Michel: Ukraine’s defeat will put EU values at risk

Good morning from Brussels,

If Ukraine loses the war against Russia, there will be a significant risk to European values, EU Council chief Charles Michel told a group of media, including Euractiv.

“There is one Plan A – and only a Plan A – and that is support for Ukraine,” Michel said. Alexandra Brzozowski has all the details.

On the agriculture front, Angelo di Mambro reports that the EU Council endorsed the Commission’s proposal on the renewal of trade liberalisation with Ukraine with no changes, as MEPs from Parliament’s agriculture committee sided with farmers by pushing for more safeguards.

Meanwhile, eastern European and Baltic farmers joined forces and took the streets against EU policies, with the support of their governments.

Looking south, according to a poll, 40% of Italians believe that the EU has played a ‘negative role’, compared to only 21% who think it has done well. This makes Italy one of the most Eurosceptic countries on the continent, along with Greece, Austria, France and Hungary.

As finance ministers prepare to discuss the future of the bloc’s public lender on Friday, pressure is mounting on the EU to loosen its investment rules and boost flows into defence assets, a non-paper seen by Euractiv’s Anna Brunetti and Aurélie Pugnet revealed.

On the EU elections front, in this week’s podcast, Evi Kiorri analyses Ursula von der Leyen’s decision to re-run as the EU Commission chief. You can listen to the podcast here.

Today's edition is powered by the European Round Table for Industry (ERT)

PARIS

The date for the announcement of Macron’s Renaissance party’s EU candidate has been postponed several times, and key political figures have turned down the job, raising concerns that the party is not prepared or ready to launch its European Parliament electoral campaign. Read more.

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BERLIN

Germany’s Habeck blames Putin, world trade for industrial slump. Germany’s current economic weakness is mostly to blame on a slowdown of global trade and the aftermath of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said while presenting economic forecasts on Wednesday. Read more.

Germany’s rebel Wagenknecht plots new left-wing group in EU Parliament. With the new German party BSW projected to become the biggest left-wing delegation in the European Parliament after June’s EU elections, its leader, Sahra Wagenknecht, insinuated on Tuesday that she will try to create a new left-wing parliamentary group. Read more.

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BRUSSELS

Belgian party system designed to keep newcomers out, Dutch MEP warns. New parties joining the Belgian political system face an uphill battle to establish themselves alongside well-funded and already-established groups, MEP Sophie in ’t Veld, running with Volt Belgium, told Euractiv in an interview. Read more.

STOCKHOLM

Sweden is in a serious international situation, facing growing threats from foreign powers such as Russia at a time when the country is at a key stage in its accession to NATO, according to the Swedish Security Service’s annual threat assessment review on Wednesday. Read more.

MADRID

Traffic chaos in Madrid as farmers vow to continue with protests. Over 500 tractors from several regions descended on the Spanish capital, where they vowed to continue their struggle until Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his left-wing coalition implement concrete measures to secure the sector’s viability. Read more.

Sánchez visits Morocco to boost relations after past tensions. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez praised his country’s bilateral ties with Morocco during an official visit to the North African country on Wednesday, where he met with King Mohamed VI. Read more.

SOFIA

Bulgaria’s ruling coalition parties fight for high-ranking positions. Bulgaria’s ruling coalition parties on Wednesday began threatening each other with the withdrawal of support for the government amid a battle for top executive posts that could lead to early parliamentary elections alongside European elections in June. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian social democrats, liberals to have joint list at EU elections. The PSD and the PNL have agreed to merge the European elections with the local elections and to present joint candidates for the EU Parliament to ensure the largest possible turnout of citizens to vote. Read more.

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ZAGREB

Croatian NGO accuses ruling HDZ party of using bot farms on Facebook. Croatian NGO Gong has investigated the HDZ’s use of Facebook and judged that its bots are deceiving citizens and manipulating the public – a problematic assessment in Croatia’s ‘super election’ year, when Sabor (parliament), head of state and EU elections are due to take place. Read more.

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TIRANA

Albania demands action from TikTok, Meta over crime, hate speech. The Albanian government has called on social media platforms, including Meta and TikTok, to crack down on illegal activities such as revenge porn, bullying and facilitating human smuggling, demanding tougher measures and adequate monitoring capacity in the Albanian language. Read more.

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