Bulgaria issued ‘golden passports’ to Russia’s top bankers

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

SOFIA

Some of Russia’s top bankers received Bulgarian “golden passports”, despite no evidence of them making the required, real investments in the EU’s poorest member state as required under the schemes terms. Read more.

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BERLIN

Scholz heads to Kyiv, Moscow in bid to prevent war in Europe. As the tensions in Ukraine reach a critical phase, German chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Kyiv and Moscow on Monday and Tuesday (14 and 15 February) in a bid to prevent the outbreak of war and bring Russia back to the negotiation table. Read more.

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PARIS

French ‘freedom convoys’ now heading to Brussels. After the self-proclaimed “freedom convoys” protested COVID-19 measures and the vaccine pass in Paris and across the country on Saturday, some of them have now decided to continue the protest in Brussels. Read more.

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VIENNA

Austria to organise conference on quicker repatriation of migrants. The Austrian government will organise a conference hosting 23 countries to speed up the repatriation of illegal migrants, ensure stricter controls at the EU’s external border and to assist the Balkan countries in operationalising repatriations. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

DUBLIN

Ireland to map out COVID restrictions of the future. Ireland’s National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) will meet soon to discuss handling COVID-19 moving forward, weeks after most restrictions were lifted. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

STOCKHOLM

September elections in Sweden still too close to call. A new poll suggests that a right-wing government could enter power after Sweden’s upcoming September elections. But a fragmented political map makes predictions difficult. Read more.

Russian ambassador issues strong warning against Swedish NATO membership. Viktor Tatarintsev, the Russian ambassador to Sweden has delivered the strongest warning so far against Sweden’s possible NATO membership in an interview with the newspaper Aftonbladet on Sunday. There is no way Russia could accept Sweden joining NATO in the current circumstances, he told the newspaper.

According to Tatarintsev, Russia would not have been against Sweden’s membership without the recent provocations from the US and NATO. Tatarintsev also dismissed the threat of possible sanctions: “Pardon my language, but we don’t give a shit about sanctions.” The interview also entailed a threat. “The harder the West puts pressure, the harder the Russian counter-reaction will be.” (Pekka Vänttinen | EURACTIV.com)

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COPENHAGEN

Danish FM disappointed in diplomatic calls, urges Danes to leave Ukraine. Danish citizens should leave Ukraine, said Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod in an interview for Danske Radio on Saturday, adding that he was disappointed with the outcome of the phone call between Russian, French and US presidents. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

NICOSIA

Cyprus minister pins blame for migration ’emergency’ on Turkey. The small Mediterranean island of Cyprus has an outsized problem with irregular migration, says the interior minister of the EU member state located closest to the Middle East. “For us, this is a state of emergency,” Nicos Nouris told AFP, adding that 4.6% of the country’s population now are asylum seekers or beneficiaries of protection, the highest ratio in the EU. Read more.

Commission’s double standards with Turkey and China. The EU immediately reacted following China’s discriminatory trade practices against Lithuania. However, in the case of the EU-Turkey Customs Union Agreement, the EU Commission remains still “passive”, writes Costas Mavrides. Read more.

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MADRID

Spanish regional elections leads far-right party to record results. Vox, the far-right Spanish party, has enjoyed record results after yesterday’s regional election in Castilla y León, making the party of Santiago Abascal a key player for Partido Popular to form a government. Read more.

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ROME

Italian foreign ministry urges non-essential staff to leave Ukraine. The foreign affairs ministry on Sunday urged about 2,000 Italians working as non-essential staff in Ukraine to return to Italy as soon as possible. Read more.

VISEGRAD

BRATISLAVA

Slovak opposition parties publish list of “traitors”. After last week’s meeting of the Slovak parliament, several opposition members have targeted MPs who supported the defence deal between the US and Slovakia by posting a so-called “list of traitors”. The deal was approved with 79 votes. Read more.

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WARSAW

Poland prepares for mass influx of Ukrainian refugees. The Polish government has mobilised local governments to list buildings that may serve as temporary refugee camps amid fears of an influx of Ukrainian refugees as the situation with Russia continues to deteriorate. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Babis re-elected as leader of Czech liberals, mulls presidential candidacy. Former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was re-elected as chairman of the ANO party despite defeat in October’s elections. Read more.

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BUDAPEST

Government denies Orban hinted at Hungary’s EU exit. The government’s chief international spokesperson slammed a German news agency’s on Sunday for reporting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mulled Hungary’s withdrawal from the EU in his annual speech. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SARAJEVO

EU preparing sanctions against Dodik. The EU is debating sanctions on the Republika Srpska regime in BiH, Bloomberg reported. The agency saw documents prepared for the EU foreign ministers meeting later this month, which included restrictive measures, asset freezes and travel bans. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania’s 2022 inflation rate set to be highest since EU membership, says central bank. Consumer prices will continue to grow over the next months, with inflation set to be the highest since the country joined the EU in 2007, surpassing the highest ever record set in 2021. Read more.

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LJUBLJANA

Jansa announces Ukraine trip after expressing support for territorial integrity. Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša announced he will travel to Ukraine by the end of the month after expressing Slovenia’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal. Read more.

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BELGRADE

Serbian parliament speaker: possible EU boycott of Serbian Statehood unreasonable. Foreigners have no right to interfere in internal Serbian matters, said parliament speaker Ivica Dačić commenting on reports that ambassadors from EU member countries would not attend celebrations of Serbia’s Statehood Day because Bosnian Presidency member Milorad Dodik would be present. Guests would nevertheless be welcome, Dačić added. Read more.

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SKOPJE

North Macedonia president walks bullied girl to school. President Stevo Pendarovski walked an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome to school after hearing she was being bullied. Read more.

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TIRANA

State of democracy in Albania sees slight improvement. Albania has ranked 68th in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Democracy Index for 2021, marking a slight improvement from its 2020 ranking at 71. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: European Commission President von der Leyen meets Colombian President Duque / European Parliament plenary / ECB President Lagarde addresses European Parliament on bank’s 2020 report / Commission VP Jourova speaks with US Commerce Secretary Raimondo / European Commission’s Africa-Europe Week.
France: EU trade ministers meet in Marseilles, EU ministers of work, employment, social affairs meet in Bordeaux.
Germany: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz goes to Kyiv, meets Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Belgium: European Freedom Convoy against Covid vaccine pass and mandate expected to arrive.
Finland: Covid restrictions on alcohol sales, cultural and sports events eased.
Spain: Official results to be released after Sunday election in Castilla y León region.
Cyprus: First ever visit of the Speaker of the British House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Croatia: Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković and Kosovo’s Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure Minister Liburn Aliu, discuss cooperation between the two countries in air and rail transport.