⊂ EUROPE ⊃

Belarus claims diplomat hurt in London embassy attack: Belarus said on Monday that a group of people damaged the facade of its embassy in London and physically attacked some of its diplomats, badly hurting one of them in an incident on Sunday evening. One of the diplomats was treated for a broken nose, light concussion and a broken tooth, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website. The Belarusian ministry said the alleged attackers were thought to belong to “the radical emigre group Nadzeya“, which appears to support the Belarusian political opposition. The ministry said it had called in a British diplomat to protest over the incident and to demand a full investigation.
reuters.com, rferl.org

• Police uncover 455 social media accounts encouraging Belarus-to-EU migration euronews.com
• Criticism of Austria’s new ambassador in Minsk derstandard.at

Poland, Lithuania back Ukraine and urge Russia sanctions: Poland and Lithuania joined Ukraine on Monday to call for stronger Western sanctions against Moscow amid a Russian troop buildup near the Ukrainian border that has fuelled fears of an invasion. In a joint statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called upon the international community to step up sanctions on Russia over its ongoing aggression against Ukraine and once again urged the Kremlin to de-escalate the situation by withdrawing its troops from the Ukrainian borders and temporarily occupied territories.
apnews.com

Ukraine ex-leader Petro Poroshenko accused of treason: Ukranian state investigators have accused former President Petro Poroshenko of „committing treason“ and supporting „terrorist organisations“ — the latter of which is a reference to pro-Russian separatists in eastern breakaway provinces. Investigators said Poroshenko helped separatists in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions sell around €48.7 million worth of coal to Kyiv. The transactions allegedly took place while he served as president in 2014 – 2015.
dw.com

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EU Commission warns of restrictions on press freedom in Poland: The EU said on Monday a Polish law that critics say aims to silence a news channel critical of the government poses severe risks to media freedom and pluralism. Unexpectedly rushed through parliament on Friday, the legislation would tighten rules around foreign ownership of media. The EU Commission said it would follow developments in Poland closely as the law could lead to enforced changes of the ownership structure of media companies. The Commission warned that the law could lead to limitation of media freedom in Poland where the media landscape already suffers under growing politicisation.
reuters.com

EU agrees on new law to fight pandemics: The EU is taking another step to improve its response to health emergencies. The Council reached a political agreement on a new law that would facilitate the purchase of medicines, vaccines and raw materials, activate emergency funding and enable the monitoring of production facilities when another health crisis hits.
consilium.europa.eu

• Nuvaxovid, fifth vaccine against Covid, authorised in EU euractiv.com
• Germany to limit private gatherings dw.com
• Experts: Denmark punished for its efficient Covid testing euractiv.com
• French police have detected 182,000 fake Covid passes in six months euronews.com
• Belgium, France extend Covid vaccination to 5-11 year-old kids politico.eu

EU countries told to help homeowners renovate: In order to double the renovation rate of buildings, the EU Commission has requested EU member states to provide technical assistance to homeowners by setting up one-stop-shops that will guide consumers throughout the renovation process. The building stock is responsible for 36% of the bloc’s emissions and improving the energy efficiency of buildings has long been on the EU agenda.
euractiv.com

Whistleblower: All EU countries miss deadline to implement whistleblower directive euractiv.com
Open data: Covid pandemic drives EU administrations on Open Data heise.de
European Jobs Monitor: Gender pay gap persists in Europe euractiv.com
Stimulus package: How the EU Commission wants to pay off the 800-billion debt mountain handelsblatt.com
Davos economic forum delayed until summer amid Omicron fears theguardian.com

⊂ QUOTE OF THE DAY ⊃

„2022 must be the year we end the pandemic.“
The World Health Organization (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called Monday for the world to pull together and make the difficult decisions needed to end the Covid pandemic within the next year.
france24.com

⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃

Germany and Italy want unity: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi vowed greater unity during a meeting in Rome on Monday. “We need a strong and better European Union, and … our two countries are of the utmost importance in ensuring that this actually succeeds,” Scholz told reporters. Berlin and Rome, he said, would “work on an action plan to deepen the future of this cooperation.” He also raised the prospect of joint German-Italian government consultations as soon as the coronavirus situation permits. Draghi echoed his colleague, arguing there is a “necessity to work together to reinforce European integration, and also, if possible, accelerate the process of integration.”
politico.eu

Russia expels two German diplomats over Berlin park assassination: Russia ordered two German diplomats to leave on Monday, in a tit-for-tat move after Berlin expelled two Russian diplomats. The latest diplomatic tensions between Russia and Germany stem from a 2019 murder of an ex-Chechen commander in a Berlin park. A German court last week ruled that Moscow ordered the assassination. Russia has denied any involvement in the killing.
dw.com

German government row over Nord Stream 2: The honeymoon period of the new German government may officially be over: vice chancellor Robert Habeck has threatened to block the contentious Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as part of sanctions against Russia, revealing tensions within the coalition over the project. As Russian troop movements along the Ukrainian border fuelled worries about another invasion, EU leaders called upon German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to be prepared to impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 project. But Scholz deflected responsibility, saying the decision to approve the pipeline was now with the German energy regulator. “Nord Stream 2 is a private sector project that has been advanced to the point where a pipeline has been laid,” said Scholz at a press conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron after last week’s EU summit in Brussels.
euractiv.com

Joachim Nagel nominated to head Germany’s Bundesbank: Joachim Nagel looks likely to succeed Jens Weidmann as head of Germany’s Bundesbank. Weidmann announced in October that he would step down as president at the end of 2021 — a staggering five years before his term in office was supposed to end. At the moment, Nagel is still a senior economist at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel. Although little is known about Nagel’s current views on monetary policy in the eurozone, he’s previously made critical comments about the European Central Bank’s ultra loose policy, notably about historically low interest rates and massive asset-buying programmes.
dw.com

Prosecutors begin explaining indictment at MH17 trial: Prosecutors on Monday began explaining evidence and their indictment to judges in the murder trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with involvement in downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew. None of the four suspects has appeared at the trial. On Wednesday, prosecutors will tell judges what punishments they want for the suspects. Verdicts are expected before the end of next year.
abcnews.go.com

How Malta lobbied to win EU backing for gas pipeline linked to journalist’s murder: In a rare move, the Maltese government sent letters to members of the EU Parliament one week before a crucial EU negotiation in an attempt to persuade them to support a controversial gas pipeline connecting the Mediterranean island to Italy’s gas network. The Melita pipeline project linking Malta to Sicily was granted an exception in new rules governing how energy infrastructure projects can get priority EU status, making it eligible to receive EU funds.
euractiv.com

Belgium: Defence ministry hit by cyberattack politico.eu
Poland: Two scandals incriminate ruling party faz.net
Spain: Truck drivers call off Christmas strike but distributors say damage is done english.elpais.com
Serbia: President Aleksandar Vucic backs down on Rio Tinto project under pressure from civil society euractiv.com
Swiss bank UBS appeals against French money-laundering verdict reuters.com

⊂ POLITJOBS ⊃

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⊂ LAST BUT NOT LEAST ⊃

Trump met with boos after revealing he received Covid booster: Former US President Donald Trump was booed by a portion of an audience in Dallas on Sunday when he said he had received a COVID-19 booster shot, according to video of the closed press event that was shared on social media. According to video tweeted by Bill O’Reilly’s „No Spin News,“ the former Fox News host says, „Both the President and I are vaxxed“ and then asks Trump, „Did you get the booster?“ „Yes,“ Trump says to a smattering of boos in the audience.
cnn.com