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In today’s news from the capitals:

Paris is bracing for another in a series of multi-sector strikes on Thursday as the emerging protest movement in France gains ground, just a day after general strikes paralyzed its northern neighbor Belgium and Greece, a sign of d growing pressure on European workers who bear the cost of the continent. life crisis. Read more.

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Members’ corner

MEP: Weber clears the Greek Prime Minister in the wiretapping scandal. Center-right European People’s Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber is providing political cover for Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the so-called “Greek Watergate”, Renew Europe MEP Georgios Kyrtsos told EURACTIV in an interview. Read more.

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VIENNA

Austrian summit fails to resolve refugee housing crisis. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, who met with the country’s nine state governors late Wednesday failed to reach an agreement on resolving the current refugee housing crisis in the country. Read more.

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BERLIN

Germany’s ruling parties pledge lasting support for Moldova’s EU bid. Germany’s three ruling parties pledged to continue supporting Moldova’s EU bid in a motion tabled in parliament on Tuesday, which also calls for improving the country’s accession process. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch parties split over ‘cash for housing’ asylum bill. Dutch parties are divided over the government’s new asylum bill, which, if passed in its current form, would provide financial compensation to municipalities hosting asylum seekers. Read more.

NORDIC AND BALTIC

HELSINKI

The gaming industry generates the highest revenue in Finland. The gambling industry is once again a gold mine for entrepreneurs in Finland, income tax data revealed by the tax office as part of Wednesday’s tax day revealed. Read more.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

ROME

League senator slams EU ‘moralists’ on migration. As NGO ships arrive in Sicily laden with migrants, Massimiliano Romeo, the leader of the far-right League in the Senate, has hit out at EU ‘moralists’ who demand humanitarianism but rely on the migration ports of others. Read more.

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MADRID

Spain will highlight the importance of Latin America during its EU Presidency. Spain will seek to underline the importance of maintaining good relations with Latin America when it assumes the Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2023, said Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation Pilar Cancela, to EFE in an exclusive interview. Read more.

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LISBON

Portugal has recorded an increase in imports, mainly of fuel, this year. Portuguese imports rose nearly 30% in September compared to the same month last year, with imports of fuels and lubricants surging by 51%, the government statistics institute INE said on Wednesday. Read more.

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VALLETTA

Malta is launching a new mental health service amid growing concern. The government has launched a mental health helpline that can be reached 24 hours a day amid a 25% rise in mental health problems worldwide. Read more.

VISEGRAD

PRAGUE

Czech economy in ‘slight recession’. The economy has entered a “mild recession”, admitted the Czech Ministry of Finance in its November macroeconomic forecast, which also predicts stagnation and a high inflation rate of 9.5% for 2023. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

The head of the Slovak parliament accuses the Ministry of the Interior of the migration debacle. National Council President Boris Kollár has taken aim at the Interior Ministry, whose head is currently facing a no-confidence motion, over the situation of migrant tents on the Czech-Slovakian border, saying the country should have closed its borders a long time ago. Read more.

BALKAN NEWS

SOFIA

The Bulgarian government urgently needs to find non-Russian nuclear fuel. PParliament forced the caretaker government to speed up the procedure for concluding an agreement for the supply of non-Russian nuclear fuel for the two Soviet reactors at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, which until now had been supplied only by Moscow. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania will borrow 3 billion US dollars to build two reactors. Romania plans to borrow more than $3 billion from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to build two new reactors at the country’s only nuclear power plant at Cernavoda. Read more.

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PRISTINE

Kurti could meet Vucic in Paris to discuss Western proposals. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti is expected to meet Serbian President Aleksander Vucic in Paris on Thursday amid simmering tensions and various plans all aimed at normalizing relations and crucially advancing the situation between the two countries. Read more.

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TIRANA

Albania is again postponing the introduction of higher energy tariffs. The government has once again postponed the introduction of higher electricity tariffs for those using more than 800 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month, Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Belinda Balluku said. Read more.

AGENDA

• EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Chisinau;
• BusinessEurope CEOs Dialogue 2022 takes place in Brussels; Von der Leyen, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Economics Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni attend;
• Financial Stability Commissioner Mairead McGuinness meets Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem;
• Dombrovskis speaks with Georgian Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Levan Davitashvili;
• European Parliament President Roberta Metsola receives Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno;
• European Parliament plenary session debates issues of racial justice, non-discrimination, anti-racism and cybersecurity in the EU;
• REPowerEU chapters of the recovery and resilience plans presented at the press conference in Brussels; Metsola and rapporteur MEPs Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, ES), Siegfried Muresan (EPP, RO), Dragoş Pislaru (Renew, RO) are present;
• FRA’s Fundamental Rights Platform holds its annual meeting on “How can civil society contribute to strengthening the rule of law in the European Union?” And how can the rule of law contribute to strengthening civil society? » ; Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders participates by videoconference;
• France: Sectoral strikes demanding wage increases;
• Germany: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom hold a press conference;
• United Kingdom: British-Irish Council (BIC) summit takes place;
• Italy: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni receives NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg;
• Spain: The European Space Agency (ESA) holds a press conference on the geology training of astronauts for a future mission to the Moon, Mars;
• UN: General Assembly discusses Afghanistan; The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, reports to the UN Security Council;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]