The EU is now taking action against agricultural imports from Russia. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in the evening at the summit a proposal for high import tariffs on Russian grain, oilseeds and processed products. This would prevent Russian grain from destabilizing the EU market for these products and Russia from profiting from it, she said. In addition, they want to ensure that “illegal Russian exports of stolen Ukrainian grain do not reach the EU market”. The proposal is expected to be presented today.
Previously, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, among others, had called for a halt to Russian grain imports. The German government does not oppose the plans, even though it considers the imported quantities to be not so significant and therefore sees a stop as rather symbolic. But even in Berlin, it is recognized how great the pressure from protesting farmers is in many places, especially on the Polish government. Prime Minister Donald Tusk is therefore demanding even further import restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products. The German government wants to avoid this in order not to cut off a lifeline of the Ukrainian economy.
Yesterday’s summit day already ended around 10 p.m. So, the EU heads of state and government will come together again today in Brussels, presumably well-rested. In addition to agricultural issues, they will tackle the financial sector, focusing particularly on the Capital Markets Union.
When speaking to the media before the start of the session yesterday, Scholz was clear on this point: “The most important deficit in Europe’s competitiveness is the lack of a Capital Markets Union and the lack of a Banking Union.” Progress in the discussions has been too slow. “I want us to make substantial progress in the next period,” said the German Chancellor. With France also pushing, the summit could provide the necessary impetus to get the project, which has been stagnant for ten years, moving again.
The EU has toughened its tone towards Israel and called for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in the Gaza Strip. This should lead to a permanent ceasefire, according to the EU summit’s statement. At the same time, the heads of state and government called for “the unconditional release of all hostages”. Israel was urged to refrain from the planned ground offensive in Rafah, as it “would exacerbate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation (in Gaza)”.
This appeal followed hours of controversial discussions. Austria and the Czech Republic were initially reluctant and demanded a tougher stance against the Hamas terrorist organization. They partially succeeded. The summit now calls for “independent investigations into all allegations of sexual violence” committed during the attacks on Oct. 7. Overall, however, proponents of a tougher line towards Israel prevailed.
The debate began at lunch with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He urged the EU not to apply “double standards” in the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. War crimes must be prosecuted everywhere. Guterres lamented the “unprecedented” number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. “We have a situation of impunity, where every country or armed group thinks it can do whatever it wants.”
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the EU must take “leadership” in the Middle East and not just follow the United States. The US recently changed its stance on the Gaza war, now calling for an “immediate ceasefire”. The conclusions of the summit largely align with those of the US. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also adopted this position.
The heads of state and government also decided to start accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, actual talks will only begin once the country has implemented the outstanding reforms demanded by the Commission in a recommendation from October 2022.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte insisted on this condition in particular. “Bosnia has made progress,” he said. But it is crucial for the country to “tick all the boxes”. To avoid unnecessary delays in starting negotiations, the Commission will already prepare the necessary negotiation framework.
The decision on accession negotiations with Bosnia had been complicated because some countries tied their approval to faster progress in the accession process for Ukraine and Moldova. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda called for formal negotiations to start by June. Ukraine had delivered the required reforms under difficult circumstances, and now it was the EU’s turn. “This is a matter of credibility.”
However, other member states did not want to commit to a specific timeframe. Instead, the heads of state and government encouraged the EU Council in the conclusions to “promptly adopt and advance the negotiation framework for both countries without delay”.
The EU leaders generally welcomed the European Commission’s proposal on Russian central bank funds. The conclusions explicitly added that the so-called windfall profits from the blocked funds could also be used for arms and ammunition purchases. However, it was too early for a detailed discussion of the Commission’s proposal from Wednesday, according to a diplomat.
The Commission has proposed allocating 90 percent of the expected annual three billion euros to the European Peace Facility. Ten percent will flow into the EU budget this year to the Fund for Economic and Financial Stabilization of Ukraine and, from 2025, into the new program to strengthen the European defense industry (EDIP), in which Ukraine can also participate.
The EU is determined to support Ukraine “for as long as necessary and as intensively as necessary,” according to the summit conclusions. In a video call at the start of the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urgently appealed for more military support for his country: “Unfortunately, the use of artillery on the front lines by our soldiers is embarrassing for Europe in the sense that Europe can do more.” It is important for Europe to demonstrate what it can do.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas advocated for a unified target for military aid at the EU summit. If each country were to allocate at least 0.25 percent of its gross domestic product for military aid, Ukrainians could outdo Russia.
The European Union commits in the summit conclusions to align defense readiness and capabilities with the growing threat and security challenges. There was also fundamental agreement on EDIP and the overarching strategy (EDIS). The summit calls on the Commission, the High Representative and the Council to advance work rapidly. The question of funding for the program, which was modestly endowed with only 1.5 billion euros, was discussed on the sidelines of the summit. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis joined the group of countries calling for Eurobonds to strengthen Europe’s defense industry.
Just before the first round of the presidential election this coming Saturday, the direction of the Slovak public television RTVS didn’t want to make any mistakes. The last thing needed was a mishap, especially during the hosting of the “roundtable” with all candidates – predominantly men – vying to succeed outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová.
RTVS is under immense political pressure. The national populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has been turning every stone in the small EU and NATO country since his fourth term began six months ago, has never been a friend of critical media. He wants to sound the death knell for RTVS. Accusations abound of political bias and excessive friendliness towards the opposition.
Initially, the government sought to dismantle RTVS as a joint public institution for radio and television. Since that’s not so simple, radio and TV are now supposed to remain under one roof, but with a new name, STaR (Slovak Television and Radio). However, they’ll operate as state-controlled media, where politics reigns supreme. Oversight boards are to be partly formed by parliamentary factions and partly proposed by the Ministry of Culture. The primary goal: The head of the state channel should be replaceable at any time, if deemed necessary.
Fico wants to push through this fundamental change in the media sector – much like the extensive criminal law reform aimed at ending the prosecution of dubious individuals in his circle – via “fast-track procedures” through parliament. The aim is for the government-critical leadership of RTVS to be terminated as soon as possible and replaced by reliable individuals of their own.
So as not to attract further negative attention, the production team for the nearly four-hour “roundtable” on Wednesday during prime time devised a somewhat bizarre format: Each candidate was allocated a total of 17 minutes of speaking time distributed throughout the evening, during which they could announce their visions for the highest office in the state. Criticism of another candidate was prohibited. Not even the name of a competitor could be mentioned. Thus, any form of discussion was entirely ruled out. If anyone violated the rules, the moderator pair intervened immediately.
Essentially, all candidates recited more or less memorized campaign slogans. Only the total outsiders truly felt comfortable. Under these circumstances, the two clear favorites for the first round of the election on Saturday, Fico’s man Peter Pellegrini, and his rival from the bourgeois camp, former Ambassador to Germany and subsequently Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok, felt somewhat lost.
According to recent polls, both are expected to have a neck-and-neck race in the first round. Based on the current situation, polling institutes give Pellegrini a greater chance of victory in the inevitable runoff on April 6. If that happens, 49-year-old Pellegrini will have fulfilled a great dream. But the true winner would be Robert Fico. With Pellegrini in the presidential palace, he would have the man who would grant him free rein for further controversial reforms. Moreover, he could pardon individuals from Fico’s circle with questionable pasts.
It wasn’t foreseeable a few years ago that Pellegrini would once again go through fire for Fico. Following the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak in 2018, Fico resigned under the pressure of massive street protests. He proposed Pellegrini as his successor as prime minister. Pellegrini filled this role for almost two years and gradually emancipated himself from Fico.The party of Fico and Pellegrini lost the subsequent parliamentary elections in 2020i. This led to disputes over the party leadership. It ended with Pellegrini founding his own social democratic party with a liberal touch (Hlas).
After the last parliamentary elections last fall, Pellegrini was the pivotal figure: He could have formed a coalition with both Fico and the Liberals. In the end, however, he rejected the Liberals’ offer and entered into a coalition with Fico and a right-wing populist party.
