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In today’s news from the Capitals:

PRAGUE | WARSAW

The European Court of Justice has ordered Poland to pay a fine of 500,000 euros per day because it did not follow its interim measure and continues mining at Turów, a lignite mine located on the Czech border. Polish. The Czech Republic considers the decision a success but prefers to conclude a deal rather than benefit from fines. Read more.

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BERLIN

First far-right German candidate landed for illegitimate party funding. German prosecutors have closed the illegal donation case against Alice Weidel, the lead candidate of the German far-right AfD party. Read more.

To read also: Scholz described as “Minister of Finance of scandals” by the deputies before the German elections

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PARIS

France offers a fund of 29.5 million euros to help independent journalists. Independent journalists whose activity and income have suffered from the COVID-19 crisis will receive aid of 29.5 million euros over two years, French Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot announced on Monday. Read more.

UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND

LONDON

Johnson calls on the international community to do more to tackle the climate crisis. Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Monday that “history will judge” if international leaders do not act now to tackle the climate crisis. Read more.

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DUBLIN

Taoiseach from Ireland travels to New York to deliver climate statement. Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin has landed in New York, as the country currently holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of September. Martin is expected to chair a high-level climate and security discussion in the Council and will address the United Nations General Assembly – meeting in New York for its 76th session on Friday – to deliver Ireland’s national statement. Read more.

NORDIC AND BALTIC

STOCKHOLM

The Swedish minority government offers a generous budget. The red and green minority government of the Social Democrats and the Greens has announced a 2022 finance bill, which gives another boost to the economy, which is already enjoying a strong recovery. Read more.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

ROME

italian court finds auto parts company guilty of violating trade union rights. The Florence labor court ruled that driveline component maker Gkn Driveline, owned by UK fund Melrose, was “in flagrant violation of trade union rights” for sacking 422 employees by email in early July. The layoff sparked a series of protests outside the factory gates that caught the attention of key government figures and others who demonstrated against the layoffs in Florence on Sunday. Read more.

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MADRID

A lava flow devours a property on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma. A volcanic eruption on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma sparked devastating scenes as a six-meter-high lava flow devoured homes, infrastructure and farmland on its way to the ocean, forcing l evacuation of some 5,000 people. There were no human victims, a regional official said on Monday, reports EURACTIV partner EFE.

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ATHENS

Greece will closely monitor the reopening of schools. The Greek National Public Health Agency will publish epidemiological data for children aged 4 to 17 separately every Wednesday, the government spokesman said on Monday. Read more.

VISÉGRAD

BUDAPEST

Mayor of Budapest: a cyberattack stopping the primaries came from China. Gergely Karácsony, mayor of the capital and joint candidate for Prime Minister of Green Párbeszéd and socialist MSZP, said on Monday that the cyberattack that interrupted the primaries on Saturday for two days originated from China, Telex reported. Read more.

Read also: Orban in Hungary launches an election campaign with a tax refund of 1.7 billion euros for families

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BRATISLAVA

Slovak journalists charged with revealing classified information. Police indicted two media reporters Denník N for leaking what they said was classified information in the case of the notorious murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírová. Read more.

In other news, the fight against high-level corruption brought about by the new Slovak government, made up of former opposition parties, has lost momentum, with four investigators working on the case now in prison and some suspects already released, Denník N reported. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

The United States is increasing the pressure on Sofia over the integration of Skopje into the EU. Washington is putting more pressure on Bulgaria, urging it to drop its veto on the integration of North Macedonia into the EU and quickly approve the negotiating framework for Skopje’s EU membership. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania lacks intensive care beds. With the increase in the number of coronavirus cases in recent weeks, Romanian hospitals are running out of intensive care unit (ICU) beds for COVID-19 patients. Read more.

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BELGRADE | PRISTINA

Vučić urges the EU to confirm whether the Brussels agreement with Pristina is still in force. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on Monday evening asked the EU to confirm whether the Brussels agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina was still in force. He said the seizure of neutral status “KS” license plates from vehicles in northern Kosovo by police was carried out in violation of the agreement and “without any prior agreement with anyone”. Read more.

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AGENDA:

• EU: European Affairs ministers meet to prepare for European Council, discuss COVID-19, EU-UK relations and the Conference on the Future of Europe / Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton will deliver a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington, meets US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
• Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the campaign meeting of CDU candidate Armin Laschet in Stralsund.
• France: Senators will begin examining the bill to protect farmers’ wages, adopted by the National Assembly in June.
• Poland: The Constitutional Court must hold a hearing on the primacy of European or Polish law.
• Bulgaria: Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi visiting Sofia, two weeks before the Western Balkans summit.
• Romania: President Klaus Iohannis attends the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
• Croatia: The final conference of the “Center for Creative Industries” project will take place.

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