V4 meeting cancelled over Hungary’s Ukraine policy

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

BUDAPEST

Hungary could be forced to cancel the upcoming Visegrad 4 meeting between respective defence ministers as both Poland and Slovakia have pulled out over Budapest’s lukewarm support for action against Moscow, according to preliminary information from the Slovak defence ministry. Read more.

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PARIS

Half of French people believe in at least one Russian propaganda theory. More than half of the French believe in at least one conspiracy narrative about the Ukraine war peddled by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, a recent survey has revealed. Read more.

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BERLIN

Germans favour defending Baltics if attacked. More Germans than not favour stepping in if the Baltic states were attacked amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, new polls show. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch parliamentarians urge minister to decide on nuclear plant construction. Members of the lower house of parliament have been pushing for Economic and Climate Minister Rob Jetten to confirm when construction of the two promised nuclear power plants is set to start. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

LONDON

MPs to review diplomatic mission in Brussels. UK lawmakers, in a new inquiry, will review the UK’s post-Brexit diplomatic mission to the European Union launched on Monday. Read more.

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DUBLIN

Health service calls for reintroduction of COVID-19 restrictions as cases surge. The Irish health service’s (HSE) Emergency Department Taskforce has called on the government to reintroduce some pandemic restrictions amid another COVID-19 surge, shortly after the government ruled out a return of pandemic measures. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

COPENHAGEN

Authorities accused of pressuring Copenhagen police over China-critical protests. The Danish government encouraged the Copenhagen police to be heavy-handed when facing China-critical protesters during official visits of Chinese officials in Denmark, a new report from the Folkting’s Tibet Commission reads. Read more.

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HELSINKI

Canal connecting Finland and Russia reopens despite sanctions. Normal traffic can recommence on the Saimaa Canal between Finland and Russia if ice conditions make it possible, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency decided on Monday. Read more.

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STOCKHOLM

Sweden not worried about Russians, Ukrainians in same refugee housing. Russian asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees co-existing in refugee housing will not pose any problems, Mikael Ribbenvik, Director General of the Swedish Migration Office, told the newspaper Expressen in an interview on Monday. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ATHENS

Media freedom report shakes Greece’s conservative government. Six international organisations for the freedom of the press have published a report accusing Greece’s ruling New Democracy party (EPP) of trying to control media. Read more.

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MADRID

Spain unveils package of urgent measures amid economic fallout of Ukraine war. Prime minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday unveiled a raft of state loans, tax breaks, rent controls and fuel subsidies in response to the economic fallout from Russia’s Ukraine invasion, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported. Read more.

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LISBON

Portugal to inject €600m more into TAP this year. The government will inject a further €600 million into Portuguese airline TAP this year, making it the last year of extraordinary support for the company, according to the Stability Programme (SP) published on Monday. Read more.

VISEGRAD

BUDAPEST

Anonymous hacks pro-Fidesz media, justice minister concerned for press freedom. Justice minister Judit Varga expressed worry for the future of Hungarian free media after 3 April elections following an attack carried out by hacktivism group Anonymous against Hungarian pro-government media on Monday, Telex reported. Read more.

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WARSAW

Zelenskyy rejects Poland’s proposal of peacekeeping mission. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed scepticism about the proposal put forward by Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party leader Jarosław Kaczyński of a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, which he doubts could help solve the conflict with Russia. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Two-thirds of Ukrainian refugees welcome to stay indefinitely. The Czech Republic has now granted over 233,000 visas to people fleeing from Ukraine due to Russian aggression. According to the Czech government, 200,000 of them are welcome to stay indefinitely. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Metallurgical companies to face lower supplies of ores from the east. Supplies of ores from the east of Europe decreased due to Russian aggression in Ukraine, posing a problem for metallurgical companies and metal producers, some of the biggest industries. in the country. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Six ex-defence ministers call on Bulgaria to give arms to Kyiv. Six former defence ministers say Bulgaria’s “neutrality” to the war in Ukraine is a direct threat to the country’s security. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Fertiliser production to restart after EU support plan. Azomures, Romania’s largest fertiliser producer, announced plans to restart production after the European Commission said member states may grant aid to companies working in the field. Read more.