While Pellegrini offers himself as a reconciler between the warring factions under the motto “Slovakia needs peace!”, Korčok sees himself as a clear counterbalance to the Fico government. His warning: With Pellegrini as president, Fico would have all the power in the state. And could transform Slovakia undisturbed into a Hungary-style regime like his friend Viktor Orbán’s, including close ties to the Russian warlord Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Hans-Jörg Schmidt, Prague
Eleven days after the early parliamentary elections in Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa appointed the conservative politician Luís Montenegro as the new prime minister. The announcement was made by the Presidential Office in Lisbon early Thursday morning. Montenegro’s conservative coalition AD had garnered the most votes in the election held just a week ago, narrowly surpassing the ruling Socialists, who have been in power for eight years but clearly falling short of a parliamentary majority.
Montenegro announced that he would present his government team to the President on March 28. “The inauguration will be on April 2,” Montenegro added on the state TV channel RTP. Even though he is not yet in office, Montenegro was already in Brussels on Thursday, where he met with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
The election results were extremely close. After counting all the votes, including those from abroad, the Conservatives only secured 80 out of the total 230 seats in parliament, as announced by the central election commission. The Socialist PS lost a total of 42 seats compared to the 2022 election and now only has 78 deputies.
The big winner of the election was André Ventura of the far-right populist party Chega (Enough!), which more than quadrupled its number of seats from twelve to 50 deputies. Since Montenegro has branded Chega as a “xenophobic” and “racist” party and has repeatedly rejected cooperation with the populists, governing is likely to be very difficult for him. Ventura once again called on Montenegro to govern together with him. The comprehensive parliamentary majority of AD and Chega together should not be “wasted because of an ego or out of arrogance”, he was quoted by the newspaper Público.
If Montenegro fails to gain a majority in parliament for his government program in the first vote, another snap election would become more likely. The situation becomes critical when Montenegro needs to pass a budget through parliament. A “grand coalition” between Conservatives and Socialists is considered unlikely in Portugal. Similar to neighboring Spain, the two main parties face practically insurmountable differences. Smaller parties collectively obtained. dpa
The EU is now taking action against agricultural imports from Russia. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in the evening at the summit a proposal for high import tariffs on Russian grain, oilseeds and processed products. This would prevent Russian grain from destabilizing the EU market for these products and Russia from profiting from it, she said. In addition, they want to ensure that “illegal Russian exports of stolen Ukrainian grain do not reach the EU market”. The proposal is expected to be presented today.
Previously, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, among others, had called for a halt to Russian grain imports. The German government does not oppose the plans, even though it considers the imported quantities to be not so significant and therefore sees a stop as rather symbolic. But even in Berlin, it is recognized how great the pressure from protesting farmers is in many places, especially on the Polish government. Prime Minister Donald Tusk is therefore demanding even further import restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products. The German government wants to avoid this in order not to cut off a lifeline of the Ukrainian economy.
Yesterday’s summit day already ended around 10 p.m. So, the EU heads of state and government will come together again today in Brussels, presumably well-rested. In addition to agricultural issues, they will tackle the financial sector, focusing particularly on the Capital Markets Union.
When speaking to the media before the start of the session yesterday, Scholz was clear on this point: “The most important deficit in Europe’s competitiveness is the lack of a Capital Markets Union and the lack of a Banking Union.” Progress in the discussions has been too slow. “I want us to make substantial progress in the next period,” said the German Chancellor. With France also pushing, the summit could provide the necessary impetus to get the project, which has been stagnant for ten years, moving again.
The EU has toughened its tone towards Israel and called for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in the Gaza Strip. This should lead to a permanent ceasefire, according to the EU summit’s statement. At the same time, the heads of state and government called for “the unconditional release of all hostages”. Israel was urged to refrain from the planned ground offensive in Rafah, as it “would exacerbate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation (in Gaza)”.
This appeal followed hours of controversial discussions. Austria and the Czech Republic were initially reluctant and demanded a tougher stance against the Hamas terrorist organization. They partially succeeded. The summit now calls for “independent investigations into all allegations of sexual violence” committed during the attacks on Oct. 7. Overall, however, proponents of a tougher line towards Israel prevailed.
