Greek ‘Watergate’: Mitsotakis’ ‘authoritarianism’ cannot be tolerated anymore

Greek ‘Watergate’: Mitsotakis’ ‘authoritarianism’ cannot be tolerated anymore | INFBusiness.com

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.

Before you start reading today’s edition of the Capitals, feel free to have a look at the Cost of living crisis set to prompt social unrest across Europe, poll finds by Benjamin Fox.

The European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by EURACTIV.

In today’s news from the Capitals:

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is a “destabilising factor” for the country and citizens cannot stand his “authoritarian” attitude, senior socialist lawmaker Michalis Katrinis told EURACTIV after it was unveiled that the secret services bugged the phone of Greek socialist opposition leader and MEP Nikos Androulakis. Read more.

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EDITOR’S TAKE

EURACTIV poll: We haven’t lost the war against Russia, readers say. Fifty-three per cent of our readers believe that we have not lost the war against Russia despite the severe consequences Europe faces. But will we say the same after we receive the first energy bills? Read more.

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EU INSTITUTIONS

MEPs slam Commission on food security impact of reducing pesticides. Lawmakers and stakeholders have criticised the European Commission for not emphasising the potential impact of its proposal to halve both the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 2030 on food production. Read more.

Political tensions delay hearing spyware-targeted MEPs at European Parliament. Spyware-targeted MEPs, including the Greek opposition leader and Catalan separatists, will not be invited to speak at next week’s Pegasus Committee hearing in the European Parliament. Read more.

EU medicines agency authorises first adapted COVID-19 booster vaccines. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has greenlit two adapted mRNA COVID-19 vaccines targeting the original strain of COVID-19 as well as the BA.1 Omicron subvariant. Read more.

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PARIS

Macron under fire for keeping energy talks at government level. Opposition parties slammed President Emmanuel Macron for planning an emergency gas and electricity meeting for Friday that will be held strictly among ministers as he did for the COVID-19 situation during the pandemic. Read more.

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BERLIN

German government announces fifth floating LNG terminal. Berlin has arranged for a fifth floating liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal to increase the amount of LNG the country can import, which may be a boon to the country’s landlocked neighbours. Read more.

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VIENNA

Wien Energie crisis causes political tensions. Vienna’s Social Democratic Mayor Michael Ludwig’s failure to reveal the poor financial state of Wien Energie has caused disgruntlement with its liberal coalition partner at the state level and the governing Greens at the federal level. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch to halve nitrogen emissions despite farmer opposition. The Dutch government will not budge on its aim of halving nitrogen emissions by 2030 anytime soon despite objections from farmers, Dutch media NL Times confirmed. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

DUBLIN 

Irish to face another dramatic surge in electricity and gas bills. Electricity and gas bills will increase significantly from October for the third time since May because of the sharp increase in wholesale gas prices, announced on Thursday the country’s largest electricity provider, Electric Ireland. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

STOCKHOLM

Swedish far-right official to celebrate Nazi anniversary ahead of elections. Ten days before parliamentary elections, a far-right Swedish Democrat official invited his colleagues to celebrate the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi Germany attack on Poland, according to an internal email sent to the official’s parliamentary office. Read more.

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HELSINKI

Finnish government announces aid package to tackle rising energy prices. The government announced its much-anticipated electricity package that will include measures to tackle the effects of rising energy prices on Thursday. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

MADRID

Spain to temporarily lower VAT on gas amid price hikes. In Spain, the VAT on gas will drop from 21% to 5% from October until the end of the year to help mitigate the impact of energy price hikes faced by those most vulnerable, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Thursday. Read more.

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LISBON

Portuguese PM to announce measures to cope with rising living costs. Measures to help Portuguese families cope with rising living costs will be announced on Monday, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa told reporters on Thursday, stating that “strength comes from staying calm”. Read more.

VISEGRAD 

PRAGUE

Ex-PM Bab‘ no-confidence motion in Fiala set to fail. The no-confidence vote against the government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala for mishandling the energy crisis filed by the ex-prime minister Andrej Babiš led opposition is likely to fail due to a lack of majority. Read more.

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WARSAW

Poland to demand €1.3 trillion in war reparations from Germany. Representatives of Poland’s ruling party, Law and Justice (PIS), said they would demand about €1.3 trillion in war reparations from Germany on Thursday, the 83rd anniversary of Germany’s attack on Poland. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovakia leaning towards national gas price cap for households. The economy ministry has proposed a cap on the gas prices for households, and its minister, Richard Sulík, hopes to expand the current price cap on electricity prices. Read more.

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BUDAPEST

Hungarian teachers ‘mourn’ beginning of school year. Hungarian teachers’ union leaders held a protest on Thursday wearing all black to “mourn” the beginning of the school year as the government’s demands for higher pay and better conditions are yet to be heard. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Bulgaria’s overcrowded refugee centres in spotlight. Refugee centres in Bulgaria have exceeded their maximum capacity by more than 20%, reaching levels not seen in the past two to three years, the BGNES news agency reported. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania extends energy price caps by a year. The Romanian government will keep in place a scheme to cap energy prices until the end of August 2023, ministers announced Thursday. Read more.

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BELGRADE 

EU lawmakers urge Serbia to lift EuroPride ban. EU lawmakers from several political groups called on Serbian authorities to lift its ban on the EuroPride march set for September, though the letter, signed by 145 Parliament members, not including  EPP President Manfred Weber and Parliament President Roberta Metsola. Read more.

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BELGRADE

Open Balkan plus Hungary, Turkey meet to discuss cooperation in Belgrade. The ‘Vision of Summer’ wine fair took place in Belgrade on Thursday, organised within the framework of the Open Balkans initiative, a somewhat controversial regional collaboration between Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia. Read more.

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SARAJEVO

Bosnian entity urges citizens, firms to rationalise energy use. The authorities of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Bosniak-Croat entity called on citizens and businesses on Thursday to use energy rationally and asked state-owned companies to draft savings plans, particularly for cooling and heating of buildings, Croatia’s HRT reported. Read more.

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TIRANA

Albanians told to switch off lights ahead of long, dark winter. Following the lead of authorities across Europe, the Albanian Electricity Cooperation (KESH) has called on citizens to save energy as a long, expensive winter looms on the horizon. Read more.

Agenda

  • EU: Informal meeting of ministers responsible for Cohesion policy, Cohesion and reform policy Commissioner Elisa Ferreira participates.
  • Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson participates at the G20 Energy Transition Ministerial meeting and meets Australian Environment and Energy Minister Chris Bowen.
  • European Parliament Committee meetings.
  • European Parliament President Roberta Metsola meets Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
  • Germany: July foreign trade data.
  • Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets state prime ministers of eastern coal-producing regions.
  • The Netherlands: EMA press conference on COVID-19 and monkeypox vaccines.
  • United Kingdom: Former police officer Wayne Couzens, jailed for the murder of Sarah Everard, in court for indecent exposure charges.
  • Norway: Conference on freedom of expression with Nobel Laureates Maria Ressa, Dmitry Muratov and Juan Manuel Santos.
  • Sweden: Defence ministers from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden meet.
  • Italy: European House – Ambrosetti economic forum.
  • Serbia: President Aleksandar Vučić, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, North Macedonia Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski, Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s president of the Council of Ministers Zoran Tegeltija to attend Open Balkans Summit in Serbia. The foreign ministers of Hungary and Turkey, Peter Szijjarto and Mevlut Cavusoglu, are also to attend.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Maksimov, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Eleonora Vasques]

Source: euractiv.com

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