Uncertain voters to decide France’s EU future

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

PARIS

The French electorate is set to choose the top two candidates for president on Sunday (11 April), but the outcome of the first round of voting has become increasingly uncertain, with forecasts of record-low turnout and doubt about voters’ choices. Read more.

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VIENNA

Austria’s EU minister sees no return to normality with Putin. The crisis inflicted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine will last for years to come, Europe Minister Karoline Edtstadler told Der Standard in an interview, adding that since the war began, “nothing is the same as it was before”. Read more.

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BERLIN

German Bundestag strikes down mandatory COVID-19 jab proposal. The Bundestag has rejected a bid by government parties to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for certain groups, revealing divisions within the governing coalition. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch ruling party calls for Russian hackers to be included on sanctions list. Ruling party, VVD, wants Russian hackers added to the EU’s list of sanctioned people to ensure they lose access to their financial accounts in Europe. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

DUBLIN

Lawmakers approve Ireland’s first carbon budget. Irish lawmakers have passed the country’s first carbon budget, establishing legal limits on greenhouse gas emissions until 2030. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

OSLO

Norway ponders EU proposal to ban Russian ships from European ports. Norway’s authorities are considering whether to go along with an EU decision to forbid access to European ports to all Russian vessels, but there may be some exceptions. Read more.

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STOCKHOLM

Swedish ministers say Ukrainians can start work as soon as possible. Ukrainians seeking protection in Sweden should begin working as quickly as possible, said Migration and Integration Minister Anders Ygeman and Employment Minister Eva Nordmark at a press conference on Thursday. Read more.

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COPENHAGEN

Danish state agency keeps selling wood to Russian oligarch-owned group. The Danish government is still selling timber to a group owned by oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while many Danish companies have stopped their activities in the country, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation DR has revealed. Read more.

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VILNIUS

Lithuania urges states to label Russian war crimes in Ukraine as genocide. The international community should unanimously condemn the aggression and war crimes committed by Russia and classify them as genocide, according to a statement adopted Thursday by the foreign affairs committee of the Lithuanian parliament. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ATHENS

Washington kills EastMed pipeline project for good. There is neither time nor money to support the construction of gas pipelines such as the EastMed project, US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland told Kathimerini journal in an interview. Read More.

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ROME | THE HAGUE

Italy and the Netherlands remain divided over gas prices. The positions of Rome and Amsterdam on the energy price cap continue to diverge, “but progress has been made”, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at the end of a meeting with his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, on Thursday. Read more.

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MADRID

Sanchez turns down his party’s economic plans in meeting with new leader. Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, recently elected as the new head of the PP, said that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had not accepted any of his proposals to help mitigate the impact of inflation on the most vulnerable, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported. Read more.

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LISBON

Zelenskyy to address Portuguese parliament. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to participate in a videoconference session at the parliament, although a date is yet to be set, the speaker of the Portuguese parliament, Augusto Santos Silva, said on Thursday. Read more.

VISEGRAD

WARSAW

Polish ruling party wants changes to constitution to seize Russian property. While Polish law prevents the confiscation of Russian assets in Poland, the Law and Justice party (PiS) has submitted a draft constitutional amendment to allow the confiscation of Russian property, which the opposition says is unnecessary. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czech Republic finds instances of suspicious document shredding. The office of the Czech President is suspected of prematurely shredding 32 classified documents, Czech Radio reported on Thursday. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovakia to lose millions of euros if gas transit stops. If EU leaders decide to halt Russian natural gas imports, Slovakia could lose €300 million a year in dividends and taxes, the Finstat institution study shows. Slovakia has profited from its status as a transit country, which is now at risk. According to the study, 40 to 70 billion cubic metres of gas are transported annually through Slovakia. The state has a 51% stake in the gas carrier – Eustream.

