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In today’s news from the Capitals:
Italy’s long history of politicians relying on EU institutional infrastructure and resources to increase their profiles back home comes to the forefront in upcoming national elections, where 12 out of 76 Italian MEPs have presented their candidacy.
Fratelli d’Italia, the current frontrunner in the 25 September elections, has been one of the beneficiaries of the Brussels’ ‘cursus honorum’. Read more.
BERLIN
Berlin to implement electricity windfall levy, price limit with or without EU. The German government will tax electricity market windfall profits, using the revenue to cap electricity bills as part of a €65 billion relief package agreed upon during the weekend. Read more.
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PARIS
Former socialist prime minister calls for ‘another left’. The French left must be reborn, believes Bernard Cazeneuve, prime minister of President François Hollande from 2016 to 2017, who published a manifesto on Saturday on the Journal du Dimanche website. Read more.
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VIENNA
Vienna to provide €2.5 billion electricity bill relief. An “electricity price brake,” which will allow households to consume 80% of last year’s electricity use at lower prices, was revealed in the details of the Austrian government’s household electricity relief on Sunday. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch begin emergency shelter construction for asylum seekers. The construction of emergency shelters for asylum seekers has already started in Zoutkamp, in the municipality of Het Hogeland, Dutch media NL Times reported. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finland proposes loan, guarantee scheme for electric companies. A loan and guarantee scheme of up to €10 billion for electricity production companies at risk of insolvency was agreed on by the Finnish government on Sunday. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
Swedish government counting on Europe to fix energy crisis. Social Democrat party leader and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is hoping to find a European solution to what her opponents consider a problem her party helped create as Sweden faces soaring energy prices ahead of the elections. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ATHENS
Erdoğan threatens Greek islands with invasion ‘at night’. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on Greece to stop “militarising” Greek islands neighbouring Turkey and warned that Turkish military forces could come “at night”. Read more.
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MADRID
Sánchez kicks off ‘marathon campaign’ ahead of 2023 elections. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez kicked off a “marathon” political campaign in Seville on Saturday with a clear message to those affected by the crisis: this is “the government of the people”. Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
Morawiecki: Poland to revive relations with Hungary. Poland wants to collaborate with Hungary in various political fields after a short-time split caused by a difference of positions on the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told pro-government magazine Sieci weekly. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czech PM blames pro-Russian forces for mass demonstration against government. Pro-Russian forces are to blame for the protest against the Czech government’s foreign and economic policy in which 70,000 people gathered, according to Czech conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Double energy prices will drive half of Slovak businesses into the red. If energy prices rise by half, the share of loss-making Slovak companies will to rise to 41% from 28%, with a further 6% making no profits if prices double, says a new study by the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS). Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
ZAGREB
Croatia set to block Hungarian fund’s purchase of top food group. Croatia wants to block the planned purchase by a Hungarian investment fund of a 43% stake in leading food and retail group Fortenova to a Hungarian businessman supposed to be a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Nacional weekly reported on Sunday. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgaria to increase Russian visa prices. Bulgaria will increase the price of visas for Russian tourists from €35 to €80 following a decision taken at the EU level, announced the caretaker Minister of Tourism, Ilin Dimitrov. Read more.
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BELGRADE
Ukraine shares European values with Serbia, wants more support. Serbia and Ukraine share the same European values, but Ukraine wants more Serbian support, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, said in Kyiv on Saturday. Read more.
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BELGRADE | LJUBLJANA
Slovenian president visits Belgrade, says there is political will to preserve peace. Slovenian President Borut Pahor visited Belgrade to meet Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic and discuss political will to maintain the European outlook of the Western Balkans and stability/ Read more.
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PRISTINA | BELGRADE
Balkan’s fragile peace at risk as Germany, France appoint regional advisers. Fragiile Balkan peace is at risk due to Russia, who would be happy if conflict erupted said Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to Der Spiegel as both France and Germany appointed special advisors to the EU’s envoy for the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue. Read more.
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TIRANA | WESTERN BALKANS
Calls on EU to help keep Western Balkans warm this winter grow. Albanian Power Corporation (KESH) Director Ergys Verdho has asked for EU assistance in combatting the energy crisis, joining calls from Prime Minister Edi Rama and other regional leaders over fears of high prices and plunging temperatures as winter draws nearer. Read more.
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Agenda
- EU: EU-Ukraine Association Council meeting, led by Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal and EU EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell.
- Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson receives Czech Republic Minister of Interior.
- Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni meet French Minister for Transportation Clément Beaune.
- European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has a working breakfast with Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal and held a Facebook live chat on State of the Union.
- European Parliament Committee meetings.
- Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomes Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog at the Chancellery.
- Greenpeace and the legal team hold a press conference on the case against Volkswagen.
- France: Trial of suspects over 2016 Nice truck attack, which killed 86 people and injured over 400.
- Austria: OPEC+ ministers meet to assess oil output.
- The Netherlands: Africa Adaptation Summit, ahead of COP27.
- United Kingdom: Conservative leadership election result and the new PM announced.
- High Court hears legal challenge over government plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
- Bulgaria: Caretaker Prime Minister Galab Donev will meet with the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovachevski, who will be on a one-day visit to Sofia on Monday.
- Kosovo: Premier-designate Ana Brnabić on a one-day visit to Kosovo.
- Russia: Russian economic forum.
- A court hearing in a bid to close print edition of Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Eleonora Vasques, Sofia Stuart Leeson]
Source: euractiv.com
