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In today’s news from the Capitals:
PRAGUE
The Spitzenkandidat concept – which gives the winning group in the EU elections a chance to propose their lead candidate as European Commission president – is quietly fading away, with even its initial backers becoming gradually less vocal about the idea, Czech EU lawmaker Jan Zahradil said.
“I have the feeling that the concept of the Spitzenkandidat is quietly dying, quietly fading away. No one is actually talking about it anymore,” Czech MEP Jan Zahradil (ODS, ECR), who ran as the ECR Spitzenkandidat in the 2019 European elections, told EURACTIV.cz.
EURACTIV was informed that a key element on whether such a process may be followed is if current EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen decides to re-run for the post, a decision she is yet to reveal. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
EU taps enlargement expert for Ukraine ambassador. The EU’s current deputy director general for the European Commission’s enlargement negotiations, Katarina Mathernová is set to become the bloc’s new ambassador to Kyiv, according to an internal note on appointments by the EU’s diplomatic service (EEAS), seen by EURACTIV. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
Belgium troubled by Russian ‘intelligence gathering’ ships in territorial waters. A Russian vessel spotted in Belgian territorial waters in November has caused concern it was a Russian intelligence-gathering ship similar to one also seen in Dutch territorial waters, attempting to sail under the radar. Read more.
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BERLIN
German children inherit parents’ educational success: report. The academic success of German children depends more on their parents’ education and income, as the education system gives varying outcomes, a report published by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research reads. Read more.
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PARIS
French Senate urges EU to trace deported Ukrainian children, sanction those involved. French Senate has urged EU institutions and countries to gather evidence of the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia and sanction Russian officials involved in these crimes, Senator André Gattolin told EURACTIV France on Wednesday. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austrian agriculture minister unveils five-point plan for food security. A five-point resilience plan that prioritises the safe supply of food and includes a call to reform the Food Management Act was unveiled by Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig on Wednesday. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Cracks appear in Dutch opposition over nitrogen transition fund. Opposition parties criticised the government for indecisiveness in handling the country’s ongoing nitrogen crisis while advocating for differing approaches as lawmakers in parliament debated potential financing methods for a nitrogen transition fund on Wednesday. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
NORDICS
Nordic media reveals Russian sabotage spy programme. A Russian military programme reportedly mapped out offshore wind farms, gas pipelines, and electricity and internet cables in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden, according to a documentary aired on Wednesday. Read more.
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HELSINKI
Finland’s state gambling monopoly likely to be replaced by a licensing system. The current state monopoly system would not function without regulatory changes, according to a report commissioned by the Interior Ministry that looks at the future of online gambling and recommends a switch to a licensing system. Read more.
Angry Birds flying to Japan. After days of speculation, the Japanese company Sega looks likely to finalise the acquisition of the Finnish company Rovio Entertainment known for its Angry Birds brand. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
US urges Turkey, Hungary to ratify Swedish NATO application before summer. Budapest and Ankara should ratify Stockholm’s NATO application before the Alliance’s summit in Vilnius in July, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said during an official visit to Sweden on Wednesday. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ATHENS
Greek government admits exporting Predator to Sudan. Greece’s alternate foreign affairs minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis admitted that the New Democracy government (EPP) granted permission to export the illegal Predator spyware to Sudan, now facing a dramatic civil war. Read more.
ROME
Italy focuses on female labour, birthrates amid labour shortages. Upping birth rates and bringing more women into the labour force are the solutions the government is proposing to plug the current labour shortage of about one million, Labour Minister Marina Elvira Calderone and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently said. Read more.
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MADRID
Spain’s housing problem used as political tool ahead of elections. Spain’s two main parties, the ruling centre-left PSOE (S&D) and the centre-right Popular Party (PP/EPP) are both using the housing crisis as a way to gain votes ahead of elections set for later this year. Read more.
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LISBON
Portuguese president vetoes fourth draft euthanasia bill. The fourth parliamentary bill decriminalising medically assisted dying was vetoed by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Wednesday, hours after he told a student that only legal and technical problems with the bill remained. Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
German president asks for ‘forgiveness’ of World War II crimes. German President Frank Walter Steinmeier asked for forgiveness of German crimes committed during World War II as he commemorated the 80th anniversary of the ghetto uprising alongside the presidents of Poland and Israel in Warsaw on Wednesday. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Bulgaria bans import of some Ukrainian goods. The government decided on Wednesday that Bulgaria will ban the import of nearly 20 Ukrainian goods, including grain, from 24 April to 30 June, following in the footsteps of Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Read more.
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BELGRADE
Serbia reiterates opposition to Kosovo’s UN membership bid. Serbia will not support Kosovo’s membership to the UN, President Aleksandar Vučić said in discussions with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Blistrem on Wednesday. Read more.
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TIRANA
Over 24,000 Albanian local election candidates, issues with financing, transparency. With under a month until Albania heads to the polls to elect mayors and regional councillors, a total of 132 political parties are present in the country, with more than 24,000 candidates in the running. Read more.
Albanians most pessimistic in region on fall out of Russia-Ukraine war. Albanians are the most pessimistic of all Western Balkan citizens when it comes to the economic outlook following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with almost half believing the situation will not improve. Read more.
AGENDA
- EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participates via videoconference in the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, hosted by President of the United States Joe Biden;
- Vice President Vĕra Jourová meets with Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, and speaks at roundtable with media and NGO’s;
- Vice President Maroš Šefčovič receives First Vice-President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Jurgen Rigterink;
- Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis receives President of SME United, Crafts and SMEs in Europe Petri Salminen;
- Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni attends InvestEU Guarantee Agreement signature event with Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK);
- Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides participates in an exchange of views with the European Parliament subcommittee on public health;
- European Parliament Plenary votes on EU rules to regulate crypto assets;
- ECHR: Ruling in interstate case between Georgia and Russia, brought by Georgia in 2018;
- Austria: North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski on official visit;
- Belgium: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meets with Czech President Petr Pavel;
- Hungary: French Secretary of State for Europe Laurence Boone on official visit;
- Turkey: Launch event for gas deliveries starting from newly discovered Black Sea field;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
Source: euractiv.com
