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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.
Editor’s point of view: German elections reveal Europe’s “generational gapâ€. The first projections of votes between different age groups revealed a growing generational gap within the EU. The German youth have returned it to conservatives and traditional socialists. On the other hand, the portrait of voters over 60 is quite different. Read more.
The European news you deserve to read. welcome to The capitals by EURACTIV.
In today’s news from the Capitals:
BERLIN
The SPD wins, but coalition chaos looms. For the first time in almost 20 years, the SPD secured first place in the elections. However, with a left alliance failing to reach a majority, the party faces very limited coalition options and divisions within the party. Read more.
Parties start electoral poker as German elections are too close to be announced. As German conservatives and their Social Democratic rivals went head-to-head in Sunday’s federal election, leaders of both parties quickly claimed their right to try to form a coalition government. Read the full story here.
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PARIS
The French opposition reopens the debate on leaving NATO after the AUKUS submarine dispute. Many leaders of the left and right opposition have recalled their position in favor of France’s withdrawal from NATO. This speech arose out of the feud between the country and the United States over Australia’s announcement that it was renouncing a submarine deal with France in favor of an American and British one. Read more.
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VIENNA
Communists win in Austria’s second largest city. According to current projections, the Communist party succeeded in winning the municipal council elections in Graz, Austria’s second largest city, with 29%. This puts them ahead of the incumbent Conservatives, who lost 12% and gained 25.7%. Read more.
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BERNE
The Swiss say yes to same-sex marriage, no to increased taxes on capital income. The Swiss approved a law on Sunday granting same-sex couples the right to marry with a clear majority of 64%. However, they rejected with 65% a constitutional amendment aimed at increasing taxes on the capital income of the rich. These are the results of two separate national referendums that took place on Sunday. Read more.
UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND
DUBLIN
The Irish protest against the British proposals to deal with the legacy of the unrest. This weekend, demonstrations took place across Ireland in opposition to plans unveiled by British Government Secretary for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis. Plans announced earlier this year would put in place a statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of incidents related to the unrest that occurred before April 1998, including inquiries into inheritances and civil actions. Read more.
NORDIC AND BALTIC
HELSINKI
Sweden, Denmark and Norway sign defense cooperation agreement. Sweden, Denmark and Norway signed a defense cooperation agreement on Friday in response to mounting tensions in the Baltic Sea and apparent Russian aggression. Still, Finland’s absence from the deal raised some questions. Read more.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
SAN MARINO
San Marino holds a referendum to legalize abortion. Residents of this small, landlocked country voted on Sunday in a referendum to determine whether or not to allow abortion in a country where following the process or helping someone to do it carries a penalty of imprisonment for six months to three years. Read more.
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LISBON
Former Commissioner Carlos Moedas wins Lisbon City Council.
Local and regional elections were held yesterday September 26 in Portugal. The results indicate a significant resurgence of the center-right PSD party in the country. Former commissioner Carlos Moedas, from the same party, will head the Lisbon city council. Moedas, who won with 34.25% of the vote, “stole†the town hall from the Socialist Party, which had held the post for 14 years. (Pol Afonso, EURACTIV.com)
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MADRID
Italian justice frees the former Catalan leader Puigdemont on bail. The Italian court in Sassari in Sardinia released the former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont on Friday after his imprisonment on Thursday under a European arrest warrant. Read the full story.
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ATHENS
Greece threatened with poverty. In Greece, 21.8% of households said their income had decreased in the past 12 months, while 5.9% said they had increased and 72.3% said they had stayed the same during this period, a survey on the risk of poverty published by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). The COVID-19 pandemic was cited as the main reason for the 14.5% increase or decrease in income, of which 2.9% reported the increase, while 13% said it had decreased .
At the same time, the authority published two other reports, one on income inequalities, the other on material deprivation and living conditions. According to these surveys, the income share of the richest 20% of the population is 5.2 times that of the poorest 20%, and material deprivation affects not only the poor but also a part of the non-poor population. . (Kostas Argyros | EURACTIV.gr)
VISÉGRAD
PRAGUE
The Czech conservative opposition neck and neck with the party of Prime Minister Babis. The ruling party of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš ANO (Renew)loses its dominant position. His popularity fell to 24.5% ahead of elections scheduled for October 8-9. Meanwhile, the conservative SPOLU bloc and the center-left coalition formed by the Pirate Party (Verts / ALE) and Mayors and Independents (PPE) stand at 23% and 20% respectively, according to a Kantar poll published on Sunday by the Czech television. Read more.
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WARSAW
Powerful NGOs attack Polish MEP ECR for gas lobby. Two powerful Brussels NGOs accused MEP Zdzisław Krasnodębski from the Law and Justice Party (PiS), currently a member of the ECR group in Parliament, of concealing the list of lobbyists and of supporting EU funding for fossil fuels. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
The Hungarian opposition is starting to point the finger at problematic candidates. Cooperation within the rainbow opposition coalition is put to the test in the first round of the primaries as the green party of prime minister candidate Gergely Karácsony, Párbeszéd, called on other parties to stop support their dubious candidates on Saturday after doing the same in the capital. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BUCHAREST
Romanian PM wins party elections. Members of the National Liberal Party (PNL) elected Prime Minister Florin Citu as the new President of the Conservative Party. Read more.
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SOFIA
The anti-corruption delegation of MEPs in Bulgaria is not satisfied with the public prosecutor. The delegation of the LIBE Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group, on a rule of law monitoring mission in Bulgaria, was not satisfied with its meeting with Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev , Dutch MEP and head of delegation Sophia in ‘t Veld (Renew Europe) said on Friday. Read more.
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ZAGREB
Croatia has been the target of dozens of state-sponsored cyber attacks. Croatia has been the target of dozens of state-sponsored cyber attacks in recent years, according to a 2020-2021 report released by the National Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA). Read more.
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PRISTINA | BELGRADE
The situation in northern Kosovo is triggering an international response. Senior EU diplomat Josep Borrell told Serbia and Kosovo on Sunday that any further provocation or unilateral and uncoordinated action “is unacceptable” and said he continued to follow developments in the north closely. of Kosovo. Meanwhile, US Assistant Under Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel Escobar said that “Serbia and Kosovo should refrain from damaging rhetoric and discuss the issue of car license plates. Brussels, instead of militarizing the current situation at the border â€, while the Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko Stefanović accused the US and the EU of turning a blind eye to the situation in the north of Kosovo. Read more.
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SARAJEVO
The United States aggressively punishes corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United States will “very aggressively” use sanctions for widespread corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), US State Department special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, told Voice of America. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: ECB President Lagarde addresses the European Parliament’s Economic Committee via video link.
- Germany: Political parties assess the fallout from the German elections.
- France: WHO President Macron, Tedros attend the ceremony to establish the WHO Academy.
- Poland: The regional assembly votes to abolish the anti-LGBT declaration.
- Bulgaria: An initiative committee to appoint President Roumen Radev for a second term will be set up on Monday. The presidential elections will be held at the same time as the early legislative elections on 14 November.
- Romania: European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will visit Bucharest as part of her Next Generation EU tour and meet President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Florin Citu and some members of the government.
- Croatia: President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Zoran Milanović decorates US General Jon A. Jensen, Director of the Army National Guard.
- Albanian Visit of Prime Minister Edi Rama Pristina.
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Alexandra Brzozowski, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor]