EU migration deal bitter pill for Germany

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

BERLIN

A new agreement between EU member states to tighten migration rules, and levy charges of €20,000 for each migrant a state refuses to accept was met with disappointment in Germany, with parts of the governing Greens and the SPD opposing the compromise. Read more.

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EU INSTITUTIONS

EU Parliament scraps visit to Spain amid election row. The EU Parliament chief Roberta Metsola’s visit to Madrid, which was scheduled for 26 June on the occasion of the Spanish EU Council presidency inauguration, was indefinitely postponed on Thursday after Sanchez announced snap elections on 23 July. Read more.

EU ministers reach ‘historic’ deal on migrant relocation. EU home affairs ministers reached a migration deal described as historic by officials that would see EU states pay €20,000 for each migrant they refuse to host. Read more.

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PARIS

French government to face a no-confidence vote. Left-wing MPs denounced an ‘undemocratic coup de force’ after the attempt to repeal the pension reform failed on Thursday before further announcing that they will be tabling a motion of no confidence towards the government. Read more.

TikTok enquiry: French executives ‘do not know what to say’. The French Senate questioned two French TikTok executives on Thursday who repeatedly admitted that they were unable to answer the questions put to them, with the chairman of the inquiry saying this raises suspicions of dishonesty. Read more.

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BRUSSELS

Belgian lobbyist involves EU Court in Pfizergate row. A Belgian citizen has filed a second complaint against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, this time with the EU Court in Luxembourg, in connection with the controversial Pfizer-gate affair. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch opposition demands quicker action to tackle poverty. Dutch opposition parties asked the cabinet to tackle poverty rates in the country more urgently during a Thursday parliamentary debate, demanding a ‘robust, social package’ before the summer. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

LONDON

UK government to extend support for Horizon Europe applicants. The government will extend the Horizon Europe guarantee scheme – which provides funding to researchers and innovators unable to receive their Horizon Europe funding – until the end of September 2023, according to a press release published by the Science, Innovation and Technology department on Thursday. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

HELSINKI

Foreign minister launches campaign to become next Finnish president. Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto will run for president with the help of a constituency association, he announced on Thursday during a press conference. Read more.

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COPENHAGEN

Social Democrats openly discuss replacement for Danish PM. Several local Social Democratic leaders have expressed views on who they would like to see as Denmark’s potential future leader on Thursday while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen continues to dispel rumours that she is being considered for the NATO secretary general position. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ROME

Italian FM: alliance between EPP, ID is impossible. It is not possible to ally with the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia) during EPP leader Manfred Weber’s trip to Rome. Read more.

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MADRID

Left-wing Podemos has final consultation with party members over Sumar coalition pact. In a last-minute strategic move to defuse internal controversies, left-wing party Unidas Podemos (EU Left) decided to consult its members about a sensitive coalition agreement with the new platform Sumar with less than 24 hours before the official deadline for forging pacts. Read more.

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LISBON

EU report highlights Portugal’s practice of offering temporary shelter to non-Ukrainians. Portugal’s granting of temporary protection to those who have fled the war in Ukraine, including non-Ukrainians, was called a ‘promising practice’ in a report published by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on Thursday. Read more.

VISEGRAD

BRATISLAVA

Slovakia prepares for €800 million EU funds loss. Slovakia still has to spend over 30% of its cohesion funds – a total of €4.3 billion – but with less than seven months before the deadline, €800 million, or 5% of the overall sum, is set to be lost. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Taiwan foreign minister to make Europe trip next week. Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu will make a previously unannounced visit to Europe next week, four sources briefed on the matter said, and is expected to appear with the Czech president at one event in a diplomatic breakthrough. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

TIRANA

West tight lipped on Albanian PMs draft for Association of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has drawn up a draft for the Association of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo, which he sent to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while the European Commission, US, France, and Germany remain tight-lipped about its contents. Read more.

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SOFIA

Sanctioned Bulgarian MP will take part in making constitutional changes. Sanctioned for corruption under the Magnitsky Act, Bulgarian MP and former media tycoon Delyan Peevski (DPS, Renew Europe) was elected as a member of the parliamentary commission for the constitutional commission on Wednesday, meaning he will take on a central role in the upcoming changes to the Bulgarian constitution. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Russian embassy in Romania told to remove diplomatic staff members. Romanian authorities informed the Russian ambassador in Bucharest to reduce the number of diplomatic and technical-administrative staff of the Russian Federation in Romania on Thursday, adding that the embassy has 30 days to comply. Read more.

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BELGRADE

Vučić announces new economic measures. Salaries in education will be increased by 10% starting 1 September while nurses and technicians will receive a 5.5% salary increase that same day, with an additional 10% increase in December or January, Serbian President Vučić announced in an address to the nation on Wednesday evening. Read more.

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SARAJEVO

Western Balkans registered 60% more migrants in 2022, says IOM. The number of migrants travelling across the Western Balkans increased by 60% in 2022 compared to the previous year, an official of the International Organisation for Migration said on Thursday. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni delivers video message at “Research to Business” conference;
Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders meets with European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi;
Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides visits Red Cross 024 suicide prevention helpline facilities in Madrid, Spain;
Financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union Commissioner Mairead McGuinness gives keynote speech at “Peace Twenty Five – Everyday peace builders” seminar, organised by the International Fund for Ireland;
Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit meets with the Austrian and Czech Members of the European Court of Auditors, Helga Berger and Jan Gregor;
Roberta Metsola delivers opening address at European Youth Event 2023 (EYE 2023), hosted by the European Parliament in Strasbourg; EYE2023 features more than 300 in-person and hybrid activities;
Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili for talks;
Panama: German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock on official visit;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]