Scholz challenged over potential coalition with leftists

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

BERLIN

German conservatives have put pressure on Social Democrat (SPD) chancellor hopeful Olaf Scholz to make it clear before this month’s election whether he would cooperate with the leftist Die Linke party in a coalition government.

German conservatives’ top candidate, Armin Laschet, said he expected a clear statement from Scholz on whether he would enter into a governing coalition with Die Linke. Read more.

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EU PRESIDENCY

EU mulls aid for Afghanistan’s neighbours, ‘determined’ to prevent new migration crisis. The EU is determined to prevent uncontrolled large-scale illegal migration movements from Afghanistan by boosting aid to its neighbours in the region, a more than five-hour emergency meeting of EU home affairs ministers on Tuesday (31 August) concluded. However, they did not discuss sums or resettlement numbers. Read the full story.

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BRUSSELS

Belgium relaxes further COVID-19 measures. As of 1 September, Belgium is relaxing a series of COVID-19 measures. However, most of them will apply to Flanders and Wallonia, but not to the Brussels-Capital Region as its local government has decided to maintain previous measures for at least another month due to high infection rates and a comparatively lower vaccination rate. Read more.

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PARIS

France ‘on the right track’ as close to 50 million have at least one vaccine dose. As almost 50 million French people have received at least one vaccine dose against COVID-19, the country is “on the right track,” Prime Minister Jean Castex told reporters on Tuesday. Read more.

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VIENNA

Kurz waves his goodbyes to Merkel on state visit. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz met with German counterpart Angela Merkel on Tuesday for the last time before she leaves office. On the agenda was bilateral relations, the Afghan crisis and the green transition. Read more.

UK AND IRELAND

EDINBURGH 

Sturgeon’s Green ‘leap of faith’. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday described the coalition between her Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens as a “leap of faith” for both parties, as lawmakers endorsed the appointment of two Green ministers to her government. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

HELSINKI

French infrastructure company acquires strong foothold in Northern market. French company Colas has acquired Destia, Finland’s largest infrastructure company from family-owned investment company Ahlström Capital Group for an undisclosed amount. The transaction has been hailed by both sides as a win-win arrangement as it remains to be approved by the relevant competition authorities. Read more.

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TALLINN

Alar Karis elected Estonia’s new president. Alar Karis was elected Estonia’s president on Tuesday after receiving the required two-thirds majority in parliament during a second round of voting. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ATHENS

Greek PM’s push for a fresh start ends up in fiasco. A Greek government reshuffle aiming to mark a fresh start following public anger due to wildfires in August has ended in what most media described as a fiasco. Read more.

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ROME

Italy’s new digital vaccine pass rules spark protests. Italy is making its COVID-19 digital vaccine pass mandatory to show on long-distance transport and for school staff and university students from Wednesday, with several protests announced, including threats from activist groups to block the movement of trains. Read more.

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MADRID

525 migrants have died on Atlantic route to Canary Islands this year. At least 525 people have died trying to make the Atlantic crossing between the African continent and Spain’s Canary Islands so far this year, one of the deadliest migrant routes in the world, the International Organization for Migration has said, EURACTIV partner EFE reports.

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LISBON

Portugal can afford to receive hundreds of Afghans – minister. Portugal has the financial capacity to receive “hundreds” of Afghan refugees, with priority for women, children, activists and journalists, when 84 people are already in the country, Portugal’s Internal Administration Minister Eduardo Cabrita said on Tuesday. Read more.

VISEGRAD

PRAGUE

New information in EU-Babis subsidy case submitted to police. Czech state attorney Jaroslav Saroch on Tuesday returned the Capi hnizdo (Stork Nest) case of a suspected €2 million EU subsidy fraud – in which Prime Minister Andrej Babis is one of two persons implicated – to the police for further investigation, even though he was supposed to decide on the proposal by the end of summer. Read more.

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WARSAW

Poland to introduce state of emergency along the Belarusian border. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has announced his intention to declare a state of emergency in 183 towns and villages situated within 3 kilometres from the border with Belarus due to security concerns. Read more.

In other news, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal has postponed to 22 September its hearing and ruling on the motion of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki regarding the supremacy of the Polish constitution over the EU treaties. (Piotr Maciej Kaczyński | EURACTIV.pl)

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BUDAPEST 

Minister condemns Orbán-ally industry representative’s homophobic comments. Hungarian Family Minister Katalin Novák has decried homophobic comments made by the commerce chamber chief about a hypothetical homosexual teacher amid outcry from teacher’s union representatives. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Prosecutor General dismisses high-level corruption charges. Slovakia’s progress in the fight against corruption is being called into doubt as the newly appointed prosecutor general, Maroš Žilinka, has made use of an extraordinary measure to dismiss closely watched corruption cases on the day the police chief accused of obstruction of justice resigned. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Vandalised Bulgarian flag provokes new tensions between Sofia, Skopje. The interim head of the Embassy of North Macedonia in Bulgaria, Vladimir Krastevski, was summoned to the Bulgarian foreign ministry, where he was handed a protest note following an incident with a Bulgarian flag in Bitola. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian government does not plan to cap energy prices. The Romanian government does not plan to cap energy prices but is looking for ways to compensate consumers amid complaints over price hikes both for electricity and natural gas – which rose by more than 20% compared with last year. Read more.

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LJUBLJANA

Slovenian economy almost back to pre-crisis level. Slovenia’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 16.3% year-on-year in the second quarter on the back of robust government and consumer spending, with annualised output just short of the pre-crisis peak of 2019. Read more.

AGENDA:

• Slovenia/EU: Slovenian presidency will host an informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Kranj with the Afghanistan fallout and EU’s Strategic Compass on top of the agenda / European leaders meet at annual Bled Strategic Forum
• Germany: Chancellor Merkel and WHO head Ghebreyesus inaugurate WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence
• France: President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Marseille Wednesday afternoon, where he is expected to participate in the World Conservation Congress that will kick off on Friday.
• Belgium: Covid restrictions due to be further eased
• UK: Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to answer MPs’ questions on Afghanistan
• Denmark: Vaccine pass no longer required to enter bars and restaurants
• Czechia: Prime Minister Andrej Babiš will visit Slovenia on Wednesday to discuss key challenges for the future of Europe at the Bled Strategic Forum.
• Hungary: EU’s top court to rule on access to documents after corruption allegations in Hungary 
• Slovakia: A majority of MEPs called for the expulsion of two of their colleagues from S&D for their party’s alleged cooperation with fascists in organising anti-government protests taking place Wednesday.
• Greece: Covid vaccine becomes mandatory for health workers
• Bulgaria: President Rumen Radev will participate in the Bled Strategic Forum in a panel of leaders dedicated to the topic of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.
• Romania: The government will meet and could adopt a revision of the national budget.
• Croatia: The register of islands and the national plan for the development of islands in the 2021-2027 period will be presented.
• Serbia: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will continue his Serbia visit.

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[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski, Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Josie Le Blond]

Read more with Euractiv

525 migrants have died on Atlantic route to Canary Islands this year

At least 525 people have died trying to make the Atlantic crossing between the African continent and Spain’s Canary Islands so far this year, one of the deadliest migrant routes in the world, the International Organization for Migration said Tuesday, EURACTIVS’s partner EFE reports.