Gloves come off in German debate for chancellor

Good morning from Berlin.

Germany’s first televised election debate all but closed the chapter of sleepy, consensus politics in the German capital.

The Social Democratic incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Christian Democratic election frontrunner Friedrich Merz went toe-to-toe for the first time in a live debate Sunday evening, with each hurling salty accusations across the stage, ranging from “untrustworthy,” to “ridiculous,” to “so stupid,” reports Euractiv’s Nick Alipour.

Considered a highly polluting activity with wide-ranging environmental and health impacts, fracking has been restricted or even banned in several EU countries, such as France, Germany, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
Budapest prefers to bet on a major gas fracking project near its border with Romania instead of following Brussels' drive to replace fossil fuels with renewables, reports Bárbara Machado.

PARIS

President Macron said France will attract €109 billion in data centres and AI projects "in the coming years," making it the first European country with AI infrastructure on par with the US and China. Read more.

ROME

Italy declines to condemn U.S. Sanctions on ICC. While 79 UN nations have jointly condemned latest U.S. sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), Italy remains a conspicuous exception by not signing the declaration - further deepening its standoff with the court over the Almasri case. Read more.

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MADRID

What you need to know about the Patriots for Europe summit. The PfE summit held this weekend in Madrid ended with a scathing attack on the EU, which they consider "corrupt" and "anachronistic." Read more.

NUUK

Beneath Greenland's icy surface lies a wealth of untapped minerals crucial for the green transition – and for the island’s push toward financial independence from Denmark. Read more.

WARSAW

Baltic states cut energy ties with Russia as Poland strengthens cooperation. As the Baltic states finalized their transition from Russia’s electricity grid to the EU system on Sunday, cutting a decades-old Soviet-era connection, the LitPol link between Lithuania and Poland became operational. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czech National Bank's Bitcoin investment plan sparks backlash. The Czech National Bank is evaluating the possibility of investing in Bitcoin as part of its foreign exchange reserves, but faces doubts from officials, including Czech Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS, ECR). Read more.

PRISTINA

After Sunday's polls, Kosovo’s stalled normalisation talks with neighbouring Serbia could see a revival but are unlikely to become any easier. Read more.
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SOFIA

Sofia tells Skopje to stick to stick to constitutional change commitment. The new Bulgarian government has announced that it refuses to negotiate with North Macedonia to soften the conditions under which Skopje can start EU accession negotiations. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Pro-Russian ex-candidate hijacks Romanian supermarket boycott. Călin Georgescu, the pro-Russian presidential candidate in last November’s election, has called for a boycott of foreign-owned supermarkets, set to begin on Monday. Although many Romanians are dissatisfied with rising prices, some have come to the defence of supermarkets, which Georgescu accuses of not selling Romanian products. Read more.

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[Edited by Vas Panagiotopoulos, Daniel Eck, Sofia Mandilara]