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ZAGREB

Moscow protests over Croatian FM’s ‘insulting’ language. Russia has lodged a strong protest with Croatia after Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal, the Russian Embassy in Zagreb said in a statement. Read more.

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LJUBLJANA

Slovenian embassy reopens in Kyiv. Slovenia reopened its embassy in the Ukrainian capital yesterday after Prime Minister Janez Janša made a push for the reopening as a sign of support for the Ukrainian government. Read more.

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BELGRADE

Ukrainian embassy tells Serbian minister they always stood with Serbia. The Ukrainian embassy in Belgrade declared that Kyev had always been on Serbia’s side and was counting on Serbia to impose sanctions against Russia and its leadership over their attack on Ukraine in response to a statement by Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin. Read more.

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SARAJEVO

EU, G7 ambassadors ask BiH to support sanctions against Russia. Ambassadors of EU and G7 countries called on the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to support sanctions imposed by the West against Russia, as confirmed after a meeting between the ambassadors and BiH Presidency Chairman Šefik Džaferović on Monday. Read more.

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SKOPJE

Skopje declares five Russian diplomats non-grata. The Macedonian government has declared five Russian diplomats persona non-grata and is moving to expel them from the country. The news was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who informed the Russian Ambassador Sergei Baznikin in Skopje. He handed him a diplomatic note where he identified the five diplomats and notified him of their designation.

“According to the information received from the competent authorities, the above-mentioned persons were carrying out activities that are contrary to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and will have to leave the territory of the Republic of Macedonia in the next five days,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Since the war in Ukraine started, Russian diplomats have been expelled from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Montenegro, Slovakia, and Bulgaria. Several other countries are considering similar moves, while Albania and Kosovo have both expelled diplomats in the last year. (Alice Taylor | Exit.al)

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PODGORICA

Montenegro welcomes 5,500 Ukrainian refugees. Over 5,500 Ukrainians have arrived in Montenegro and most of them have been accommodated with friends, relatives or in their own properties, an official of the Montenegrin Interior Ministry said on Monday. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 8,333 Ukrainians have entered Montenegro, and 2,667 of them have already departed for other destinations.

There are 5,666 Ukrainians in Montenegro now, the ministry’s official Zoran Miljanić told Television Montenegro.

He explained that, before the onset of the war in February, over 2,000 Ukrainians were already staying in Montenegro and some of them had permanent residency while others had been granted temporary residency. Montenegro has 620,000 inhabitants. (Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)

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PRISTINA

EU calls for restraint over Kosovo-Serbia judicial spat. The EU has called on Kosovo and Serbia to refrain from incendiary rhetoric and comply with a Brussels agreement on justice and disciplinary procedures in Kosovo’s justice system. Read more.

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TIRANA

4,000 Albanian businesses close in nine months as prices continue to rise. An average of 15 Albanian businesses a day have closed since June 2021 due to rising prices and economic difficulties that started during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: EU health ministers meet in Brussels / Climate Commissioner Frans Timmermans participates virtually in Global Solutions Summit / EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell participates in event by the European Council on Foreign Relations / Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson addresses the European Parliament’s women’s rights committee on the situation of female refugees from Ukraine.
Switzerland: Human Rights Council holds debate on Ukraine.
UK: Britain’s Defence Minister Ben Wallace presents the UK’s High North strategy.
Denmark: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses Danish parliament via video-link.
Spain: Spanish government to approve new package of economic measures to alleviate the impact of the energy crisis.
Poland: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visits Warsaw.
Serbia: President Aleksandar Vučić to meet with Italian Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini.
Romania: Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni is on an official visit to Romania, meets Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă and Governor of the National Bank of Romania Mugur Isărescu.