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In today’s news from the Capitals:
STOCKHOLM
Twelve of the Russian state’s nuclear weapons manufacturers use technology from Swedish industrial companies, an investigation by the Swedish newspaper Expressen has found. Read more.
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BERLIN
German Nord Stream 2 region leader admits pipeline was ‘mistake’. Manuela Schwesig, the prime minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (where Nord Stream 2 was being built) has dropped her support for the pipeline, admitting for the first time that her long-standing advocacy for the contentious project was a mistake. Read more.
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PARIS
French COVID-19 patients to vote in election. French citizens who test positive for COVID-19 will be able to vote freely in the presidential elections on 10 and 24 April, government spokesperson Gabriel Attal has said. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austria declares ‘early emergency’ plan to secure gas supply. The government has followed Germany and triggered “an early emergency” mechanism to manage gas supplies in response to Russia saying it will only accept roubles for gas deliveries going forward. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Ruling party lawmakers demands speeding up North Sea gas drilling. Jereon van Wijngaarden, an MP in Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD wants to speed up the process of getting a permit to drill gas in the North Sea. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
LONDON
Homes for Ukrainians scheme hits Home Office delays. The scheme allowing people to sponsor a Ukrainian refugee to stay in their home fox six months, in exchange for a £350 monthly payment from the government has resulted in the award of only 2,700 visas more than two weeks after it was launched, the Home Office revealed on Wednesday. Read more.
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DUBLIN
Ireland runs short of housing for Ukrainian refugees. Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland may soon need to be housed in tent facilities as the government searches for properties available to use as accommodation. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
STOCKHOLM
Russian jets carrying nuclear weapons violated Swedish airspace. Two Russian warplanes loaded with nuclear weapons violated Swedish airspace earlier in March, according to information provided to news programme TV4 Nyheter. Read more.
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OSLO
Zelenskyy asks Norway to stop Russian ships from entering European ports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for more weapons to be delivered to Ukraine and Oslo to stop Russian ships from docking in their ports in an address to Norway’s parliament on Wednesday. Read more.
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HELSINKI
Finland’s ageing population increasing at record speed. Finland’s elderly, one of the world’s largest cohorts compared to the country’s remaining population, is growing rapidly, a new survey has found. Read more.
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VILNIUS
Lithuania to soon lift indoor mask requirement. People in Lithuania will no longer have to wear facemasks indoors except in healthcare facilities and public transport, the health ministry announced on Wednesday. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME | MOSCOW
Italy asks Putin for ceasefire. Prime Minister Mario Draghi asked President Vladimir Putin to call a ceasefire as soon as possible “in order to protect the civilian population and support negotiating efforts” in a phone call on Wednesday. Read more.
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MADRID
EU, Spanish prosecutors at odds over Madrid leader fraud probe. Investigations into corruption allegations related to a facemask deal made by Madrid’s regional government during the early stages of the pandemic despite Spanish prosecutors insisting that the case was a national matter will continue, the European prosecutor’s office (EPPO) said on Wednesday. Read more.
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ATHENS
Greek socialists reject post-election collaboration with the right. The Greek socialist party (Pasok) leader has rejected collaboration with the ruling conservative New Democracy party (EPP) in the next government. Read more.
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LISBON
New state budget can end low wages, increase productive potential. The State Budget proposal for 2022 is ready and the country has unique conditions to break the low-wage model, which will increase productive potential, Prime Minister António Costa said on Wednesday. Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
Kremlin freezes Polish embassy bank account in retaliation. Russia has kept its word after Polish authorities ordered 45 Russian diplomats to leave Polish territory last week and now the Kremlin has announced retaliatory measures against Poland and frozen the embassy’s bank account in Moscow. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Russian antivirus software unreliable, Czech experts warn. The National Cyber and Information Security Agency has warned against Russian antivirus software as Russian companies targeted by EU sanctions can stop updating their programs at any time, leaving customers far more vulnerable to potential cyberattacks. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
Quarter of working Hungarians would emigrate if Fidesz wins. If the governing Fidesz party wins Sunday’s elections, 28% of the working population thinks it is not worth staying in Hungary, according to a poll by the opposition-leaning Republikon Institute published on Wednesday, Telex reported. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Slovakia expels 35 Russian diplomats accused of espionage. The Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs expelled 35 Russian diplomats from Slovakia on Wednesday after several accusations of espionage surfaced. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Prosecutor probes pro-Russian MP for inciting war against Bulgaria. The prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation to decide whether there is evidence that MP Elena Guncheva from the pro-Russian nationalist party Vazrazhdane has committed a crime against the country by inciting war. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Romania launches call for green energy projects. A call for renewable energy projects with a total budget of €457.7 million has been launched by Romanian Energy Minister Virgil Popescu.
The financing comes from Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Popescu said the support scheme aims to finance projects with a total installed power of 950 MW. The scheme will only finance wind and solar power projects, with a minimum installed power of 0.2 MW. The energy chapter in Romania’s NRRP has an allocation of €1.62 billion. (Bogdan Neagu | EURACTIV.ro)
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ZAGREB
Nearly 1,000 active lawsuits against media, journalists. There are at least 951 active lawsuits against media and journalists in Croatia, with plaintiffs demanding almost 77.4 million kuna (€10.32 million) in damages, the Croatian Journalists Association (HND) said on Wednesday. Read more.
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BELGRADE
Adriatic oil pipeline JANAF to suspend oil supplies to Serbia. The Adriatic oil pipeline JANAF has announced that it will suspend oil deliveries to Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) oil corporation, which would block Serbia’s oil refinery and a petrochemical complex, Petrohemija, near Belgrade. Read more.
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SARAJEVO
Electoral Commission selects new president, October election definite. Suad Arnautović was chosen as the new president of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) Central Electoral Commission (SIP) on Wednesday and said SIP is preparing for elections to be held in October, although an agreement on changing the election law has not been reached yet. Read more.
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SKOPJE
Census reports nearly a third of Macedonian population are Albanian. The Macedonian census of 2021 has revealed over 29% of the population is ethnic Albanian and half are Macedonian according to statistics published on Wednesday. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albanian lawmaker resigns amid corruption scandal. Alqi Bllako, a Socialist MP, has resigned his parliamentary seat and is facing arrest for his role in a €430 million corruption scandal in what could be Albania’s largest government graft scandal to date. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: Press statements by Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni and Arancha González Laya, chair of the “Wise Persons Group on Challenges Facing the Customs Union”
- NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg presents annual report for 2021 in Brussels.
- Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts his Austrian counterpart, Karl Nehammer, in Berlin.
- Croatia: Gas Forum focusing on gas prices for households and businesses, the government’s measures to mitigate market anomalies, the impact of the war in Ukraine on Europe’s and Croatia’s gas markets, replacement for Russian gas, and supplies for next winter.
- Romania: Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, visits Romania.
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[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski, Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson]
Source: euractiv.com
