The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.

The European news that you deserve to read. welcome to The capitals by EURACTIV.

In today’s news from the Capitals:

SOFIA | BUCHAREST

The two Balkan countries have the lowest vaccination rates in the bloc and the epidemiological situation is getting out of control again. Our reporters in Sofia and Bucharest analyze the reasons for the failure of the two countries to fight against the pandemic. Read more.

///

VIENNA

Former Chancellor Kurz falls out of favor with the electorate. A majority of the Austrian population wants former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who resigned over corruption allegations in early October, to withdraw from politics altogether. Read more.

///

BERLIN

The Bundestag holds a constitutive session. Germany is entering its 20th legislature as Parliament holds its constitutive session after the September elections, Tuesday October 26. Read more.

///

PARIS

A new report examines six scenarios for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The operator of the French electricity transmission network (RTE) presented this Monday (October 25) six scenarios to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The experts also took into account the security of supply of the French electricity system. Read more.

UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND

LONDON

Frost coldly welcomes the EU’s position on Horizon. The EU risks defaulting on its obligations if it continues to exclude UK organizations from the Horizon Europe research fund, UK Brexit Minister David Frost said on Monday (October 25th). Read more.

///

DUBLIN

Irish scientists are starting to study a new ‘Delta plus’ variant. Scientists have launched a review of a new COVID-19 ‘Delta plus’ variant in Ireland to determine if the virus is more transmissible and more severe than the existing Delta variant. Read more.

NORDIC AND BALTIC

HELSINKI

Stoltenberg: China will be proud of NATO’s new strategy. China poses challenges inside and outside Europe that will be addressed in NATO’s new strategy currently being negotiated, Military Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the meeting. of a press conference in Helsinki. Read more.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

LISBON

The rejection of the state budget could jeopardize wages, pension increases, health services, labor rights. The Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs warned Monday that if the budget is rejected, a package of measures on wages, pensions, the National Health Service (SNS) and labor legislation would be compromised. Read more.

///

ATHENS

Greece mourns the death of the socialist leader. The leader of the Greek Socialist Party (Pasok) Fofi Gennimata died on Monday after years of fighting cancer. All political forces praised Gennimata for his bravery and honesty. Read more.

///

ROME

Politicians divided over the future of the controversial historic bank. The Italian government’s months-long negotiations to sell state-owned Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) to international banking group Unicredit have failed, it was announced on Sunday (October 24th). Read more.

///

MADRID

Spain offers COVID-19 boosters, flu shots for those over 70s before winter. spanish hHealth officials launched the COVID-19 recall campaign for those over 70 on Monday, October 25, planning to give them at the same time as flu shots in some areas, EURACTIV partner EFE reported. Read more.

VISÉGRAD

WARSAW

Polish Prime Minister says Commission risks “third world war”. In an interview for the Financial Times, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the European Commission of holding “a gun to our head” over negotiations over funds for Poland’s stimulus package and rule of law conditionality. Read more.

///

PRAGUE

Future Czech government calls for dialogue in Turow affair. The Czech authorities have asked Poland to return to the negotiating table and finally resolve the Turów mine problem. “The continuation of negotiations is in the interest of all parties, in particular the Liberec region,” Deputy Environment Minister Vladislav Smrž told EURACTIV.cz media partner. Aktuálně.cz. Read more.

///

BUDAPEST

The candidate of the Prime Minister of the opposition affirms that Fidesz has put together a dossier to discredit him. The mayor of Hódmezővásárhely Péter Márki-Zay, who won the united opposition primaries to become the candidate of the six-party coalition to challenge Viktor Orbán next year, presented on Monday an incriminated dossier that Fidesz allegedly prepared for his former opponents, who instead handed the document to him, Telex reported. Read more.

///

BRATISLAVA

The Slovak government draws up a “traffic light” assessment of the stimulus package reforms. The government nThe new control mechanism will aim to publicly warn if any of the reforms of its national stimulus plan is delayed. If one of the reforms stalls, Slovakia could lose hundreds of millions of euros from the stimulus package. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

TIRANA

As EU door closes, Albania focuses on controversial regional collaboration. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama called on the EU to push Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro to join the Open Balkan initiative as the prospect of integrating the Western Balkans into the EU has been “maybe to be […] temporarily shelved ”. Read more.

///

ZAGREB

Thousands of Croatian workers have left the labor market over the past 13 years. Some 128,000 workers under the age of 35 have left the Croatian labor market over the past 13 years. Today, they represent only a third of the country’s workforce, wrote the Večernji List newspaper. Read more.

///

BELGRADE

Serbia will participate in an international nuclear accident simulation in the United Arab Emirates. Serbia will participate in an international exercise to test the response to a simulated severe accident at the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates from Tuesday to Wednesday, the Directorate of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety reported on Monday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Arab Emirates are leading the exercise.

Serbia will use the exercise to test for the first time a decision support system, JRodos, capable of estimating the possible location of a radioactive cloud, to assess the impact of a nuclear accident on the population and the environment, and assess the effectiveness of protective measures. , said Management in a statement.

(EURACTIV.rs | betabriefing.com)

///

SARAJEVO

Speaker of the Serbian Parliament: no borders between Republika Srpska and Serbia. Belgrade remains interested in preserving the peace and the status of the Republika Srpska (RS) and in ensuring respect for the Dayton peace agreement, said Ivica Dačić, president of the Narodna Skupština (parliament of the Republic of Serbia). Read more.

///

SKOPJE

The number of diesel vehicles in North Macedonia increases by 160,000 in 8 years. The number of vehicles using petroleum, i.e. diesel, rose to 278,096 vehicles in 2020, from 118,109 in 2012. This means that in just eight years, the number has increased by almost 160 000. Read more.

///

PRISTINA | TIRANA

Albania threatens to quit the boxing championship following Kosovo’s rebuff. The Albanian national boxing team threatened to leave the 2021 World Boxing Championship in Belgrade if Serbia refused to allow Kosovo to participate. Read more.

AGENDA:

• EU / Luxembourg: EU energy ministers hold emergency talks on soaring gas prices.
• Germany: The new lower house of parliament will hold its first session 30 days after the federal elections in September.
• Denmark: The company stands accused of violating the EU embargo on Syria.
• Norway: Barents Euro-Arctic Council meets in Tromso.
• Poland: The new ministers for agriculture, climate and sports will be announced at 5 p.m.
• Hungary: Prime Minister Orban and French far-right candidate Le Pen hold a joint press conference in Budapest.
• Slovakia: Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu delivers a speech in Bratislava.
• Spain: The World Summit on the Future of Tourism takes place in Barcelona.
• Croatia: The Joint Commission for the Implementation and Promotion of Economic Cooperation between the Governments of Croatia and Azerbaijan holds its second meeting, chaired by Croatian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Tomislav Ćorić and Azeri Minister of Culture Anar Karimov.

***

[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Alexandra Brzozowski, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor]