Prague mayor: There are ‘strong’ progressive forces in Visegrad

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

PRAGUE

The Pact of Free Cities, a 2019 cooperation agreement between the mayors of Prague, Bratislava, Warsaw, and Budapest, has sent to the rest of Europe “a clear message that there are strong actors in Visegrad who are committed to liberal and progressive values of the EU​,” Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) told EURACTIV Czechia in an interview. Read more.

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EU PRESIDENCY

Council adopts changes to visa system in a bid to boost security. EU member states have approved changes to the European visa system aimed at increasing security in the Schengen area by providing for greater monitoring of short-stay and residence permits. More.

BERLIN

Germany close to vaccinating adolescents. In Germany, adolescents aged 12 and up will soon be able to apply to get the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected on Friday to authorise the jab for children and teenagers, Chancellor Angela Merkel told a vaccine summit on Thursday (27 May). Read more.

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PARIS

French farmers split over agri-minister’s ‘status quo’ approach to CAP reform. France is set to stick with the status quo when it comes to the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a stance widely welcomed by trade unionists but criticised by others for its lack of ambition on social and environmental matters. EURACTIV France reports. 

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VIENNA

Austrian environment minister plans to curb low-cost flights. Austrian Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler hopes to bring legal action at EU level to address the issue of extreme low-cost flights. “We are currently working on a solution that is in line with EU law to fight dumping prices that harm the environment,” she said. Read more.

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BRUSSELS

Belgium virus cases reach threshold for further reopening. According to figures to be released by the country’s public health institute Sciensano on Friday morning, there are now fewer than 500 COVID patients in Belgian intensive care units. The milestone was set as an objective by the Belgian government for further lifting of restrictions from 9 June. For more details of the “summer plan,” read here.

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LUXEMBOURG

Luxembourg is popular destination for cross-border workers. A new study suggests Luxembourg is among Europe’s most popular destinations for cross-border workers. With 105,000 migrant workers crossing its borders, it is second only to Switzerland, which has 200,000. Monaco comes third, with 41,700, according to Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT), a French association that deals with trans-border issues.

“These are countries whose organisation attracts border workers,” said MOT’s Aurélien Biscaut. Of these people going to a neighbouring country to work, 483,000 come from France, 270,000 from Germany and 230,000 from Poland. (Anne Damiani | EURACTIV.fr)

NORDICS AND BALTICS

VILNIUS

Lithuania offers to take over European cycling championships from Belarus. After Belarus was officially stripped of cycling’s European Championships following the regime’s forced landing in Minsk of a Ryanair passenger flight to detain a dissident blogger, Vilnius has offered to jump in as host. Read more.

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HELSINKI

Finnair criticises government for bypassing EU travel pass deal. Finnish flag carrier Finnair has strongly criticised the social and health ministry for having proposed new travel restrictions on Thursday as this goes against the EU’s provisional consensus on the bloc’s COVID-19 travel pass. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ATHENS

Sassoli hints Russian involvement in Belarus state piracy incident. European Parliament chief has hinted that Russia may be involved in the Belarus state hijacking of a plane last weekend. More.

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ROME

Strasbourg Court condemns Italy for violating alleged rape victim’s rights. The acquittal by the Florence Court in 2015 of seven young men accused of a group rape in 2008 contained “passages that did not respect the private and intimate life” of the victim and  “language and arguments that convey prejudices about the role of women that exist in Italian society,” the European Human Rights Court held on Thursday. Read more.

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MADRID

Spanish vaccination roll-out sixth fastest in Europe. Spain’s vaccine roll-out currently ranks as the sixth-fastest in Europe in terms of doses administered, with the country having given more than 25 million jabs and fully vaccinated just under 18% of its population. Read the full story.

VISEGRAD

BUDAPEST 

Karácsony: Budapest won’t back down, opposes Chinese university project. Budapest’s metropolitan and ninth district councils will not back down on plans to build a student quarter in the southern part of the city, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said on Facebook on Thursday as parliament debated the establishment of the local campus of China’s Fudan University in the same part of the city, Daily News Hungary reported. Read more.

