Le Pen gets Hungarian bank loan to finance presidential campaign

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

PARIS | BUDAPEST

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has obtained a €10.6 million loan from a Hungarian bank to finance her presidential election campaign, according to RTL radio on Wednesday. This comes after the presidential candidate for Rassemblement National said she was having trouble obtaining bank loans at home. Read more.

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BERLIN

Germany signals course change on Mali mission. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has raised doubts about Germany’s military engagement in Mali, even though the federal government had recently ruled out a withdrawal of troops. Read more.

Germany slaps broadcast ban on RT’s German-language service. Authorities have banned Russia Today’s German-language TV programme on Wednesday because it lacked the necessary media licence. Read the full story.

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VIENNA

Austria, Luxembourg to take green label for nuclear and gas to EU courts. The EU’s sustainable finance rules presented on Wednesday will award a “green” label to gas and nuclear power, which has prompted Austria and Luxembourg to announce a lawsuit. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

BELFAST/LONDON

Northern Irish minister halts agrifood border checks. Northern Ireland’s Agriculture minister Edwin Poots has ordered his officials to halt Irish Sea border checks from midnight on Wednesday, a move that could open the latest legal dispute over the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol. Read more.

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DUBLIN

British amnesty for Troubles prosecutions would undermine rule of law, says Taoiseach. The UK government’s plans for an amnesty for prosecutions related to the Troubles would undermine the rule of law and bring further distress to victims’ families, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Wednesday. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

HELSINKI

Finland in talks with Ukraine about defensive weapons supply. There are ongoing discussions on Finland possibly supporting Ukraine’s defence capability, Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen of the Centre party revealed. Read more.

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COPENHAGEN

Danish justice ministry ‘forgot’ to forward former minister’s case to prison service. The Supreme Court’s case against former Immigration Minister Inger Støjberg gathered dust for several weeks in the justice ministry before it was sent to the Prison Service, which is supposed to take over. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ROME

Italy’s inflation rate reaches 4.8%, highest in 26 years. Italy’s inflation rate has reached a 26-year high of 4.8% mainly due to the increase in energy prices, preliminary estimates for January 2022 published by Italy’s national statistics institute (ISTAT) show. Read more.

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LISBON

Study rules out lithium mining in two areas in northern Portugal, accepts six. A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) carried out in eight geographical areas in northern Portugal with potential for the mining of lithium has excluded two – Arga and Segura – while giving the green light for six others, it was disclosed on Wednesday. Read more.

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MADRID

Labour reform law to proceed. The Spanish government has announced it has enough votes to proceed with labour law reform in a vote set to take place on Thursday.

The deputies of the parties that support the Government, PSOE (with 120 MPs) and Unidas Podemos (with 34), will be joined by nine from Ciudadanos, four from PDeCat, two from Más País, two from UPN, one from Compromís and those of Teruel Existe, Coalición Canaria, Nueva Canarias and the Regionalist Party of Cantabria, all of which also have only one MP in Congress each.

In total, the yes votes add up to 176, the absolute majority of the Lower House. Estimates of the ‘no’ camps votes total 173, securing a win for the government. (Eldiario.es with EURACTIV.com)

VISEGRAD

BRATISLAVA

Slovak municipalities pressured to take on one-China policy, experts claim. China is promoting its own interests through ties with municipalities and local governments in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Read more.

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WARSAW

More US troops to be sent to Poland. The US will send 1,700 additional troops to Poland, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has announced, a decision which Warsaw is happy with. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Prague welcomes EU green label for gas and nuclear. The Czech government has praised the European Commission’s decision to include gas and nuclear in the EU’s sustainable taxonomy. Prague was fighting for the green label to be applied to gas and nuclear for months and sees the move as a victory of Czech diplomacy. Read more.

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BUDAPEST

Hungarian ministry cannot ban the press from hospitals, court finds. The Ministry of Human Resources has unlawfully kept the media out of hospitals during the pandemic, a Budapest district court ruled on Wednesday. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Bulgarian parliament takes first step to abolish ‘golden passports’ scheme. The Bulgarian Parliament’s legal committee adopted at first reading the justice ministry’s draft bill that eliminates the sale of Bulgarian investment citizenship or so-called “golden passports”. The scheme was met with several warnings from the European Commission and the European Parliament and is believed to be why Bulgarians cannot enjoy visa-free travel to the US. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania still committed to get F-35s, but after 2030. After buying second-hand fighter jets from Portugal and Norway, Romania will continue its plans to upgrade its air force, but new generation fighters will only enter service after 2030. Read more.

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ZAGREB

Different opinions on Croatian government HQ attack. Members of the Croatian Parliament’s Home Affairs and National Security Committee failed to agree on whether the attack by Danijel Bezuk on government offices in Zagreb in October 2020 was an act of an individual or if certain social and political groups were behind it. Read more.

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LJUBLJANA

Slovenian parliament passes controversial Swiss franc loan law. The National Assembly has passed an act that forces banks to share part of the burden of the surging cost of loans denominated in Swiss francs, a move banks say is unlawful and would be promptly put to the test at the Constitutional Court. Read more.

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BELGRADE

Serbian opposition candidate promises organised, future-oriented country. After the elections in April, Serbia will be a united and organised country that looks to the future, Zdravko Pono, the presidential candidate of the opposition United Serbia coalition, said on Wednesday. Read more.

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PODGORICA

Montenegrin parliament to vote on Deputy PM’s dismissal. The assembly will vote on the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazović following the proposal of Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić. Read more.

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PRISTINA | BELGRADE

EU, US urge Kosovo to accept Serb Municipalities. Kosovo has been urged to find a way to establish the Association of Serb Municipalities (ASM) in Kosovo, without infringing on state sovereignty. Pristina has previously refused, saying it would create a state within a state, like in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has failed. Read more.

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TIRANA

Albania not ready to scale back COVID-19 restrictions as vaccination remains low. It is too early to declare victory over the COVID-19 pandemic, said Health Minister Ogerta Manastirliu, noting that the vaccination rate for two doses has reached 56%. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU/France: EU interior and justice ministers meet in Lille, France / EU transport ministers, stakeholders, meet to discuss aviation / European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks at the “Masters of Digital 2022” event.
Germany: Commission VP Valdis Dombrovskis meets Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner in Berlin.
Luxembourg: Advisor at the ECJ will issue non-binding opinion in challenge by the Czech Republic against Poland over the Turow mine.
Netherlands: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Brussels to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel.
Switzerland: Covid rules on quarantine for contact cases, mandatory homeworking lifted.
Finland: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and President Sauli Niinistö in Helsinki.
Latvia: Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand visits NATO battlegroup base in Adazi.
Italy: President Sergio Mattarella is sworn in for a second term.
Romania: France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian meets President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest.
Serbia: US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Gabriel Escobar, and the EU’s Special Envoy for the Belgrade-Priština dialogue, Miroslav Lajčak, continuing their visit to Belgrade / Meeting between President Aleksandar Vučić with the rapporteur of the Social Democratic Party of Germany for the Western Balkans in the Bundestag, Adis Ahmetović.
North Macedonia: Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski on his first visit to EU and NATO.
Russian navy holds live fire exercises in the North Atlantic