Spanish socialist heavyweights woo Catalan leader in Brussels

Good morning from Madrid,

Spain’s Socialist leaders are on course to accept the demands of Catalan separatists to give incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez a second run at the premiership, with the PSOE’s third-in-command Santos Cerdán and Spain’s S&D leader Iratxe García meeting Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont in the European Parliament and Sánchez himself trying to convince party members of the move in a letter on Monday. Read more.

BERLIN

German economic outlook brightens as inflation eases. Germany’s economy is expected to recover in the coming months following an ongoing recession, with inflation dropping to 3% year-on-year in October, according to data published by the National Statistics Office on Monday. Read more.

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PARIS

France detains Russian oligarch suspected of violating EU sanctions. French police detained EU-sanctioned Russian billionaire oligarch Alexey Kuzmichev on Monday, citing money laundering charges and a possible violation of EU sanctions. Read more.

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BRUSSELS

Belgian liberals in turmoil as elections loom. Belgium’s Liberals have had a crisis-filled October on both sides of the linguistic divide, with a terrorist attack and questions over future leadership fuelling division at a time when Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has to lead Belgium into national and European elections, not to mention the upcoming six-month EU presidency stint. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch parliament dismisses call for debate on UN Gaza ceasefire vote. The Dutch House of Representatives will not reconvene to discuss the cabinet’s decision to abstain in a vote on a UN resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel war after a motion by the Socialist Party (SP/EU Left) and the liberal D66 (Renew) failed to get enough support. Read more.

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ROME

The people could directly elect Italy’s future prime minister if a constitutional reform bill introduced on Monday by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government as part of her election promise to usher in a ‘third republic’ is signed into law. Read more.

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MADRID

Spanish now world’s second-most spoken mother tongue: report. Spanish is the world’s second-most common mother tongue, with 500 million speakers, representing a quick growth that gives “reasons for pride” but “cannot mean complacency”, a new report by state-owned Instituto Cervantes revealed on Monday. Read more.

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LISBON

Portugal’s Communist party rails against budget, airline privatisation. Portugal’s Communist Party leader Paula Santos has aimed Prime Minister António Costa for casting doubt on the future of national flag carrier TAP during the first reading of the 2024 state budget bill, reiterating her view of the airline’s strategic role and the need to keep it under public control. Read more.

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ATHENS

Greek PM says no solution in Middle East without Hamas’ strategic defeat. There can be no solution to the ongoing Middle East crisis without first the “strategic defeat” of Hamas, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday, adding that the world can already start discussing who will govern Gaza soon. Read more.

PRAGUE

The Czech Republic was one of 14 countries to vote against the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamás, as the resolution did not reflect what he believes is Hamás’ goal of destroying Israel, Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Jiří Kozák told Euractiv.cz. Read more.

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WARSAW

Top private Polish radio station sponsored by state-owned petrol giant. The leading private radio station RMF FM has received money to promote the activities of Orlen S.A., one of Poland’s largest state-owned multinational oil refiners and petrol retailers, casting a shadow on the independence of the country’s media market. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Fico sends ‘armada’ to border despite dwindling numbers. Prime Minister Robert Fico has sent drones, water cannons and police horses to the border, despite a predictable drop in irregular crossings due to colder weather, in what critics say is an attempt to take credit. Read more.

SOFIA

Bulgaria can decide how it will be using the revenues it makes from the €10/MWh tax on Russian gas imports transiting through Bulgarian territory, the European Commission confirmed on Monday. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania to build burn centres eight years after worst fire in history. Romania will get three specialised burn centres by 2025, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila announced on the eighth anniversary of the deadliest fire in Romania’s history that killed 65 people. Read more.

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TIRANA

Albania taken off FATF grey list but money laundering concerns persist. Albania is no longer on the Financial Action Task Force ‘grey list’, which names countries where concerns about money laundering and terrorist financing are not adequately addressed by the authorities but stakeholders say the impacts of money laundering are still felt in the economy. Read more.

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