In other news, Budapest is the 20th most business ambitious city in the world with a population of over 1.7 million and an ambition index score of 282 out of 500, according to a new study by card machine provider Dojo. 

The index is based on the number of new businesses registered, the cost of a business start-up as a percentage of GNI per capita, the city’s GDP, the percentage of people who have access to education, and the number of Google searches about starting a new business. For those looking to open a business today, London is the world’s most ambitious city, the study states. (Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)

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WARSAW

Polish Senate ratifies NextGenerationEU fund without reasonable spending preamble. The Polish Senate adopted Thursday without amendments the draft bill ratifying the NextGenerationEU fund, leaving out a special preamble guaranteeing reasonable spending. The preamble, which was proposed by the opposition, failed to obtain a majority after two lawmakers got stuck in a lift. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Young Czech MP faces sexual assault scandal. Czech lawmaker Dominik Feri of opposition party TOP 09 and the coalition block, Spolu (Together), resigned on Wednesday and will not run in October’s general election after accusations of sexual assault and improper conduct made by several young women were published in Deník N and A2larm. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovak environment watchdog confirms record-breaking fine. The Slovak Environment Inspectorate (SIZP) has rejected an appeal filed by Hrinova Dairy and confirmed a €135,000 fine – the highest ever issued – for the extraordinary deterioration of water quality in the Slatina River. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Radev: We do not need mediators for North Macedonia. “We do not need any mediators. No one knows our history better than we do,” Bulgarian President Rumen Radev told journalists on Thursday during his Rome visit with North Macedonian President Stevo Pendaovski with whom he said he had an in-depth conversation. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania to enter second phase of lifting restrictions. In Romania, concert and party organisers will no longer have to limit the number of participants in attendance from 1 June if they can prove that all attendees are fully vaccinated, the government announced as part of its second phase of lifting restrictions following initial easing on 15 May. Read more.

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ZAGREB

Croatia continues to strengthen its ties with China. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday received Yang Jiechi, director of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office and member of the Politburo of Chinese Communist Party. Plenković thanked China for the regular delivery of medical equipment and cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus, a government press release read. Read more.

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LJUBLJANA 

Slovenian Justice chief resigns after government annuls EPPO procedure. Justice Minister Lilijana Kozlovič resigned on Thursday after the government decided to annul a procedure to appoint Slovenia’s two prosecutors to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and to publish a new call for applications. Read more.

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BELGRADE 

Serbia, China cooperate on defence, hold joint exercises. Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin and Chinese Public Security Minister Zhao Kezhi agreed on Thursday to hold a series of joint exercises, consultations and training for ministry members, especially for combating terrorism and organised crime, the Serbian government has said. Read more. (EURACTIV.rs | betabriefing.com)

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SARAJEVO 

Russia says Bosnia’s new high representative is illegitimate. The ambassadors of the member states of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) have officially appointed German nominee Christian Schmidt to be the new High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, Russia’s representative did not agree with the decision, an official statement from the Office of the High Representative (OHR) confirmed. Read more.

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PRISTINA | BELGRADE

Serbian Orthodox Church turns down PM Kurti’s request to visit Decani Monastery. Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of Raška and Prizren has turned down Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s request to visit the Dečani Monastery following his letter to its Abbot, Sava Janjić. Read more.

Agenda:

• Italy: The Council of Ministers will meet in Rome and decide on the new relaxation of restrictions for some Italian regions.
• Greece: the government will present today how the EU Digital COVID Certificate will work in practice. Greece is planning to start making use if it as of 1 June.
• Portugal: EU defence ministers meet informally in Lisbon.
• Germany: Global Solutions Summit continues, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness take part.
• Poland: President Andrzej Duda will participate in the celebration of the Veteran of Foreign Operation Day and the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in Krakow.
• Czechia: Government to hold an extraordinary meeting on current pandemic measures and support programmes at 8:30 am.
• Croatia: The national statistical office will release the first GDP forecast for Q1 2021.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Josie Le Blond]

Read more with Euractiv

Council adopts changes to visa system in a bid to boost security

EU member states have approved changes to the European visa system aimed at increasing security in the Schengen area by providing for greater monitoring of short-stay and residence permits.