A loss of €300 million in revenue would fall on Eustream. The company transports more than 90% of all gas, which does not end up in Slovak factories or households. Eustream dividends amount to approximately €100 million per year, income tax to another €125 million, and the rest is VAT paid by the company. In total, the state’s revenue from energy amounts to between €400 and €600 million. However, if gas transit stops, only Eustream would be directly hit.(Michal Hudec | EURACTIV.sk)

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Bulgarian recovery plan approved, reforms pending. The European Commission has approved Bulgaria’s €6 billion recovery plan, but Commissioner President von der Leyen has made it clear that the money will not come without reforms. Read more.

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ZAGREB

Croatian president says Western sanctions will not end Ukraine war. Sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia will not stop the war in Ukraine, which can only be stopped with the help of diplomacy, Croatian President Zoran Milanović said during a visit to Switzerland. Read more.

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BELGRADE

EU representative: Serbia may receive 10 times more money after joining EU. Political leaders in the Western Balkans do not have enough vision about the region’s integration into the EU, and they need to be more courageous, a representative of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Nicola Bertolini, stated in Belgrade on Thursday. Read more.

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SARAJEVO

Dodik informed Putin of Dayton breach. The Dayton agreement has been violated in a series of instances, Serb member of Bosnia’s three-member Presidency Milorad Dodik said, stressing that he has written about this matter to the UN Secretary-General, the UN General Assembly President and has also informed Russian President Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Read more.

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US ambassador accuses BiH army of committing war crimes. The US Ambassador in BiH, Michael Murphy, paid his respects to the victims of the Kazani Pit Killings near Sarajevo at the site where civilians, mostly ethnic Serbs, were killed by members of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1993.

“The Kazani memorial is incomplete without all the victims’ names and a clear, forthright acknowledgement of the crime’s perpetrators. Musan Topalovic Caco, commander of the Tenth Mountain Brigade of the Army of the Republic of BiH, ordered the Kazani murders. I look forward to the day when the Kazani memorial reflects this fact”, Ambassador Murphy said. (Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)

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SKOPJE

Macedonia’s inflation rose 8.8% in March. The Consumer Price Index in March 2022, in comparison with March 2021, increased by 8.8%, while the Retail Price Index increased by 9.6%, while it was 7,6% in February, the State Statistical Office reported. Read more.

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PODGORICA

Forty-Four MPs support new minority government. Forty-four Montenegrin MPs are on board with the new government that should be led by Prime Minister-designate Dritan Abazović. Read more. Read more.

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Montenegro expels four Russian diplomats. The Montenegrin Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MVP) declared four more diplomats from the Russian embassy in Montenegro persona non grata on Thursday.

The foreign affairs ministry in March expelled a Russian diplomat based on an assessment by the security authorities in Montenegro, and the same assessment is the reason for the new expulsion of the Russian embassy staff. The diplomat expelled in March was working for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

(Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)

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TIRANA

Female Albanian politicians plagued by harassment, smears and threats. Insults, false accusations, rumours (often of a sexual nature), marginalisation, and even threats of violence and political retaliation plague Albanian women in politics according to a report by UNDP Albania. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and HRVP Josep Borrell meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv / Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in Washington to meet US Trade Representative Tai / Informal videoconference of EU transport ministers / Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides participates in meeting of G7 health ministers.
Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz travels to London to meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson / German Foreign Minister Baerbock meets German-speaking counterparts in Liechtenstein.
France: Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe in Strasbourg.
Finland: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky adressed the Finnish parliament virtually.
Italy: Trial of ex-minister Matteo Salvini over detention of migrants at sea.
Greece: Energy commissioner Simson speaks at Delphi Economic Forum in Greece.
Poland: Pro-choice activist goes on trial for abortion assistance in Warsaw.
Croatia: Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman pays a working visit to Poland.
Belgrade: President Aleksandar Vučić to meet with Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Caroline Ziadeh. After that, Ziadeh is scheduled to meet with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: President Zoran Milanović visits Mostar to attend a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO).