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.
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In today’s news from the Capitals:
ROME
While bickering over the Russian oil embargo exposed EU divisions ahead of bloc leaders’ meeting in Brussels on Monday, Italian industry warns that a gas cut could prove devastating for the country’s economy. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
EU summit unlikely to adopt Russia oil ban, will look at ‘the broader picture’. Attempts to negotiate an eleventh-hour compromise to get Hungary to back a full Russian oil ban before an EU emergency summit later on Monday (30 May) have made no progress. Reportedly, leaders don’t want to squabble and will look at “the bigger picture”. Read more.
EU candidate status could be an ‘existential’ message to Tbilisi, Georgian ambassador says. Gaining EU candidate status would be a crucial and existential political message that today the door is open for Georgia, and there is light at the end of the tunnel, Tbilisi’s Ambassador to the EU, Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, told EURACTIV. Read more.
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BERLIN
Germany orders 240,000 monkeypox vaccine doses. Germany will receive 40,000 vaccine doses against monkeypox in early June, with 200,000 more set to follow, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Sunday after cases were reported in Munich and Berlin. Read more.
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PARIS
France, Germany ask Putin to resume negotiations with Zelenskyy. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to reopen negotiations in a “direct exchange” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Elysée reported. Read more.
France’s new health minister to continue tackling long COVID bane. France’s new health minister, Brigitte Bourguignon, will continue the fight against long COVID kickstarted by her predecessor, as Brussels recommends part-time work for those with persistent COVID-related symptoms. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austrian chancellor against ‘softening’ citizenship requirements. Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer has dismissed calls by President Alexander Van der Bellen – of the Greens and up for re-election – to make naturalisation easier. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch border police seized about 1,500 forged travel documents. The Dutch border police intercepted 1,465 falsified documents in 2021, 10% more than in 2020, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee reported. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
DUBLIN
Ireland confirms first monkeypox case. Ireland confirmed its first case of monkeypox this weekend in the east of the country as cases rise across Europe. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finnish FM ‘worried’ about treatment of Uighurs. The treatment of the Muslim Uighur minority in China is ‘very worrying’, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told YLE in an interview on Saturday during his three-day visit to Washington. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
We are in an extreme climate crisis, says Swedish climate minister. We find ourselves in an extreme climate crisis, Swedish Climate and Environment Minister Annika Strandhäll said on Sunday ahead of June’s UN climate meeting due to take place in Stockholm. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Spain to step up Baltic troops, send anti-aircraft missiles to Latvia. Madrid will soon send a battery of anti-aircraft defence missiles to Latvia as part of a NATO deterrence mission, confirmed Defence Minister Margarita Robles on Saturday. Read more.
Spain to call for more energy ambition in EU at Brussels summit. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will call for more ambition to implement the reform of the European electricity markets and reduce energy bills on Monday and Tuesday at the EU summit in Brussels, Spanish official sources told EURACTIV’s partner EFE. Read more.
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LISBON
Portugal’s Costa wants exports to make up over half of GDP by 2030. The government intends to ensure that exports represent over 50% of GDP by the end of the decade, said Prime Minister António Costa on Sunday. Read more.
Portuguese border service leaves airport passengers stranded. International passengers arriving at Lisbon airport on flights from outside Europe on Sunday have been waiting four to five hours at passport control following a plenary meeting called by the border agents’ union. Read more.
VISEGRAD
PRAGUE
Child abuse regulation means spying on citizens, warns Czech MEP. The European Commission’s recent proposal for a regulation to fight child abuse online could open the door to spying on private online conversations, Czech MEP Marcel Kolaja from the Pirates and Greens/EFA has warned. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Slovakia to import gas from Norway and other countries. Norway and various unnamed countries will supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to help ensure Slovakia’s dependence on Russian gas imports decreases drastically, the country’s largest gas supplier, SPP, announced on Friday. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA | BELGRADE
Serbia refuses to extradite banker to Bulgaria fearing ‘torture’. Citing “reasons to believe” extradition could lead to “torture, inhuman and degrading treatment”, Serbia will not return Tsvetan Vassilev, a Bulgarian banker and majority owner of the bankrupt Corporate Commercial Bank in 2014 who was granted political asylum last July, to Bulgaria, the Belgrade Court of Appeals has ruled. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Romanian FM talks with Finnish and Swedish counterparts on NATO bid. Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu had phone calls with his Finnish and Swedish counterparts and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg about their plans to join the alliance. Read more.
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ZAGREB
EU auditors comb wine subsidies in Croatia. European auditors spent last week in Zagreb combing books for possible irregularities in payments made under the so-called ‘wine envelope’, the Nacional.hr website reported. Read more.
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BELGRADE
Vucic strikes ‘favourable’ gas deal with Putin. Serbia has arranged a favourable deal on procuring Russian natural gas. However, details will be revealed in the coming days, said President Aleksandar Vučić following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday. Read more.
No ethnic Albanian MPs in Serbian parliament following repeat vote. There will be no ethnic Albanian MPs in Serbia’s parliament after Shaip Kamberi failed to win a seat in a repeat round of voting following April’s general and local elections. Read more.
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PODGORICA
Montenegro minister speaks in favour of Open Balkan initiative. Montenegro is not against joining the “Open Balkan” initiative, Economic Development and Tourism Minister Goran Đurović said. Read more.
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TIRANA
Defunct Albanian natural gas fields could be operational soon. The Delvina Gas Company has applied to the Albanian authorities to complete works to explore the Delvina Field for natural gas in a bid to gasify the country further. Read more.
Agenda
- EU: Extraordinary Council meeting to discuss Ukraine, defence, and energy.
- Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations Maroš Šefčovič meets with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
- Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager participates in Renew pre-summit.
- Beginning of committee and group meetings week at the European Parliament.
- France: ERTICO – ITS European Congress begins.
- Spain: 40th anniversary since joining NATO with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg attending ceremony.
- Italy: Ecocnomy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni participates in ABI executive committee (Italian banks Association) meeting.
- Russia: Grain Union President Arkady Zlochevsky holds a press conference.
- World: World Multiple Sclerosis Day.
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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
