The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
The European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by EURACTIV.
In today’s news from the Capitals:
Milder winters and lack of snow threaten the sustainability of ski resorts across Europe, and while some countries try to help with subsidies or tax reliefs, many lower-lying ski resorts may have to close in the next few years.
So far, 2023 has seen record-breaking temperatures in Europe. Meteorologists point out that European winters are becoming milder, drier and with less precipitation. This is not good news for ski resorts, which are being increasingly affected as their operation depends on snow or weather conditions where it is possible to make it artificially. In Italy, cableway operators lost about 40% of their season turnover during Christmas due to a lack of snow. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Lawyer claims MEP Kaili was ‘tortured’ during interrogation. MEP Eva Kaili’s lawyer said on Thursday that she has been facing “medieval” situations during her interrogation by Belgian authorities following her arrest for alleged involvement in the Qatargate scandal. Read more.
Eleven European nations in Estonia pledge weapons for Ukraine. A group of 11 European states have pledged on Thursday (19 January) to deliver more arms to Ukraine in its war with Russia, saying they would send main battle tanks, heavy artillery, air defence, ammunition and infantry fighting vehicles. Read more.
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BERLIN
German parliament condemns IS crimes against Yazidi as genocide. The German parliament voted to recognise the prosecution and killing of thousands of Yezidi by the Islamic State (IS) as genocide with the backing of all party groups. Read more.
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PARIS
Pensions reform: we’re not going without a fight, the streets tell Macron. Some 1.12 million people, according to official statistics, took to the streets of France on Thursday to express anger at President Emmanuel Macron’s pensions reform, while unions claim the number was over two million. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
EU Parliament supports liberation of jailed Belgian aid worker in Iran. The European Parliament strongly condemned the sentencing of Olivier Vandecasteele, the Belgian imprisoned in Iran since February 2022 and voted on a motion for a resolution on the EU response to the protests and executions on Thursday. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch to accelerate housing construction amid migration crisis, Ukraine war. The war in Ukraine and the increase in migrants coming into the Netherlands have increased the urgency for more accommodation, Housing and Spatial Planning Minister Hugo De Jong wrote in an action plan sent to the House of Representatives on Thursday. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Rumours in Finland that socialists push for Sanna Marin as Commission chief. Rumours in Finland speculate that the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament want Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin to be their leading candidate in the 2024 European Elections. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
Sweden to send more weapons to Ukraine, including Archer system. Sweden will increase its support of Ukraine by sending high-tech Archer artillery systems, combat vehicles and anti-tank missiles, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced at a press conference on Thursday. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Sánchez and Macron decide to revive ‘Franco-Spanish axis’. Spanish ministers will attend meetings of the French government and vice versa as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed in a bilateral summit held in Barcelona on Thursday. Read more.
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LISBON
Portugal’s national airline crew vote to keep strikes. Members of Portugal’s National Civil Aviation Flight Staff Union (SNPVAC) rejected TAP’s proposal at a general meeting on Thursday and decided to maintain the strike notice between 25 and 31 January, according to an official source. Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
Polish government working on controversial surveillance bill. Members of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party want to make it easier for Polish services to electronically surveil citizens by giving officers easier access to their emails and social media messages. Read more.
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PRAGUE
France continues to investigate Babiš. Former Prime Minister and presidential candidate Andrej Babiš continues to be investigated by French authorities on charges of tax evasion and money laundering, according to several Czech media outlets. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
GRECO calls out Bulgaria for lack of fight against corruption. Bulgaria needs to do more to fight corruption and prosecute those involved, according to the report of the GRECO anti-corruption organisation to the Council of Europe (CoE). Read more.
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BELGRADE
Vucic calls EP resolution on aligning foreign policy hypocritical. Following a vote in the European Parliament calling on Serbia to align its foreign policy with that of the bloc, President Aleksander Vucic called it hypocritical and condemned its mention of Kosovo’s application for EU membership. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albania to open embassy in Ukraine. Thirty years after establishing diplomatic relations between Albania and Ukraine, Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka announced it would open an embassy in Kyiv, a decision that was officially confirmed by the Council of Ministers on Thursday. Read more.
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PRISTINA
NATO peacekeepers: situation in Kosovo remains unstable, unpredictable. The security situation in northern Kosovo is calm but unstable and unpredictable, according to Angelo Michele Ristuccia, the commander of the international NATO-led peacekeeping force, during a NATO meeting in Brussels. Read more.
AGENDA
- EU: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen receives the members of the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the European Union (COREPER) for a working lunch;
- Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis participates in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland;
- Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski attends the International Green Week in Berlin, Germany; Holds several meetings;
- Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton delivers a keynote speech at the high-level Forum on Standardisation, in Brussels, Belgium;
- Germany: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hosts Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting; Holds press conference;
- Serbia: EU and US envoys hold talks with officials in Belgrade and Pristina as part of efforts to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo;
- International Criminal Court: Chief judge and prosecutor 2023 opening statements;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
Source: euractiv.com
