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Today’s edition is powered by WEMOVE Russia currently supplies not just 45% of Europe’s gas but also 20% of its enriched uranium. Before the vote on the energy taxonomy, WeMove Europe reminded parliamentarians that labeling gas and nuclear as a transition energy risks directing investments to Putin’s main business and keeping Europe dependent on Russian energy. Continue Reading >>
In today’s news from the Capitals:
SOFIA
Bulgaria is threatened by a strong anti-Western wave amid Russian propaganda and the war in Ukraine and lifting the veto on North Macedonia could lead to “brutal Putinism” at home, while maintaining it is seen as playing into Russia’s hands by Skopje. Read more.
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BERLIN
Germans divided on Ukraine joining the EU. Eastern Germans are more hesitant about letting Ukraine into the bloc than Western Germans, a new poll published this week found. Read more.
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PARIS
Macron calls for EU defence boost. The EU’s defence industry needs strengthening rather than having lots of money spent abroad, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austria to ban gas boilers in new buildings from 2023. Austria is revamping its renewable heating law by pulling forward a sales phase-out of fossil gas boilers and requiring broken oil and coal heaters to be replaced with green options to reduce the country’s dependence on Russian gas. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
EU, International criminal court, Dutch band together for justice in Ukraine. The Netherlands, together with EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders and the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor Karim Khan, will organise a ministerial conference on the accountability for war crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 14 July. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
DUBLIN
Dublin blasts UK for protocol legislation move. Dublin has sharply criticised the UK government for moving ahead with legislation facilitating the unilateral setting aside of parts of the Northern Ireland protocol. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
STOCKHOLM
Nuclear weapon stocks increasing, Swedish institute says. Presenting a ‘worrying trend’, nuclear arsenals are expected to grow over the coming decade, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) forecast in its Yearbook for 2022. Read more.
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VILNIUS
Lithuania to quit post-Soviet electricity ring earlier than expected. Lithuania hopes to disconnect from the post-Soviet electricity system known as the BRELL ring sooner than initially planned, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said in a meeting with EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson in Vilnius on Monday. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
LISBON
Portugal, UK sign broad deal while London locks horns with Brussels. Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa stressed Lisbon’s continued support for the EU over Brexit disagreements while touting the “old Luso-British alliance” during the signing of a broad Portuguese-British declaration with UK counterpart Boris Johnson in London on Monday. Read more.
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ROME
Italy’s right nears local election success. The conservatives were successful in many municipalities, and Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy party is set surpass Matteo Salvini’s League, early results from Italy’s local elections show. Read more.
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MADRID
Center-right set for landslide victory in Andalusia, poll finds. The centre-right Partido Popular party is set to win the regional election in Andalusia on 18 June and be close to obtaining an absolute majority of 55 seats out of 109, election polls published Monday (13 June) by ABC, El País, and La Razón predict. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BRATISLAVA
Slovakia backs Ukraine’s EU ambition without shortcuts. Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said he supports Ukraine’s ambitions to become an EU member, but there should be “no shortcuts”, he said after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. Read more.
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WARSAW
Ruling coalition again split over recovery money. The ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) is divided over the agreement with the European Commission to unlock money from the EU recovery fund. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Commission fines Czechia for ex-PM Babiš’s conflict of interest. The European Commission imposed a €3.3 million fine on the Czech Republic for mistakes in the distribution of EU agricultural subsidies, including the conflict of interest that arose from former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’ links to the giant agrochemical holding Agrofert. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BUCHAREST
Romania records its first monkeypox case. Romania confirmed its first case of monkeypox with a 26-year-old male from Bucharest currently undergoing treatment and hospitalised in solitary confinement. The 26-year–old in good condition, and the health authorities’ investigations revealed that his partner had recently travelled to several European countries that reported many monkeypox cases.
Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said Romania would receive around 2,500 vaccines against monkeypox after the European Commission finalised the acquisition procedure.
(Bogdan Neagu | EURACTIV.ro)
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BELGRADE
EU should treat membership hopefuls as members ‘step by step’, Austrian minister says. The EU should start treating Western Balkan EU membership hopefuls as members ‘step by step’, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on Monday in Belgrade. Read more.
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PODGORICA
Montenegro pensioners ‘barely surviving’, demand more money. Pensioners requested a rise in pensions and complained they were “on the verge of biological survival” during a protest in front of the Montenegrin parliament on Monday. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albanian government pledges Vjosa National Park but no timeline given. The Albanian government signed a memorandum of understanding with international company Patagonia to develop the Vjosa National Park, as Prime Minister Edi Rama pledged that any economic activity affecting the river would be prohibited. Read more.
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WESTERN BALKANS
Western Balkan migrant route most used in 2022. The Western Balkan route is now the number one preferred route for smuggling illegal and irregular migrants into the EU, according to new data from Frontex, the EU border guard agency. Read more.
Agenda
- EU: Foreign Affairs Council (Trade), Health Council.
- European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Israel and Palestine.
- Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson addresses Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference.
- European Parliament committee meetings. Vote on proposed new criteria for ‘green label’ for energy.
- S&D MEP Maria Arena’s press point on the International Annual Conference on the Future of Human Rights at the European Parliament.
- Austria: Arnold Schwarzenegger hosts an annual conference on climate change.
- United Kingdom: First flight removing asylum seekers to Rwanda under a new plan expected to take off.
- 40 years since the end of the Falklands War.
- Sweden: Nobel Prize winners visit, including 2021 co-winner for Peace Maria Ressa.
- Cyprus: Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas visits.
- Romania: French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to arrive in Romania, where he will talk to President Klaus Iohannis and meet the French troops stationed in Romania as part of the NATO Response Force.
- World: World Blood Donor Day.
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Eleonora Vasques]
Source: euractiv.com
