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In today’s news from the Capitals:

BELGRADE

Serbia will never impose sanctions on “her friend Russia”, despite the pressures it faces, Serbian Parliament Speaker Ivica Dačić said on Thursday. Read more.

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BERLIN

The European Parliament will decide whether the immunity of the far-right German MEP will be lifted. The vice-leader of the Eurosceptic Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament, Jörg Meuthen, reportedly accepted illegal donations in 2016, when he was the frontrunner of the far-right AfD party in the parliamentary elections. The Berlin prosecutor’s office has now called on the European Parliament to lift Meuthen’s immunity so that he can stand trial, a decision to be taken in plenary in July. Read more.

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EU PRESIDENCY

Portuguese FM: EU enlargement could be a “great achievement” for Slovenia. Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Thursday (June 24th) that the launch of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania would be “a major achievement” of the forthcoming Slovenian presidency of the ‘EU. After.

EU INSTITUTIONS

Tsikhanoskaya: Belarus unrelated to EU-Russia relations. The future of Belarus has nothing to do with the type of relations between the EU and Russia, exiled democratic opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told EURACTIV.

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VIENNA | PRAGUE | BUDAPEST

Austria unites with Hungary and Czechia on migration. At a conference of the “Salzburg Forum” in Prague, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer demonstrated unity with his Hungarian and Czech counterparts on the repatriation of migrants and border control, insisting that the forum sends a clear message to the European Commission to focus on topics on which consensus can be reached. Read more.

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PARIS

France will increase its production of renewable energies to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. This month, Réseau Transport Electricité (RTE) published the study “Energy Futures 2050”, which describes six scenarios presenting different strategies if France wants to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, with an increase in the production of renewable energy being a focal point of the study. Read more.

UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND

DUBLIN

The Irish Foreign Minister feels positive after the meeting between the United Kingdom and Ireland. Foreign Minister Simon Coveney says he hopes for “progress” after the Anglo-Irish intergovernmental conference meeting in Dublin, as reported by RTE. “I hope this week we will see progress between the two sides on the UK government’s request for a modest extension of the grace period for chilled meats,” he said. After

NORDIC AND BALTIC

HELSINKI

Global survey shows Finland has the most confidence in the media. A new global survey by the Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford Research Center shows trust in Finnish media the highest in the world, with experts citing cultural traditions, the pandemic and the high level of Finland’s confidence in institutions as the reasons. Read more.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

ATHENS

The Greek opposition is pressuring the government to ratify the memorandums with North Macedonia. The main left-wing opposition party Syriza has called on the Greek government to swiftly adopt three memoranda signed between Greece and North Macedonia under the name change deal (Prespa Accord) following reports suggesting that Athens consider further delaying the process. After.

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ROME

Italy is stepping up monitoring to keep the Delta variant under control. Italy will apply stricter controls and follow-up procedures to people traveling from abroad in a bid to control the COVID-19 Delta variant, as the number of daily positive cases declines and restrictions across the country continue to soften up. Read more.

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MADRID

Face masks are no longer mandatory in outdoor spaces in Spain from Saturday. From Saturday, the use of face masks in outdoor spaces will not be mandatory in Spain, provided people maintain a distance of 1.5 meters, reported EURACTIV partner EFE.

VISÉGRAD

BRATISLAVA

The Slovak government apologizes for a police raid on a Roma village in 2013. The Slovak government has apologized for the 2013 police raid on Moldava nad Bodvou (Košice region) which left 30 people injured and victims persecuted. Read more.

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WARSAW

Poland withdraws troops from Afghanistan. Poland is withdrawing its military presence in Afghanistan after 20 years in the region as part of NATO’s “Resolute Support” mission. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czechia hit by a tornado. Several municipalities in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic were struck Thursday evening by a tornado which destroyed several houses and left dozens injured, according to health authorities. “All available relief units are in action in the Hodonin region where several municipalities have been affected by a tornado,” Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said on Twitter of the disaster. He said he expected “lives lost” as a result of the disaster. (OndÅ™ej Plevák | EURACTIV.cz)

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

LJUBLJANA

Slovenia has yet to delegate prosecutors from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders expressed concern that Slovenia has still not appointed its delegated European prosecutors and contacted Slovenian Justice Minister Marjan Dikaučič on Thursday for an explanation. Read more.

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SOFIA

Borissov’s patronage model unveiled. A handful of Bulgarian companies receive a large part of the public resources distributed in Bulgaria, acting Finance Minister Asen Vassilev told media on Thursday. After.

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BUCHAREST

Romania continues to ease restrictions in July. The Romanian government announced Thursday that from July 1, public and private events could accommodate more participants, with restrictions on artistic, cultural and musical events relaxed, allowing a wider audience. Additionally, weddings and baptisms can accommodate more participants, as is the case with sporting events, however, all participants must be fully immunized.

In addition, restaurants, cafes and hotels will be able to operate at full capacity from July 1, with bars, clubs and discos being allowed to operate at 70% capacity and remain open until 2 a.m. (Bogdan Neagu | EURACTIV.ro)

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ZAGREB

Twice as many illegal migrants along the “Balkan route” this year. Večernji List newspaper reported on Thursday that the number of people illegally crossing the external borders of the European Union in the first five months of this year reached 47,100, an increase of almost 50% compared to the same period. Last year. Read more.

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SKOPJE

US Ambassador: The disappointed EU cannot support the negotiations in North Macedonia. US Ambassador Kate Marie Byrnes told the Skopje Economic Forum that “we remain disappointed that EU member states were unable to include the approval (to start negotiations with North Macedonia) during the the General Affairs meeting “. However, as she added, there is no doubt that the country has done the necessary work to start the talks. After.

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PRISTINA

France rejects visa liberalization for Kosovo. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said Wednesday after his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace that France had not committed to abolish the visa requirement for Kosovo. “I am convinced that they [France] received our message, but there is no promise to issue visas, ”Kurti said. Despite confirmation from the European Commission that Kosovo has met all visa liberalization requirements, France and the Netherlands remain skeptical and still block visa-free movement for citizens of Kosovo in the Schengen area of ​​the EU. (Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)

Agenda:

• Spain: Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Catalonia’s regional president Pere Aragonès will meet on Tuesday, June 29 in Madrid, a week after the pardon granted to imprisoned Catalan separatists.
• Germany: Last ordinary sitting of the German Bundestag before the summer break
• France: President Macron receives US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken
• Slovakia: Minister of Health Vladimír Lengvarský (WHERE candidate) assured members of parliament that COVID-19 passports will be launched on June 26 in Slovakia. At the same time, he called on the public not to log into the system right after launch, unless they really need it urgently due to travel. He explained that the system might experience a temporary malfunction due to the large number of people who might just want to test its functionality.
• Croatia: Slovenia celebrates the 30th anniversary of its independence and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković attends the ceremony.
• Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković and her associates organize the first regional workshop on the Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-2028 for representatives of local and regional governments and experts.
• Slovenia: A high-level ceremony will be held in Ljubljana to mark Slovenian State Day and the start of the Slovenian EU Presidency with opening speeches by President Borut Pahor, European Council President Charles Michel and Prime Minister Minister Janez JanÅ¡a.
• Serbia: Online forum on free access to relevant information for the public, titled “Environmental Protection Information – Is It Hard To Get It?” “
• Luxembourg: Franz Fayot, Minister of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, visiting Rome, headquarters of several United Nations agencies.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Paula Kenny, Zoran Radosavljevic]