The debate began at lunch with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He urged the EU not to apply “double standards” in the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. War crimes must be prosecuted everywhere. Guterres lamented the “unprecedented” number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. “We have a situation of impunity, where every country or armed group thinks it can do whatever it wants.”
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the EU must take “leadership” in the Middle East and not just follow the United States. The US recently changed its stance on the Gaza war, now calling for an “immediate ceasefire”. The conclusions of the summit largely align with those of the US. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also adopted this position.
The heads of state and government also decided to start accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, actual talks will only begin once the country has implemented the outstanding reforms demanded by the Commission in a recommendation from October 2022.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte insisted on this condition in particular. “Bosnia has made progress,” he said. But it is crucial for the country to “tick all the boxes”. To avoid unnecessary delays in starting negotiations, the Commission will already prepare the necessary negotiation framework.
The decision on accession negotiations with Bosnia had been complicated because some countries tied their approval to faster progress in the accession process for Ukraine and Moldova. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda called for formal negotiations to start by June. Ukraine had delivered the required reforms under difficult circumstances, and now it was the EU’s turn. “This is a matter of credibility.”
However, other member states did not want to commit to a specific timeframe. Instead, the heads of state and government encouraged the EU Council in the conclusions to “promptly adopt and advance the negotiation framework for both countries without delay”.
The EU leaders generally welcomed the European Commission’s proposal on Russian central bank funds. The conclusions explicitly added that the so-called windfall profits from the blocked funds could also be used for arms and ammunition purchases. However, it was too early for a detailed discussion of the Commission’s proposal from Wednesday, according to a diplomat.
The Commission has proposed allocating 90 percent of the expected annual three billion euros to the European Peace Facility. Ten percent will flow into the EU budget this year to the Fund for Economic and Financial Stabilization of Ukraine and, from 2025, into the new program to strengthen the European defense industry (EDIP), in which Ukraine can also participate.
The EU is determined to support Ukraine “for as long as necessary and as intensively as necessary,” according to the summit conclusions. In a video call at the start of the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urgently appealed for more military support for his country: “Unfortunately, the use of artillery on the front lines by our soldiers is embarrassing for Europe in the sense that Europe can do more.” It is important for Europe to demonstrate what it can do.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas advocated for a unified target for military aid at the EU summit. If each country were to allocate at least 0.25 percent of its gross domestic product for military aid, Ukrainians could outdo Russia.
The European Union commits in the summit conclusions to align defense readiness and capabilities with the growing threat and security challenges. There was also fundamental agreement on EDIP and the overarching strategy (EDIS). The summit calls on the Commission, the High Representative and the Council to advance work rapidly. The question of funding for the program, which was modestly endowed with only 1.5 billion euros, was discussed on the sidelines of the summit. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis joined the group of countries calling for Eurobonds to strengthen Europe’s defense industry.
Just before the first round of the presidential election this coming Saturday, the direction of the Slovak public television RTVS didn’t want to make any mistakes. The last thing needed was a mishap, especially during the hosting of the “roundtable” with all candidates – predominantly men – vying to succeed outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová.
RTVS is under immense political pressure. The national populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has been turning every stone in the small EU and NATO country since his fourth term began six months ago, has never been a friend of critical media. He wants to sound the death knell for RTVS. Accusations abound of political bias and excessive friendliness towards the opposition.
Initially, the government sought to dismantle RTVS as a joint public institution for radio and television. Since that’s not so simple, radio and TV are now supposed to remain under one roof, but with a new name, STaR (Slovak Television and Radio). However, they’ll operate as state-controlled media, where politics reigns supreme. Oversight boards are to be partly formed by parliamentary factions and partly proposed by the Ministry of Culture. The primary goal: The head of the state channel should be replaceable at any time, if deemed necessary.
Fico wants to push through this fundamental change in the media sector – much like the extensive criminal law reform aimed at ending the prosecution of dubious individuals in his circle – via “fast-track procedures” through parliament. The aim is for the government-critical leadership of RTVS to be terminated as soon as possible and replaced by reliable individuals of their own.
