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In today’s news from the Capitals:
BERLIN
A motion to raise €20 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine has been dismissed by the state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania, which is also home to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austrian Chancellor says EU army not going to happen. An EU army will not happen in the foreseeable future, said Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer following Friday’s summit of EU leaders in Versailles. Read more.
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PARIS
French faced with soaring fuel prices to soon receive rebate. All French citizens who use petrol will be reimbursed 15 cents per litre as of 1 April, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Saturday to the newspaper Le Parisien in response to the surge in fuel prices exacerbated by the current war in Ukraine. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch municipal elections to cater to English-speaking voters. Political parties are offering information and election debates in English for residents who do not speak Dutch but are eligible to vote in the municipal elections starting on Monday. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
LONDON
Open up your home to Ukrainian refugees government urges. People in the UK will be offered £350 a month to open their homes to Ukrainian refugees as part of the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme. The programme will allow Britons to sponsor a refugee or family to live in their home for six months. Read more.
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DUBLIN
Irish military neutrality to be redefined, says foreign minister. Ireland’s traditional military neutrality will need to be redefined, but a referendum on it is not currently on the government’s radar, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finnish minister: EU consumers to pay ‘Putin’s prices’. The war in Ukraine may lead to increased food prices and possible supply shortages in Finland and across Europe, Economic Minister Mika Lintilä has said. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM | HELSINKI
Russia threatens Sweden and Finland over NATO membership, again. A spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry has issued another warning to both Sweden and Finland warning them not to join NATO. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME
Bus carrying Ukrainian refugees overturned in Italy. A bus carrying 20 Ukrainians overturned in North-Eastern Italy on Sunday morning while making its way to Pescara in the Abruzzi Region, leaving one person dead and several injured, firefighters said. Read more.
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MADRID
Madrid demonstration calls for ‘no-fly zone’ over Ukraine. A total of 5,000 people demonstrated in Madrid asking the EU and the US to enforce a “no-fly zone” in Ukraine to help the Eastern country repel the Russian invasion on Sunday, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported. Read more.
Spain’s PM announces tax relief measures to mitigate Ukraine war impact. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a package of tax relief measures focused on alleviating the impact of the war in Ukraine on the economy on Sunday. Read more.
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LISBON
Lisbon centre for Ukrainians has welcomed almost 400 refugees. The Temporary Reception Centre for Ukrainian refugees in Lisbon received 394 people in its first week of operation, including 116 children aged up to 16 years, Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas said on Sunday. Read more.
Portugal to open platform for temporary protection of Ukrainian refugees. The Portuguese immigration and borders service SEF is launching an online platform in three different languages on Monday for requests for temporary protection from Ukrainian residents, it announced on Sunday. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BRATISLAVA | PRAGUE | SOFIA
Soviet war memorials take a hit across central and eastern Europe. Several cases of vandalism towards Soviet war memorials have been reported in central and eastern Europe as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While Russian embassies were outraged, national authorities were more understanding of perpetrators. In some cases, municipalities are considering removing the monuments. Read more.
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WARSAW
Opposition MPs reject bill giving officials impunity when helping refugees. Opposition party MPs have spoken out against the new law regulating residency status for Ukrainian refugees that fled to Poland following the Russian invasion, particularly the provisions giving impunity to officials when people’s lives are at stake. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czech capacities to host Ukrainian refugees have run out. The Czech Republic can no longer offer accommodation to Ukrainian refugees as the state’s capacities are now exhausted. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
Hungarian constitutional judges side with government in email scandal case. Hungary’s constitutional court, often accused of a pro-government bias, dismissed charges against the executive on Sunday of using emails sent to citizens on the eve of the Ukrainian-Russian war for campaign purposes in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Bulgaria to fastrack plans to build a new nuclear reactor. The Bulgarian government will try to build at least one nuclear reactor at the functioning Kozloduy nuclear power plant on the banks of the Danube. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Romanians go on edible oil buying spree. Consumers panic bought sunflower oil, a product they think will soon be in short supply, just a few days after they had queued up en masse at petrol stations. Read more.
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ZAGREB
Remnants of aerial bomb found in drone that crashed in Zagreb. Remnants of an aerial bomb have been found in the Soviet-era drone that crashed in Southwest Zagreb late on Thursday, as Defence Minister Mario Banožić said on Sunday. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenian parliament approves long-delayed tax cuts. The Slovenian parliament passed income tax changes that result in higher take-home pay across the board, lower tax on capital gains, and a lower top tax rate, changes welcomed by businesses but criticised by unions due to their impact on public finances. Read more.
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BELGRADE
Second pro-Russia rally held in Belgrade. Vehicles waving Serbian and Russian flags drove down central Belgrade streets on Sunday in the second pro-Russian demonstration since the war in Ukraine began. Read more.
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SARAJEVO
EUFOR commander: Peace not under threat but caution necessary. The EUFOR commander in Bosnia and Herzegovina, General Anton Wessely, said there was no immediate threat to security in the country but that caution was necessary due to the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albanian prime minister shames thousands protesting rising prices. Albanians should be ashamed as they are the only NATO member protesting the “consequences of war in Ukraine”, said Prime Minister Edi Rama as nationwide demonstrations continued for the fifth day. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: EU ambassadors set to green light fourth sanction package on Russia by midday / EU finance and labour ministers meet in Brussels / Internal Market Commissioner Breton speak before European Parliament’s TRANS Committee / High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt speaks before AFET Committee.
- Germany: Chancellor Scholz holds talks with Turkish President Erdogan in Ankara / Government gives a press briefing on 2023 budget.
- France: Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly holds extraordinary session in Strasbourg to discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy set to tune in / Covid vaccination pass use halted, end of mask mandate except on public transport.
- Switzerland: Hearing for candidates for Director-General of the International Labour Organization.
- Sweden: SIPRI report on arms exports to be published.
- Norway: NATO’s Exercise Cold Response 2022, military exercise in the Arctic.
- Poland: Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen visits Rzeszów, near Ukraine border.
- Romania: Italy’s foreign affairs minister Luigi di Maio visits Romania, where he will meet President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.
- North Macedonia: EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell to visit Skopje.
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Alexandra Brzozowski, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson]
Source: euractiv.com
