Croat president slams UK, demands agreement with Russia

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

ZAGREB

There is no European or EU stability without Russia, said Croatian President Zoran Milanović, adding that “Russia is a factor in that equation, and we should have an agreement with Russia.” Read more.

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VIENNA

Austria, other EU countries, urge Commission not to give green label to gas.The European Commission should not include gas in the current EU taxonomy, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark wrote in a letter ahead of the Commission’s much-anticipated delegated act that will rule whether fossil gas or nuclear power are sustainable. Read more.

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BERLIN

Germans more afraid of inflation than war in Ukraine. Inflation is currently the number one fear among Germans, beating the COVID-19 crisis and geopolitical instability as sources of anxiety, a new report finds. Read more.

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PARIS

French say health should be EU presidency’s top priority. Health, purchasing power and the fight against terrorism are the three issues that the French would like to see highlighted during the French EU Council presidency. Read more.

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BRUSSELS

Belgium to cut VAT on electricity in response to energy price spike. Belgium will cut value-added tax on electricity as part of a package to shield consumers from rising energy prices, the prime minister said on Tuesday. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

DUBLIN

Irish government to fund therapy to tackle pandemic mental health impact. A €1 million government fund will provide free talking therapy for people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced on Tuesday. Read more.

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LONDON

Government writes off £8.7bn of PPE equipment. The UK government has had to write off £8.7bn it spent on protective equipment bought during the pandemic, accounts for the Department for Health and Social Care have revealed. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

HELSINKI | VILNIUS

Lithuanian FM in Helsinki: Belarus must be watched carefully. Russian troops stationed permanently in Belarus pose a threat to Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said during a visit to Helsinki to meet his Finnish counterpart, Pekka Haavisto. Read more.

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STOCKHOLM

Swedish government decides where to store nuclear waste. The Swedish government has decided where to locate spent nuclear fuel from the country’s six operating reactors, though the project still needs to be approved by the Land and Environmental Court. Read more.

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COPENHAGEN

Denmark ready to send military aid to Ukraine. Denmark is ready to assist Ukraine with military equipment if Russia invades the country, said Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at a press conference on the country’s new Foreign and Security policy. She also discussed the country’s cooperation with NATO. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ROME

Putin assures Italy gas supply will remain stable. Supplies of Russian gas will continue to arrive in Italy regularly, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi in a phone call on Monday. Read more.

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MADRID

Spanish COVID-19 vaccine enters final trial phase. Spain’s agency for medicines and health products (AEMPS) on Tuesday authorised the Spanish DNA-based vaccine from Hipra pharma to move to phase 3, the final stage before being approved in humans. Read more.

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LISBON

PM Costa tests positive for COVID-19, needs to isolate for seven days. Prime Minister António Costa, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday after taking a self-test and an antigen test, will spend seven days in isolation, according to a statement issued by the prime minister’s office Tuesday afternoon. Read more.

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Portugal condemns ‘armed movements’ in Guinea-Bissau. Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva on Tuesday condemned the “armed movements” taking place in the capital of Guinea-Bissau while stressing that there were no reports of any problems faced by Portuguese nationals in the country. Read more.

VISEGRAD

WARSAW

Ukraine, Poland, UK to form new alliance. Ukraine, Poland, and the UK are working to form a trilateral alliance, the leaders of the three countries announced as the Polish and British prime ministers visited Kyiv on Tuesday. Read more.

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PRAGUE | WARSAW

Poland dismisses its ambassador to Prague. Polish President Andrzej Duda dismissed Poland’s ambassador to Prague Mirosław Jasiński. The move came after Jasiński criticised Poland for lack of willingness to solve the Czech-Polish dispute over the Turów mine in an interview with the newspaper, Deutsche Welle. Read more.

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BUDAPEST

In Moscow, Orbán offers ‘Hungarian model’, blasts idea of sanction. Amid simmering tensions between the West and Russia, after nearly five hours of talks in the Russian capital on Tuesday (1 February), the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blasted the ineffectiveness of the EU’s punitive sanctions on Moscow and hailed his successful relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Read the full story.

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BRATISLAVA

US Ambassador to Slovakia to be moved to Ukraine. US President Joe Biden has selected US ambassador to Slovakia, Bridget Brink, as the new ambassador to Ukraine, CNN reported. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Skopje’s actions are creating political tensions in Bulgaria. President Rumen Radev openly criticised Prime Minister Kiril Petkov for his visit to Skopje in January, explaining that the visit was “hasty” given the actions of Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski. A few days ago, Pendarovski met with representatives of Ilinden-Pirin, an illegal organisation in Bulgaria, which the Bulgarian authorities accuse of separatism. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

President Iohannis discusses Romanians’ rights in Ukraine, security with Zelensky. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis had a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the recent worrying developments in the Black Sea region, but also the future cooperation between the two countries. Read more.

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BELGRADE

Two-thirds of Serbia’s convicts vaccinated against COVID-19. A total of 65% of convicts serving time in Serbian prisons have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the ministry of justice reported on Tuesday. Read more.

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SARAJEVO

Croatian leader: Protect Republika Srpska. Dragan Čović, president of HDZ BiH, the biggest Croatian party, participated at the special session of the Republika Srpska National Assembly in Banja Luka dedicated to the “political and economic situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina” in which he called for the protection of Republika Sprska. Read more.

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SKOPJE

North Macedonia prepares for possible Ukraine scenarios. The security situation in the country is stable. So far, there are no indications that would suggest that there could be a threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of North Macedonia, said President Stevo Pendarovski after the 14th Session of the Security Council. Read more.

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PODGORICA

Dukanovic to support Montenegro’s ‘not-so-ideal’ minority government. The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the country’s biggest opposition party, will vote for the minority government because it is a better solution than where Montenegro is with the current government, party leader, and Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović has said. Read more.

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TIRANA

Government silence as Albania heads for public debt crisis. Local experts have joined international organisations in calling on the Albanian government to be careful over rising public debt levels. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: EU releases final text of green label for gas and nuclear / European Commissioner Thierry Breton to unveil standardization strategy / Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe to speak in front of European Parliament committee on the eurozone
France: Covid restrictions on event capacity limits, mandatory homeworking and outdoor masks ended / ECHR hearing on the conviction by Luxembourg of the “Luxleaks” informant.
Belgium: Procedural hearing to clarify trial dates for 14 alleged accomplices in the 2015 attacks in Paris.
Luxembourg: ECJ rules on Polish company’s complaint about Gazprom’s activities in Central and Eastern Europe.
Netherlands/Ukraine: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in Kyiv.
Denmark: European Environment Agency report on economic losses due to weather and climate change is published.
Romania: President Klaus Iohannis visits air base in central Romania where the US invests $150 million in upgrade works.
Croatia: Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his wife Ana Maslać-Plenković are expecting their third child, the spokesman for the government, Marko Milić, said on Tuesday. Demographic renewal.
Serbia: US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Gabriel Escobar and EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajčak to visit Belgrade.