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In today’s news from the Capitals:
ROME. Hungarian President Katalin Novák travelled to Italy to meet with government leaders, where she spoke of the similarities between both countries in their actions against irregular immigration, enlargement to the Western Balkans, and family values. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Socialist Bullmann to take over Parliament’s human rights committee. Veteran socialist MEP Udo Bullmann will become the European Parliament’s chief spokesperson on human rights after his predecessor resigned as part of the fallout from the Qatargate scandal. Read more.
New US-EU Coalition calls to sanction Hollywood star. A group of politicians across the globe are urging the EU to enforce sanctions on ten individuals for supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine – including US actor Steven Seagal. Read more.
Before EU summit, Ukraine carries out war-time anti-corruption crackdown. Ukraine on Wednesday expanded a corruption clampdown with coordinated searches of residences linked to a high-profile oligarch and former interior minister and tax offices in the capital, in what the authorities called a wartime anti-graft purge. Read more.
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BERLIN
Germany breathes sigh of relief at EU green industry plan. The presentation of the EU’s green industry plan on Wednesday brought cautious relief in Germany – although some of its points may lead to disputes within the country’s traffic light coalition. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austrian president promises Ukraine further aid. Ukraine will receive additional aid and support of various kinds, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said during a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Wednesday. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
Belgium largest energy supplier to EU neighbours in 2022. Belgium played a key role in supplying energy to its main neighbours in 2022, as it was France’s largest electricity supplier and Germany’s main transit country for natural gas. Read more.
Belgian Stalinist revealed as Russian fake news tsar in Africa. Luc Michel, a 65-year-old self-described ‘Stalinist’ whose resume includes founding a Belgian version of the National Front, has been revealed as the unlikely source of an elaborate network of fake news websites designed to spread pro-Russian propaganda across Africa. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
STOCKHOLM
NATO: No compromise on freedom of speech, says Swedish FM. Sweden will not compromise on freedom of expression or the rule of law, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said on Wednesday in response to Turkey’s Erdogan’s continuing demands and condemnations. Read more.
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HELSINKI
Finland passes new transgender law. Finland has passed a new gender recognition law granting the right to legally change gender through the process of self-declaration, removing the need to go through a medical and psychiatric approval process first. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ATHENS
Greek Watergate: Socialists deny being ‘blackmailed’ by government. The Greek socialist party (Pasok) refuted assumptions by the main opposition Syriza party that the conservative government is blackmailing its leader Nikos Androulakis through a wiretapping scandal to influence post-election coalition talks, Pasok sources told EURACTIV.com. Read more.
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MADRID
Spanish government raises minimum wage. The government has agreed to increase the minimum wage by 8% after more than a month of negotiations with trade unions CC.OO and UGT, but without the support of the main employers’ association, CEOE. Read more.
Spain, Morocco try to ‘normalise’ relations with high-level summit. A key summit was held in Rabat on Wednesday to normalise the bilateral relations between both nations, which had many shared challenges on the agenda, including how to deal with migration flows. Read more.
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LISBON
Public opinion on striking teachers may turn negative, warns Portuguese president. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa warned that the public’s current sympathy towards teachers on strike may turn bitter as the first day of strikes began on Wednesday and minimum services were required in impacted government-run schools.. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BUDAPEST
Former MEP: Hungary eyes post-war benefits from Russia. The Hungarian government believes that Russia will win the war against Ukraine and therefore avoids sanctions against Moscow, Hungarian politician and former MEP Benedek Jávor told EURACTIV Poland in an interview, adding that Budapest silently hopes there will be a modification of borders in the region. Read more.
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WARSAW
Biden, Zelenskyy likely to visit Poland later this month. US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy are likely to visit Poland later this month, as Zelenskyy wants to present his 10-point peace plan, according to Polish media. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Local communities fight against gigafactory in Czechia. The Czech Republic is finalising its application to the tender for the construction of Volkswagen’s gigafactory – a facility that produces batteries for electric vehicles on a large scale – but the government faces resistance from local communities, including surrounding villages. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Internationals express concern over ex-Slovak PMs foreign policy stance. At the meeting with former prime minister Robert Fico who is currently leading the disinformation scene in Slovakia, ambassadors expressed their concerns about his party´s foreign policy orientation. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
LJUBLJANA
Hungary’s OTP becomes biggest player in Slovenian banking market. The Hungarian banking group OTP received clearance from the Slovenian market regulator to take over NKBM, Slovenia’s second-largest bank, making OTP the largest player in the local banking market. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgaria to continue exporting fuels from Russian oil to Ukraine. The export of petroleum products from Russian oil to Ukraine will continue after 5 February, when the government derogation was due to expire, the Bulgarian government said in a statement on Wednesday. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albania dismantles hundreds of illegal CCTV cameras amid organised crime crackdown. Hundreds of illegally placed CCTV cameras have been removed from public areas by Albanian authorities over the last two weeks, in a crackdown on organised criminal groups which placed them there to monitor police and gang movements. Read more.
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PRISTINA
Kurti: A mono-ethnic association not possible in multi-ethnic country. The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, spoke on Wednesday to the media about international pressure to accept the Association of Serb Municipalities, a provision signed in 2013 that the Constitutional Court has since ruled against, stating a mono-ethnic structure is not possible in a multi-ethnic country. Read more.
AGENDA
- EU: The College of Commissioners, on mission to Ukraine, meets with the government in Kyiv; Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participates;
- Vice President Dubravka Šuica on official visit in Croatia;
- Meeting of experts and officials, organised by the Swedish presidency in Stockholm, on the establishment of third-country nationals; Highlights include challenges and opportunities in housing, efforts to combat segregation, and more;
- European Parliament holds plenary session; Votes on impunity waivers regarding the Qatargate; Debate highlights include the preparation of the EU-Ukraine Summit, and more;
- President Roberta Metsola on official visit to Dublin, Ireland; Meets with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, Tánaiste Micheál Martin; Addresses the Joint Sitting of the Oireachtas;
- European Central Bank (ECB) holds press conference on eurozone monetary policy;
- European Investment Bank (EIB) holds press conference with President Werner Hoyer on annual results;
- France: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on official visit;
- Sweden: Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson hosts Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin;
- Saudi Arabia: French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna on official visit;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
Source: euractiv.com
