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In today’s news from the Capitals:
BERLIN
Germany will not participate in an international coalition to provide Ukraine with fighter jets and will instead focus on continuing to deliver tanks, ammunition, and repairing equipment, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, there is still uncertainty regarding the UK’s announcement about such a coalition. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Women’s rights continue to deteriorate in Afghanistan, MEPs say more can be done. A new map created by the Afghan Witness project shows documented evidence of women’s rights deteriorating in Afghanistan, and while the EU’s vocal support and condemnation of the Taliban is an important step in the right direction, more needs to be done. Read more.
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VIENNA
Longest-serving EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn to retire. Austrian EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn has announced his retirement after over a decade in Brussels, with the potential successor being Austrian EU Minister Karoline Edtstadler. Read more.
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PARIS
Macron: Stable unemployment levels indicate full employment by 2027. The currently low unemployment rate – which remained stable at 7.1% in the first quarter of 2023 – indicates France can reach its full employment goal, said President Emmanuel Macron, who in 2022, committed to a 5% full employment rate by 2027. Read more.
France to join ‘renewables friendly’ group of EU countries. France will take part in the next gathering of the “renewables friendly” group of countries, the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, said at a meeting of the “nuclear alliance” on Tuesday (16 May), indicating the readiness of Paris to embrace both options. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
Belgium joins Council of Europe Register of Damage for Ukraine. EU member states – including Belgium – and the EU have announced they will participate in establishing the Register of Damage announced by the Council of Europe on Wednesday. Read more.
UK & IRELAND
LONDON
EU moves closer to UK pact on financial services. The EU and UK are set to move towards closer ties on financial services regulation after the European Commission on Wednesday adopted a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the sector. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
New poll suggests increased support for Finland’s new government parties. The country’s two biggest parties – and winners of the April elections – the liberal-conservative National Coalition Party (NCP) and the nationalistic and populist Finns Party are gaining support, according to a poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat, published on Wednesday. Read more.
Finland should not participate in NATO nuclear weapons exercises, says group. Finland should not participate in any NATO nuclear weapons exercises, according to a statement released by the Nuclear Weapons Monitoring Group of Finland on Wednesday. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Spanish authorities concerned by disinformation before elections, EU presidency. The National Police and the National Security Department are investigating a surge of online campaigns aimed at undermining the credibility of the upcoming Spanish regional elections, fearing it may intensify before the Spanish EU Council presidency and general elections in November. Read more.
Spanish labour minister: European Central Bank needs ‘ambitious reinvention’. The European Central Bank (ECB) needs an ‘ambitious reinvention’ to cope with challenges like the energy and inflation crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine, Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz said during Wednesday’s European Parliament’s Beyond Growth conference. Read more.
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ATHENS
Greece requests third Recovery Fund tranche with a five-month evaluation. The Greek government asked on Tuesday the disbursement of the third tranche of its EU Recovery Fund, with the European Commission agreeing to an exceptionally long five-month period to evaluate the request. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BUDAPEST
Intelligence links found in Russian companies in Hungary. As relations between Russia and the EU continue to deteriorate, Russian business activities have increased in Hungary, and a recent discovery shows that four of these companies had connections to intelligence services and Moscow’s political elite. Read more.
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WARSAW
Polish LGBT-free zones won’t get EU funding, says French MEP. No local government that adopted an ‘LGBT ideology-free resolution in Poland will be eligible for EU cohesion funds due to concerns over appropriate spending, French MEP Pierre Karleskind tweeted, citing the EU Commission. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czechia ends free land use for Russian diplomats. Nine resolutions from the socialist Czechoslovakia era, which have allowed Russian diplomats to use land in the country free of charge, have been cancelled by the government on Wednesday. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Fico says West’s arms deliveries to Kyiv ‘supports killings’. Former prime minister Robert Fico accused Western allies of ‘supporting the killings’ in Ukraine by handing the tanks or other military equipment to the Kyiv government. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Mariya Gabriel unlikely to form government in Bulgaria. The chances of former European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel being able to form a government in Bulgaria are almost zero despite being nominated for prime minister by Boyko Borissov’s GERB party and given the mandate to form a government on Monday. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
REGI committee chair: We have to rethink regional airport rules. Left MEP Younous Omarjee said regional airport rules need to be assessed and adapted to each region following a visit to Romania, where the committee observed EU-funded infrastructure investments in the northwest and central regions. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenian government cancels remembrance day for communism victims. The government revoked a decree that served as the legal basis for the commemoration just hours before Slovenia was due to mark National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communist Violence on Wednesday, triggering sharp criticism from the right and talk of a ‘new civil war’. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albanian PM asks Council of Europe to dismiss organ trafficking claims, points at Russian influence. Prime Minister Edi Rama called for the withdrawal of a controversial report alleging Albanian and Kosovar involvement in organ trafficking at the end of the Kosovo-Serbia war during a speech at the Council of Europe leaders summit in Reykjavik. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis meets Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Economic Development and Digitalization Dumitru Alaiba; Participates in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBDR) board of governors 2023 plenary session;
- Vice President Dubravka Šuica participates in the LEAP (Learn Engage Act Progress) Summit, in Croatia;
- Internal Markets Commissioner Thierry Breton holds meeting with CEO of France TV and President of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Delphine Ernotte; Delivers keynote speech at the European Film Forum;
- Portugal: PM Antonio Costa meets NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg;
- China: China-Central Asia Summit takes place;
- UN: Security Council meeting on the mission in Iraq and on Ukraine;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
Read more with EURACTIV
REGI committee chair: We have to rethink regional airport rules
Source: euractiv.com
