End ‘denial’ on foreign interference, French report says

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On a mission to reshape Europe – 14 November 2023

In today’s news from the Capitals:

PARIS

The French Parliamentary Delegation for Intelligence (DPR) has identified Russia, China, Turkey and Iran as leading the way in terms of foreign interference in France and Europe, and while Moscow currently holds the top stop, a recent report states that Beijing is set to overtake it as it has some 250,000 agents on the ground.

As for combatting the risks, the annual report takes stock of the current situation regarding intelligence and foreign interference and has laid down several measures to counter threats, including introducing binding rules, awareness-raising campaigns, and sanctions at the EU level. Read more.

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EU INSTITUTIONS

EU election forecast: EPP reduces losses as Left and ID make gains. If EU elections were held today, the European People’s Party (EPP) would have 16 fewer seats than projected in August and three less than its current 176 seats but would still dominate over other EU political groups, according to Euractiv’s latest projection, which also saw the Left and ID make their best gains since August. Read more.

Journalist killings in Malta, Greece, Slovakia, Netherlands remain unsolved – report. Full justice has been achieved in fewer than 5% of murders of journalists since 1992, with four unsolved cases in the EU, the media freedom association the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found in its 2023 Global Impunity Index. Read more.

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BERLIN

German regional party plans to use EU elections as springboard for Berlin. Mainly known as a regional party in Bavaria, the Free Voters plan to use next year’s EU elections as a springboard and dress rehearsal for their upcoming national election campaign. Read more.

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VIENNA

Austria steps up action to prevent critical drug shortages this winter. The Austrian government is cooperating with wholesalers to stockpile medicines and subsidise the sale of cheap drugs to avoid another ‘unacceptable’ winter of shortages. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch MEP Esther de Lange claims Rutte snubbed her Climate Commissioner bid. Esther De Lange (CDA/EPP), a centre-right MEP with experience on the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, claims she was snubbed in the nomination process for EU climate commissioner, which saw Rutte pick Wopke Hoekstra to replace Frans Timmermans. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

STOCKHOLM

Sweden to send additional humanitarian aid to Gaza. Sweden will send additional humanitarian aid worth 150 million SEK (€13.3 million) to Gaza, the government announced on Thursday, in a move the Social Democratic opposition criticised for being ‘too late’. Read more.

Hazardous substances in tattoo inks still exceed EU limits, Swedish agency warns. Tattoo inks still contain potentially carcinogenic and allergenic substances in forbidden concentrations despite the introduction of an EU regulation in January 2022, according to an analysis by the Swedish Medical Products Agency. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ATHENS

Israel-Turkey crisis will take time to fix, former PM says. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s stance in the ongoing Middle East crisis is a “disgrace” for Turkey, whose relations with Israel will take a lot of time to be fixed, Israeli former prime minister Yair Lapid said. Read more.

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ROME

Rome to host international AI summit next year. Italy will host an international AI conference in Rome that will coincide with the nation’s G7 presidency, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced following a decision made on the sidelines of the first-ever AI Safety summit in London. Read more.

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MADRID

PP and VOX team up to take down Sánchez’s ‘indecent’ amnesty law. The centre-right Partido Popular and the far-right VOX have pledged to actively resist through legal means, the approval of the amnesty law, which Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised would pass parliament in exchange for Catalan separatist support for his second term. Read more.

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VALLETTA

Malta to face EU fiscal discipline over massive loans, debt. Malta is expected to be officially put under the EU’s fiscal surveillance arm next year as the government’s budget, presented by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana, shows a continued dependence on massive borrowing, increasing already high debt levels. Read more.

EASTERN EUROPE

WARSAW

Polish opposition parties skip abortion in coalition deal talks. The three opposition parties willing to form a new Polish government have put together a special negotiating team that is currently working on a coalition deal that would include public sector pay rises and reimbursement for in vitro fertilisation without mentioning abortion rights, a sensitive issue that divides the parties. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Former youngest Czech MP found guilty of rape. A Prague district court has found former MP Dominik Feri guilty of two counts of rape and one count of attempted rape, sentencing him to three years in prison on Thursday. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

BELGRADE

New Serbia-China trade deal violates EU accession rules, but is celebrated anyway. The free trade agreement Serbia signed with China on 17 October, which is being hailed by Serbian politicians – along with all other agreements signed that day – will cease to apply on the day Serbia becomes a member of the EU, Commission spokesman Peter Stano said. Read more.

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SOFIA

Bulgarian prosecutor tasked with probing chief prosecutor, unable to function. The ad hoc prosecutor charged with investigating allegations of crimes against the chief prosecutor, which the Bulgarian parliament set up, is now facing organisational problems that make it virtually impossible to function. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania’s recovery plan to finance pasture afforestation. Pastureland has been included in the category of agricultural land eligible for afforestation using funds from the recovery plan, according to an emergency decree issued by the Romanian government on Thursday, which “rectifies” parliament’s earlier removal of pastureland as an eligible category. Read more.

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ZAGREB  | ROME  | LJUBLJANA

Italy, Slovenia, Croatia step up cooperation on migrants. Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia agreed to boost cooperation in dealing with irregular migration following a meeting of the three interior ministers in Trieste on Thursday after reintroducing border checks in October. Read more.

AGENDA:

• EU: Commission Vice President Dubravka Šuica delivers keynote speech at “Conference on Talent and the Demographic Challenge and Policies against Depopulation” in Segovia, Spain;
• Vice President Margaritis Schinas meets with Vice-President of Colombia Francia Marquez;
• France: President Emmanuel Macron hosts President of the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq Netchirvan Barzani;
• Armenia: German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock visits;
• Nigeria: French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna holds press briefing during visit;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]

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