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In today’s news from the Capitals:
WESTERN BALKANS
The European Commission should stop supporting and funding fossil gas projects in the Western Balkans and instead focus on sustainable energy, a group of civil society organisations from the region has said.
As the war in Ukraine rages on, sending gas prices soaring, Europe is struggling to wean itself off Russian gas. The solution for the Balkans is not more gas projects or alternative gas sources such as Azerbaijan. It is energy efficiency and sustainability, the groups say. Read more.
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BERLIN
German defence minister says Putin may go further than Ukraine. Germany has to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, otherwise, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin might go much further than Ukraine, Gerrman Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht warned in a parliamentary debate on Wednesday. Read more.
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PARIS
France increases its annual contribution to International Criminal Court. France announced an increase in its annual contribution to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the mobilisation of technical and human resources to assist investigations into the Bucha massacre. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austrian foreign minister unwilling to expel Russian diplomats. Austria does not want to follow the lead of numerous EU states in kicking out Russian officials, and Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has voiced criticism of individual national measures. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Netherlands opens temporary schools for Ukrainian children. Several hundred Ukrainian children are beginning classes in temporary classrooms set up with teachers and equipment in the Netherlands. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
LONDON
EU labour shortages threaten UK farming. Labour shortages, caused by Brexit and accentuated by the COVID pandemic, have badly affected businesses across the food and farming sector and could cause ‘permanent’ damage, UK lawmakers stated in a report published on Wednesday.
“If not resolved swiftly, they threaten to shrink the sector permanently with a chain reaction of wage rises and price increases reducing competitiveness, leading to food production being exported abroad and increased imports,” said MPs on the UK parliament’s environment, food and rural affairs committee. Read more.
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DUBLIN
Zelenskyy urges Irish lawmakers to push EU for stronger sanctions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Ireland to push the EU to introduce more stringent sanctions against Russia during an address to Ireland’s parliament on Wednesday. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finnish industry: Russian gas can be replaced by next autumn. Both Finland’s government and industry are determined to get rid of Russian energy without delay following reports that Russian forces committed war crimes near Kyiv. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
Former Swedish PM laments few expulsions of Russian diplomat-spies. Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt said he does not understand why only three Russian spies working undercover at the Russian embassy in Stockholm were expelled from Swedish territory. Read more.
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COPENHAGEN
EU laws block Danish government’s nicotine ban. The Danish government cannot prevent those born after 2010 from buying nicotine products because of EU rules. Read more.
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OSLO
Norway to receive 60,000 Ukrainian refugees in 2022. Norway could accept 60,000 Ukrainian refugees this year, the country’s Directorate of Immigration (UDI) said while presenting scenarios for the arrival of Ukrainian refugees on Wednesday. Read more.
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VILNIUS
Lithuanian ministers call for Yandex apps to be removed from Europe. Food delivery, ride-hailing, and transfer apps owned by Russia’s Yandex should be removed from e-commerce platforms available in Europe, according to Lithuanian economy minister Aušrinė Armonaitė and defence minister Arvydas Anušauskas. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
LISBON | STOCKHOLM | HELSINKI
Portugal open to possibility of Finland, Sweden joining NATO. Portugal is open to possible membership requests from Sweden and Finland to join NATO, but this is an internal debate within both countries, Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho said on Wednesday in Brussels. Read more.
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ATHENS
General strike over soaring prices mounts pressure on government. Labour unions took to the streets of Athens on Wednesday, protesting over rising energy costs, soaring prices of essential goods and lack of protection for the vulnerable. The opposition calls for snap elections while the IMF warns of new austerity measures. Read more.
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ROME
Italy lowers growth forecasts. The war in Ukraine has lowered growth forecasts, but the Italian government will do whatever it takes to look after families and support industry, Prime Minister Mario Draghi told reporters after the Council of Ministers approved the Economic and Financial Document on Wednesday. Read more.
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MADRID
Spanish national dance company welcomes six Ukrainian dancers. Six dancers from the National Opera of Ukraine will be able to continue their careers at Spain’s National Dance Company (CND), which welcomed them on Wednesday, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BRATISLAVA | VIENNA
Slovak, Austrian PM’s to join EU leaders on Kyiv trip. Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) will be visiting war-torn Kyiv on Thursday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell after he refused to join central European leaders who visited Kyiv in March. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
Orbán calls for ceasefire talks in Budapest. The newly re-elected Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orbán said in his congratulatory phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin he suggested heads of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany come to the Hungarian capital for ceasefire talks, he said on Wednesday (6 April). Read more.
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PRAGUE
EU pro-nuke club explores small modular reactors with US assistance. Pro-nuclear EU countries are now flirting with building US-tech-dominant small modular reactors as large nuclear reactors, which cost billions, take decades to build, and cannot effectively replace Russian energy imports. Read more.
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WARSAW
Pro-Russian Polish MP demands removal of Ukrainian flag from parliament. Polish far-right party Confederation member, MP Grzegorz Braun, has requested a meeting be adjourned because of the “inappropriate” Ukrainian flag that hung in the Polish parliament during a parliamentary session on Wednesday. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Bulgaria sends helmets to Ukrainе. Bulgarian will donate 2,000 helmets and 2,000 bulletproof vests to Ukraine to be used by its civilian citizens, Lena Borislavova, the head of the cabinet of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, announced on Wednesday, adding that a decision on granting financial assistance to Ukraine will also be taken. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Romania’s Prime Minister vies for party leadership. Nicolae Ciuca, the former army general turned prime minister, wants to become president of his party, the National Liberal Party (PNL, a member of EPP), a couple of years after he entered politics.
He is, for now, the only candidate for the presidency of the centre-right party, which will elect its new leadership in an extraordinary congress on Sunday (10 April) following the resignation last weekend of the party’s former president, ex-prime minister Florin Citu. He was elected chief of PNL just six months ago. (Bogdan Neagu | EURACTIV.ro)
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenia imposes blanket ban on fracking. The Slovenian parliament has imposed a blanket ban on hydraulic fracturing to produce natural gas as MPs voted unanimously yesterday in favour of amendments to the mining act. Read more.
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ZAGREB
Croatian opposition against government reshuffle, cites minister’s affairs. Construction Minister Ivan Paladina, appointed just one month ago, has ties to two construction companies that could compromise a government reshuffle, Green-Left Bloc parliamentary deputy Sandra Benčić has said. Read more.
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BELGRADE
Nearly 300 Russian-owned firms registered in Serbia since Ukraine invasion. A total of 288 legal and physical persons from Russia opened companies in Serbia, together with six Ukrainian business owners, since the war in Ukraine broke out on 24 February, the N1 portal reported on Wednesday. Read more.
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Albanians from southern Serbia no longer represented in parliament. Albanians living in southern Serbia will not be represented in the Serbian parliament following the general elections on 3 April, the National Electoral Commission reported on Wednesday. Read more.
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SARAJEVO
Mufti says Bosniaks should worry about BiH’s future. Bosniaks have reason to worry about the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina and their survival since they are threatened by ideologies that previously systematically worked on their marginalisation and annihilation, the head of BiH’s Islamic Community, Husein Kavazović, has said. Read more.
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SKOPJE
Photovoltaic plant in North Macedonia test run. North Macedonia’s state-owned electricity company ESM started a test operation for a 10 MW photovoltaic plant built at the location of an old coal mine in the Oslomej village, the government said. Read more.
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PODGORICA
UK minister visits Port of Bar’s free zone in Montenegro. UK minister Michael Ellis on Wednesday visited the Port of Bar in Montenegro, where the storage of tobacco products has recently been banned.
“The government’s decision to ban the storage of tobacco products on the territory of the Free Zone of the Port of Bar and its consistent and timely application by customs authorities resulted in an inventory of tobacco products and cigarettes in the warehouses of Free Zone users from the listed quantity at individual cigarette holders,” the government stated after Ellis’ visit on Tuesday. Milena Petričević, acting Director of Revenue and Customs Administration, thanked the UK tax authorities for international customs cooperation and support in the prevention of smuggling and other forms of cross-border crime. (Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)
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PRISTINA | TIRANA | BELGRADE
Kosovo president criticises Open Balkan, Serbia, and Albanian indifference. President Vjosa Osmani has criticised Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama for his continued collaboration with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on the Open Balkan project. Read more.
TIRANA
Albanian lakes face water shortage threatening hydropower production. A potential water shortage in critical reservoirs is one of the latest issues to face Albania amid the ongoing energy crisis. Water reserves in the north of the country that supplies the main hydropower plants are reported to be dangerously low, risking disruption to the electricity supply. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: EU agriculture ministers meet in Brussels / European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits Bulgaria and Sweden for recovery plan approval announcements / Von der Leyen and EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell are expected to travel to Kyiv.
- NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels with Sweden/Finland, Ukraine, Georgia and Asia-Pacific partners.
- Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets with the regional leaders / German Bundestag votes on mandatory vaccines.
- UK: New UK energy strategy expected to be published.
- Italy: Prime Minister Mario Draghi hosts Netherlands’ counterpart Mark Rutte.
- Spain: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez begins on Thursday an official visit to Morocco, where he will meet King Mohamed VI and discuss bilateral relations.
- Greece: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky gives virtual address to Greek parliament / Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni and Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn speak at Delphi Economic Forum.
- Czech Republic: Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson visits Prague.
- Bulgaria: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in Bulgaria to announce EU approval for Bulgaria’s recovery plan.
- Croatia: President Zoran Milanović meets with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis and visits CERN, the European organisation for nuclear research.
- UN General Assembly to vote on suspending Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
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[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski, Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson]