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The European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by EURACTIV.
In today’s news from the Capitals:
Diplomatic relations between Algeria and France went from cool to icy last year over controversial Élysée comments, tensions over visa facilitation, and unresolved disputes relating to shared wartime history.
At a time when some of Paris’ European allies, scrambling to replace Russian fossil fuels ahead of what promises to be a cold winter, are looking to Algiers for their energy needs, French President Emmanuel Macron will embark on a three-day “goodwill visit” on Thursday to the North African country. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austrian opposition keeps coal plants shut, for now. The Vienna government failed to obtain a two-thirds majority necessary to enact its “natural gas steering regulation” due to the opposition parties withholding their support, preventing coal power plants from starting back up. Read more.
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BERLIN
Scholz confirms fresh heavy arms deliveries to Ukraine. Germany will ship additional heavy weapons worth more than €500 million to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Tuesday evening during his trip to Canada. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
Belgian opposition urges quick launch of government energy emergency plan. The government must activate the first phase of the country’s energy emergency plan amid soaring energy prices, centrist opposition party Les Engagés said on Tuesday. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch to send extra war assistance to Ukraine. The Netherlands will provide an additional €75 million in aid and investment support for Ukraine’s war efforts and reconstruction, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher and Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced on Monday in Kyiv. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
STOCKHOLM
Swedish PM rejects ‘ethnic-clusters’ in Sweden. Social Democrat Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson declared on Tuesday that she stands against ‘ethnic clusters’ in the country in a bid to defend the earlier controversial declarations of her Integration Minister on “non-Nordic” residents. Read more.
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HELSINKI
Finnish prime minister apologises for new leaked video. Prime Minister Sanna Marin apologised on Tuesday for a new party circulating on TikTok, where two partygoers can be seen kissing each other at the prime minister’s official residence. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Spain to organise EU-Latin America-Caribbean summit in 2023. The Spanish government plans to hold a summit of leaders of the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean in Madrid in the second half of 2023, coinciding with its presidency of the EU Council. Read more.
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LISBON
Portuguese airline TAP results better than foreseen in restructuring plan. Portuguese airline TAP’s results in the first half of 2022 are better than what was foreseen in the company’s restructuring plan, Chief Executive, Christine Ourmières-Widener, said on Tuesday. Read more.
EU sends Canadair planes to fight wildfires in Portugal. Two Canadair aircraft were mobilised to fight forest fires in northern Portugal at the country’s request and have also activated the satellite mapping system to ascertain the area burnt, the European Commission announced on Tuesday. Read more.
VISEGRAD
PRAGUE
Zeman: Russia lost everything. By attacking Ukraine, Russia gained nothing and lost virtually everything, said Czech President Miloš Zeman, considered one of the Kremlin’s biggest EU friends before the war. Read more.
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WARSAW
Polish president first person honoured in Walk of Brave in Kyiv. Polish President Andrzej Duda and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy led a walk in Kyiv to honour the world leaders that showed solidarity with Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, with Duda’s name to be first inscribed, news agency Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
Gulyás: sacking of meteorologists over fireworks damp squib, not political. At a Tuesday government briefing, Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, denied political motivations behind the sacking of the heads of the National Meteorological Service (OMSZ). Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Slovakia to send combat vehicles to Ukraine in exchange for German tanks. Slovakia will send 30 Czechoslovak combat vehicles BVP to Ukraine in exchange for 15 older Leopard-2 type tanks from Germany in a deal signed between Slovakia and Germany on Tuesday in Bratislava, during a visit of the German defence ministry’s top armament policy official. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BELGRADE
Cancelling EuroPride Belgrade ‘dangerous’, leading MEP warns. The voices calling for cancelling EuroPride 2022 in Belgrade are dangerous, European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia Vladimir Bilčik said on Tuesday. Read more.
Serbia-Croatia bilateral trade up 35% year-on-year in first six months. The economic ties between the two neighbouring countries continue to grow stronger despite continuing political tensions and mutual accusations between Serbia and Croatia. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgaria to treat COVID-19 as influenza. Bulgaria will start considering COVID-19 as influenza and other respiratory viruses, Professor Radka Argirova announced after the expert group at the Ministry of Health meeting, which monitors the epidemic situation in the country. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenia to reduce VAT on energy. Slovenia will reduce the value-added tax (VAT) on energy electricity, gas, biomass and remote heating from 22% to 9.5% for eight months starting in September under legislative amendments passed by the parliament on Tuesday, the latest in a series of steps addressing the cost of living crisis. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albanian health service faces cut as many look to private providers. Albanians spent more than €100 million on private healthcare in 2021, despite it being free in state hospitals, as the government is set to slash public funding further in the budget. Read more.
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PRISTINA
KFOR ready to unblock any barricades in northern Kosovo. The Kosovo Force (KFOR) NATO-led peacekeeping forces closely monitor the situation in the country’s north and are ready to react to enable freedom of movement should local Serbs seek to block roads as 1 September approaches. Read more.
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Agenda
- Germany: Justice minister Buschmann and health minister Lauterbach present Germany’s new infection protection law in Berlin
- Spain: Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, begins an official visit to Colombia, Ecuador, and Honduras
- United Kingdom: Water use restrictions come into force in London and parts of southern England
- Ukraine: Independence Day
- Russia: Six-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
- Canada: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visits
- United States: UN Security Council meeting
- Angola: General election
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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
