EU south hails new migration pact but traps remain

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

BRUSSELS

Southern European member states such as Greece and Italy rushed to welcome the new EU migration pact, but there are still questions about whether the new rules will ease the burden of first-line countries.

In addition, the vague activation of emergency measures due to the so-called “weaponised” migration, which will be defined as such by national governments, raises eyebrows and may be exploited politically, MEPs warn. Read more.

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BERLIN

German Greens leadership forced to justify EU migration deal outcome to calm party base. The agreement on the Asylum and Migration Deal was met again with high levels of contention among the co-governing German Green party, forcing its leadership to justify the outcome and calm their party base. Read more.

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PARIS

Macron defends France’s new immigration law as ‘shield we needed’. French President Emmanuel Macron defended the spirit of France’s controversial new immigration law in a French television interview the day after it received the National Assembly’s greenlight, asserting that it will help counter the far-right’s rise and complement EU measures. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ROME

Meloni’s party defends schools rights to display nativity scene. A bill to prevent the nativity scene from being banned in schools, together with a disciplinary procedure to punish offenders, was presented by Fratelli d’Italia, who argue these initiatives display a ‘profound significance of humanity’ and are linked to ‘Italian national identity’. Read more.

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MADRID

Sánchez to meet opposition leader amid tension over amnesty law. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will meet this Friday with Partido Popular leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo amid heightened tension between the two over the controversial amnesty law for those implicated in the 2017 secessionist attempt in Catalonia, Sánchez confirmed on Wednesday. Read more.

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LISBON

Costa warns next government not to renegotiate recovery plan with Brussels. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa expressed optimism on Wednesday about the political solution that will emerge from the legislative elections on 10 March and warned the new government not to waste time renegotiating the Recovery and Resilience Plan in Brussels after the last government’s negotiations resulted in a year-long standstill. Read more.

EASTERN EUROPE

BRATISLAVA

Fico’s corruption reforms may block investigations in 20 EU fraud cases. Prime Minister Robert Fico’s push dissolve the body that now oversees high-profile corruption cases poses a risk to the EU’s financial interests and would harm the work of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Juraj Novocký, Slovakia’s representative to the EU body, told Euractiv Slovakia. Read more.

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WARSAW

Tusk takes state broadcaster off air in effort to depoliticise public media. The public broadcaster in Poland was taken off air, and the heads of TVP state broadcaster and Polish Radio were replaced on Wednesday noon as the new government started the depoliticisation of public media, which the previous government still controlled. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czechia’s legal definition of rape now includes ‘no means no’ principle. The Czech government on Wednesday approved a proposal to change the definition of rape and introduce a “no means no” principle, although it still needs to be approved by parliament. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

BUCHAREST | VIENNA

Romanian MEPs challenge Schengen blockade, point to new EU migration deal. Two Romanian MEPs argue that with EU institutions adopting a political agreement, which for the first time lays down a harmonised approach to migration management for the bloc, Austria no longer has any valid grounds to oppose their country’s bid to join the Schengen area. Read more.

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SOFIA

Bulgarian MPs dilute presidential powers to boost Schengen bid. Bulgaria’s parliament passed a sweeping constitutional reform on Wednesday that the ruling majority says is part of commitments to changes in the judiciary and aims for full Schengen membership, but has drawn criticism from pro-Russian President Rumen Radev and the pro-Russian opposition for stripping the president of much of his power to appoint caretaker governments. Read more.

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