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In today’s news from the Capitals:
EDITOR’S TAKE
Energy union or deindustrialisation. EU leaders should take the crucial leap and move on with an energy union; otherwise, the bloc will face the risk of deindustrialisation and being defeated in the global competition with the US and Asia. Read more.
SOFIA
Bulgaria’s ex-PM Borissov struggles to form anti-Putin coalition. Former prime minister Boyko Borissov won the fourth parliamentary election in 18 months but is now finding it difficult to sell his anti-Putin coalition proposal as parties are concerned over his party’s poor record on corruption. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
LEAK: EU Commission to allow more state aid to support businesses. The European Commission is planning to give member states more leeway to support businesses suffering from the consequences of the Russian aggression in Ukraine and high energy prices, according to a document seen by EURACTIV. Read more.
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BERLIN
Regional election brings tailwind for Scholz’s Social Democrats. The Social Democrats came first in Sunday’s regional elections in Northern Saxony, according to preliminary results, bringing a boost to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party, which has faced sinking approval rates in recent months. Read more.
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PARIS
French government releases strategic fuel stocks amid shortage. France has “released strategic stocks” and increased fuel deliveries by 20%, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, currently on a trip to Algeria announced on Sunday. Read more.
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VIENNA
Van der Bellen re-elected Austrian president in first round. Austria elected its federal president on Sunday, choosing to keep the incumbent Alexander Van der Bellen, who won a clear majority against the other six candidates in the first round, current projections show. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Protestors in support of Iranian women march through The Hague. Over a thousand protestors met to show their support for Iranian women in The Hague on Saturday. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finland opposes new shared EU debt. Finland, which favours respecting EU internal market rules and coordination, opposes new EU shared debt to help with inflation and the energy crisis, the EU Affairs Minister Tytti Tuppurainen said. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Catalan government crisis as key party leaves coalition. Catalonia’s regional government has been left clinging to power after the hardline pro-independence Together for Catalonia party withdrew from the coalition. Read more.
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ROME
Meloni calls for unity of ‘patriots’ in the EU against the Left. Italy’s likely next prime minister Giorgia Meloni called for unity of patriots in Europe against the left in a video message at a conference of the far-right Spanish Vox party in Madrid on Sunday. Read more.
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ATHENS
Greece sends more armoured vehicles to Ukraine. German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht announced that Greece and Slovakia would send 100 armoured vehicles to Ukraine. Read more.
Greece and Egypt call Turkish-Libyan gas deal ‘illegal’. Egypt and Greece on Sunday (9 October) said a deal allowing Turkish hydrocarbon exploration in Libya’s Mediterranean waters was “illegal” as Athens said it would oppose it by all “legal means”. Read more.
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VALLETTA
European leaders pay respect to murdered journalist in Malta, call for better protections. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Slovak President Zuzana Caputova paid their respects to assassinated Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta and called for justice. Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
Gun interest in Poland increases amid Ukraine war. Poland has seen an increase in requests to get gun licenses since the war in Ukraine, and the government is now offering shooting training for free and in schools across the country. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czechia sends soldiers to help guard Slovak border. Some 320 soldiers have been deployed from Sunday to assist police and customs officers in guarding the Slovakian border as part of its response to deal with the increase in irregular migration. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Slovakia’s Fico alludes to Nazis when talking about German foreign policy. Robert Fico, the former prime minister and leader of the second-largest opposition party SMER, used the words “über alles”, which were part of Nazi Germany’s national anthem, when describing Germany’s current foreign policy. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BELGRADE
Serbia’s Vucic lays out €12bn energy investment plan after oil ban. Faced with a ban on crude oil imports from Russia via Croatia, Serbia plans to invest €12 billion in energy infrastructure over six years to diversify and secure supply, President Aleksandar Vučić said. Read more.
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SKOPJE
North Macedonia’s civil society reacts to governments’ repeal of hydro plant permits. North Macedonia civil society has reacted to the government’s decision to revoke seven concessions for small hydropower plants in the National Park Shar Planina. Read more.
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PRISTINA
Kosovo’s president supports Serb association with no executive powers. The Association of Serb Municipalities proposed by Serbia in Kosovo would harm Kosovo and the European Union, said Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, reiterating that she would support them if they did not have executive powers. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albania takes another step towards declassifying communism security files. The Albanian Committee for Legal Affairs approved on Friday a draft law to open all former communist state security files from between 1944-1991 but did not reach a consensus on who could access them. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to meet Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and President Alar Karis. Von der Leyen to deliver a keynote address at the Tallinn Digital Summit;
- Commission Vice-President Schinas participates in a live conversation at the Vienna Migration Conference 2022;
- Commissioner for Transparency and Values Vĕra Jourová visits Dublin City University and meets Tourism, Culture and Sports Minister Catherine Martin;
- Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski speaks via videoconference at the 50th Session of the Committee on World Food Security, organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations;
- Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban;
- France: Airbus and Air France on trial accused of ‘involuntary manslaughter’ over 2009 Rio-Paris crash;
- Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe starts;
- Switzerland: The UN aid agency and the Red Cross launch a joint report on preparing for heatwaves;
- Sweden: Swedish Central Bank’s economics prize in memory of Alfred Nobel announced;
- Spain: Catalan regional president, Pere Aragonès, continues negotiations to form a stable government;
- Finland: National energy saving campaign starts;
- Portugal: Government submits draft 2023 budget to parliament;
- Estonia: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits;
- US: IMF and World Bank annual meetings;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Maksimov, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson]
Source: euractiv.com
