Fidesz victory in municipal by-elections. By-elections were held in four Budapest districts, five county capitals and nine other municipalities where party candidates were running on Sunday and the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition put forward candidates in 16 of the 18 jurisdictions, winning in 12. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czechia will not adopt euro anytime soon, says PM. The Czech Republic has no plans to adopt the euro anytime soon, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said amid rising concerns from Czech economists. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Ousted Bulgarian PM ready to form new government. Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, whose government was ousted in a no-confidence vote last week, will again be a candidate for the prime minister post, Petkov stated in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday. Read more.
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WESTERN BALKANS
Tsipras: EU set to suffer consequences of lack of Western Balkan unity. The European Union is set to suffer the consequences of its lack of unity regarding the Western Balkans, according to Alex Tsipras, former Greek prime minister and leader of leftist party Syriza, in a joint article with Exit and EURACTIV. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
US funds study for small reactor deployment in Romania. The US government committed $14 million for an engineering and design study that would provide the basis for deploying small modular reactors (SMR) for a new nuclear plant in Romania. Read more.
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SARAJEVO
Dodik says just biding time on seceding from Bosnia. Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has not given up plans to take the Serb half of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Serb Republic, out of the country but is just waiting for the right moment, he said on Sunday, warning that he would continue to obstruct central institutions in the meantime. Read more.
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BELGRADE
Serbia should keep EU path despite Russia sanctions pressure, Vucic says. Pressure to impose sanctions on Russia by EU states should not push Serbia to drop its EU aspirations, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Sunday. Read more.
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BELGRADE | BUCHAREST
Agreement on construction of Belgrade-Timisoara highway. The governments of Serbia and Romania have signed an agreement on the construction of the Belgrade-Timisoara highway, Serbia’s construction, transportation and infrastructure ministry announced.
The agreement will enable the connection of future highways between Belgrade and Vatin in Serbia and Timisoara and Moravita in Romania. Feasibility studies for the highway are to be completed by the end of the year, and a contractor is to be selected sometime in 2023. (EURACTIV.rs | betabriefing.com).
Agenda
- EU: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a press conference before the alliance’s summit in Madrid.
- Energy Council.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participates in the G7 Summit.
- Vice-President Vĕra Jourová meets Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă.
- France: Amnesty press conference on French jurisdiction to try war crimes in Ukraine.
- United Kingdom: MPs to consider Northern Ireland Protocol Bill at second reading.
- Norway: Nordic foreign ministers meet.
- Spain: Parliament expected to vote on the use of medical cannabis.
- Portugal: UN Ocean Conference.
- Serbia: Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković is on an official visit to Romania.
- Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses G7 Summit.
- United States: UN Security Council meeting on Israel, Palestine.
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Eleonora Vasques]
Source: euractiv.com