So as not to attract further negative attention, the production team for the nearly four-hour “roundtable” on Wednesday during prime time devised a somewhat bizarre format: Each candidate was allocated a total of 17 minutes of speaking time distributed throughout the evening, during which they could announce their visions for the highest office in the state. Criticism of another candidate was prohibited. Not even the name of a competitor could be mentioned. Thus, any form of discussion was entirely ruled out. If anyone violated the rules, the moderator pair intervened immediately.
Essentially, all candidates recited more or less memorized campaign slogans. Only the total outsiders truly felt comfortable. Under these circumstances, the two clear favorites for the first round of the election on Saturday, Fico’s man Peter Pellegrini, and his rival from the bourgeois camp, former Ambassador to Germany and subsequently Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok, felt somewhat lost.
According to recent polls, both are expected to have a neck-and-neck race in the first round. Based on the current situation, polling institutes give Pellegrini a greater chance of victory in the inevitable runoff on April 6. If that happens, 49-year-old Pellegrini will have fulfilled a great dream. But the true winner would be Robert Fico. With Pellegrini in the presidential palace, he would have the man who would grant him free rein for further controversial reforms. Moreover, he could pardon individuals from Fico’s circle with questionable pasts.
It wasn’t foreseeable a few years ago that Pellegrini would once again go through fire for Fico. Following the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak in 2018, Fico resigned under the pressure of massive street protests. He proposed Pellegrini as his successor as prime minister. Pellegrini filled this role for almost two years and gradually emancipated himself from Fico.The party of Fico and Pellegrini lost the subsequent parliamentary elections in 2020i. This led to disputes over the party leadership. It ended with Pellegrini founding his own social democratic party with a liberal touch (Hlas).
After the last parliamentary elections last fall, Pellegrini was the pivotal figure: He could have formed a coalition with both Fico and the Liberals. In the end, however, he rejected the Liberals’ offer and entered into a coalition with Fico and a right-wing populist party.
While Pellegrini offers himself as a reconciler between the warring factions under the motto “Slovakia needs peace!”, Korčok sees himself as a clear counterbalance to the Fico government. His warning: With Pellegrini as president, Fico would have all the power in the state. And could transform Slovakia undisturbed into a Hungary-style regime like his friend Viktor Orbán’s, including close ties to the Russian warlord Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Hans-Jörg Schmidt, Prague
Eleven days after the early parliamentary elections in Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa appointed the conservative politician Luís Montenegro as the new prime minister. The announcement was made by the Presidential Office in Lisbon early Thursday morning. Montenegro’s conservative coalition AD had garnered the most votes in the election held just a week ago, narrowly surpassing the ruling Socialists, who have been in power for eight years but clearly falling short of a parliamentary majority.
Montenegro announced that he would present his government team to the President on March 28. “The inauguration will be on April 2,” Montenegro added on the state TV channel RTP. Even though he is not yet in office, Montenegro was already in Brussels on Thursday, where he met with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
The election results were extremely close. After counting all the votes, including those from abroad, the Conservatives only secured 80 out of the total 230 seats in parliament, as announced by the central election commission. The Socialist PS lost a total of 42 seats compared to the 2022 election and now only has 78 deputies.
The big winner of the election was André Ventura of the far-right populist party Chega (Enough!), which more than quadrupled its number of seats from twelve to 50 deputies. Since Montenegro has branded Chega as a “xenophobic” and “racist” party and has repeatedly rejected cooperation with the populists, governing is likely to be very difficult for him. Ventura once again called on Montenegro to govern together with him. The comprehensive parliamentary majority of AD and Chega together should not be “wasted because of an ego or out of arrogance”, he was quoted by the newspaper Público.
If Montenegro fails to gain a majority in parliament for his government program in the first vote, another snap election would become more likely. The situation becomes critical when Montenegro needs to pass a budget through parliament. A “grand coalition” between Conservatives and Socialists is considered unlikely in Portugal. Similar to neighboring Spain, the two main parties face practically insurmountable differences. Smaller parties collectively obtained. dpa
