Before you start reading today’s edition of the Capitals, we invite you to read the article “Summit fails to narrow differences over EU’s seven-year budget“. Read the latest developments on our live blog.
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VILNIUS
Lithuanian MPs seek EU sanctions against ‘Putin’s chef’. MPs in the Lithuanian parliament are pushing for Russia’s Yevgeny Prigozhin, nick-named ‘Putin’s chef’, to be included on the EU sanctions list. Prigozhin is linked to the Russian private military company, Wagner, which was deployed in Ukraine, Syria and across several African countries, Baltic News Service (BNS) reported. Read more on Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.
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BERLIN
Right-wing extremism condemned after Hanau attack. In response to the shooting in Hanau, which killed 11 people on Wednesday night (19 February) in one of the deadliest examples of right-wing violence since German reunification and the latest in a string of right-wing attacks committed in the past year, many German leaders have been quick to condemn both racism and right-wing extremism. EURACTIV Germany’s Sarah Lawton looks into what is already known of the perpetrator.
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PARIS
Macron biding time on the EU budget. The French head of state will take “the time it takes” for “an ambitious agreement” to be reached on the EU budget, he said at the extraordinary EU summit in Brussels on Thursday (20 February). EURACTIV France has more.
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BRUSSELS
Carnival spat. Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz urged Belgium “to condemn and prohibit” the Aalst carnival for what he called an “anti-Semitic manifestation” on Twitter. The yearly Aalst Carnival was removed from the UNESCO cultural heritage list last December on which it had been featured since 2010 following accusations of anti-Semitism after one of its floats portrayed caricatures of Orthodox Jews with crooked noses and fingers protecting a safe. (Alexandra Brzozowski | EURACTIV.com)
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VIENNA
Investigators uncover possible scheme to hide FPÖ-donations. In the secretly recorded “Ibiza-Video” which caused the resignation of then vice-minister Heinz-Christian Strache (FPÖ), the politician allegedly mentioned a method of hiding political donations from the treasury by which donors could give money to associations with no official party affiliations, which are staffed with allies of the FPÖ who can funnel the money to them.
However, investigators have now found four such associations, headed by close associates to party members. These associations appear to have received large sums from companies such as arms manufacturer Steyr Arms. According to investigators, Strache had actively looked for donors, even though the associations had no official ties to him or the party. It is, therefore, believed that the donations were supposed to be funnelled to him. (Philipp Grüll | EURACTIV.de)
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HELSINKI
Jehovah’s witnesses getting a cold shoulder. Out of the two hundred Jehovah’s witnesses who came from Russia to apply for asylum in Finland since 2017, 90% have seen their applications rejected, according to the Finnish Immigration Service. This means that a growing number of Jehovah’s witnesses are being deported back to Russia while others are waiting in limbo. But why are Jehovah’s witnesses fleeing Russia? EURACTIV’s Pekka Vänttinen has a closer look.
UK AND IRELAND
LONDON
EFSA will keep British experts despite Brexit. The European Food Safety Authority will keep UK experts in its ranks despite Brexit, because science does not recognise borders “and we want to have the best people”, the EU food watchdog chief told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive interview. “We have about 22 staff members from the UK who we will all be able to continue to employ,” Bernhard Url said. Read the full interview HERE.
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DUBLIN
Irish DPC Report. Irish Commissioner for Data Protection Helen Dixon launched yesterday the Irish DPC’s 2019 report detailing the work of the DPC for the first full calendar year since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). EURACTIV’s digital correspondent, Samuel Stolton, looks into the report’s key findings.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME
Tug of war with Renzi. Italy’s PM Giuseppe Conte has accepted a meeting request from Italia Viva’s leader Matteo Renzi. “My door’s always open, we’ll see each other next week,” the PM said at his arrival to the EU summit. After the meeting with Renzi, Conte will come to the Parliament to present Agenda 2023, which includes a series of priorities that aim to revive Italy’s economy. (Gerardo Fortuna | EURACTIV.com)
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MADRID
Spain’s PM and Catalan president to meet next Wednesday. After Spain’s socialist PM Pedro Sánchez had previously proposed to meet Catalan separatist president Quim Torra to hold bilateral talks on Monday (24 February), which Torra refused due to “agenda problems”, the two have finally agreed to meet next Wednesday (26 February), to discuss the “political crisis” in Catalonia, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.
This will be the first round of meetings in the context of the “Mesa de Diálogo” (Dialogue table) between Madrid and the Catalan regional executive..
In other news, the approval of a new budget in Parliament will be key to Spain’s minority coalition. The ruling left-wing coalition, of PSOE and Unidas Podemos/United We Can, will rely on the support of Catalan separatists and independents, mainly ERC (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya – Republican Left of Catalonia).
It is the approval of the new budget, which will likely happen after the summer break, which is key to Sánchez’s political survival, as the current government is functioning thanks to a delay extension of the budget previously passed by the executive of former conservative PM Mariano Rajoy, of the Partido Popular (PP). (EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
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