⊂ EUROPE ⊃

Germany suspends approval for Nord Stream 2: Natural gas prices in Europe soared on Tuesday after Germany confirmed that it has suspended the process of certifying a controversial new Russian gas pipeline called Nord Stream 2. The German energy market regulator said it could not certify Nord Stream 2 as an independent operator because the company was based in Switzerland, not Germany. The Switzerland-based company Nord Stream 2 AG plans to establish a subsidiary under German law, but only for the German section of the pipeline. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson underlined British opposition to Nord Stream 2 at a meeting of his senior ministers, his spokesman said on Tuesday.
cnn.com, dw.com, reuters.com

Reliance on Gazprom: Moldova should diversify its energy supplies, says Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița. theguardian.com

Russia confirms anti-satellite missile test, dismisses US space debris concerns: Russia confirmed Tuesday that it conducted a missile test targeting an old space satellite, but rejected accusations from the United States and allies that it risked endangering astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Moscow’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement that it had “successfully conducted a test“ targeting a now-defunct Russian satellite that had been in orbit since 1982. The United States branded the test “dangerous and irresponsible,” but Russia dismissed the suggestion.
nbcnews.com

Criticism of Merkel’s phone call with Lukashenko: German Green party politician Omid Nouripour criticised the phone call between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, calling it a „devastating signal“. He pointed out that the EU had not recognised Lukashenko’s controversial re-election last year, but with the phone call, Merkel effectively recognised Lukashenko. Poland also criticised Merkel: „One must bear in mind that internationalisation is certainly necessary, but not in such a way that one talks over our heads,“ said Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Lukashenko said on Tuesday he would have a second phone call with Merkel amid a push to end the migrant crisis on the Belarusian border with the EU, the state Belta news agency reported.
spiegel.de, tagesspiegel.de, reuters.com

• Polish forces have used tear gas and water cannon against migrants trying to cross into the country from Belarus. Polish police said an officer was seriously injured by an object thrown across the border and was in hospital with a suspected fractured skull bbc.com
• Belarus sets up first night camp for migrants zeit.de
• French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian leader Vladimir Putin talked on the phone Monday about the need for de-escalating tensions on the border apnews.com
• Putin talked to Lukashenko rnd.de
• UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday reuters.com

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Hacker group based in Belarus: Europe must prepare for a new opponent in the cyber war. sueddeutsche.de

Border wall: France doesn’t support the proposal from 12 EU countries to fund a wall at the border between Poland and Belarus. politico.eu

Armenian troops killed in Azerbaijan border clash: A number of Armenian soldiers have been killed and captured in a flare-up of violence on the border with Azerbaijan, Armenian officials say. Armenia said some of its troops had been killed and two combat positions had been lost, while Azerbaijan said two of its soldiers were injured. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed the situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border during a phone call on Tuesday, the Kremlin said in a statement. Later on Tuesday, both Armenia and Azerbaijan reportedly agreed to a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
bbc.com, reuters.com

EU wants to create a rapid deployment force: The EU is considering a joint military force of up to 5,000 troops by 2025 to intervene in a range of crises and without relying on the United States, according to a draft plan. The „EU Rapid Deployment Capacity“ should be made up of land, sea and air components that could be swapped in and out of any standing force, depending on the crisis, according to the confidential 28-page document seen by Reuters. EU foreign and defence ministers began debating the plan on Monday evening in Brussels. EU foreign ministers have agreed to draw up more sanctions on shadowy Russian mercenary group Wagner over its involvement in a string of hotspots.
reuters.com, euractiv.com

EU to invest over one billion euros in climate-friendly tech projects: The seven large-scale projects are the first investments made from the EU Commission’s Innovation fund, a new EU investment vehicle that first called for applications in 2020. The fund aims to allocate 25 billion euros over the next decade for the development of low-carbon technologies to help de-carbonise the EU’s economy.
dpa-international.com

• On packaging recycling, EU aims to close the loop euractiv.com
• How the EU wants to prevent clear-cutting of forests handelsblatt.com
• Politicians appeal to EU Commission: Do not classify nuclear power as sustainable rnd.de

EU budget: Agreement reached on 2022 budget consilium.europa.eu
Eurozone economy grows four times faster than US economy handelsblatt.com
Chip designer: Nvidia’s $40 billion takeover of Arm faces UK national security probe cnbc.com
EU debt rules: France calls for reform handelsblatt.com
Eastern partners: EU meets troubled Eastern Partners in run up to leaders’ summit euractiv.com

⊂ QUOTE OF THE DAY ⊃

„I think that if the Polish government makes such a decision, it’s not up to us to say that it shouldn’t do it.“
Designated German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has defended Poland against criticism for increasingly strengthening its border with Belarus.
welt.de

⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃

EU court rules against Poland and Hungary: The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Tuesday that Polish rules allowing the justice minister to assign judges to higher criminal courts or to remove them without stating reasons violated EU law. The judgement is a blow against Poland’s powerful justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, who is also the country’s chief prosecutor. He is one of the main forces behind five years of deep changes to the Polish justice system, which critics say are aimed at bringing courts under tighter political control. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday that legislation passed in Hungary in 2018 threatening jail time for people who support asylum-seekers is in violation of EU law. The law, which targeted migrant rights NGOs, was named „Stop Soros“ — a reference to the Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor and US-based billionaire George Soros.
cnn.com, politico.eu, dw.com

Austria’s parliament initiates lifting of Kurz‘ immunity: The parliament has started the process of lifting the legal immunity of former chancellor Sebastian Kurz. The National Council’s immunity committee unanimously decided that Kurz should no longer be protected from corruption investigations. The final vote in plenary is scheduled for Thursday. Kurz and several close political associates are being investigated on suspicion of embezzlement, among other things. Kurz’s rise to ÖVP leader and chancellor is said to have been supported by embellished polls paid for with taxpayers‘ money. In addition, the politician has been charged with making false statements in the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the so-called Ibiza affair.
zeit.de, spiegel.de

Future German coalition: Deal due next week: The three parties likely to constitute Germany’s next governing coalition are close to sealing a deal, their respective general secretaries announced Tuesday. “The goal is very clearly to have a finished coalition agreement in the coming week,” said Lars Klingbeil, secretary-general of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the prospective senior partner in a coalition with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP). “We made faster progress in certain areas than we had hoped,” he added.
politico.eu

Dramatic situation in Salzburg – hospitals prepare triage protocols: Hospital care in the Austrian province of Salzburg is on the brink because of the tense Covid situation. The Salzburg regional hospitals announced on Tuesday that a triage team would be put together because the treatment of all patients according to current standards could soon no longer be guaranteed. Triage means that medical professionals have to decide who to help first due to scarce resources.
welt.de

Spain: Big reception for Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella in Madrid de.euronews.com
Germany: Conservative CDU sees Angela Merkel’s critic Friedrich Merz wanting to take over dw.com
France will not use its EU presidency to push other governments to adopt a short-haul flight ban politico.eu
Austria to reach UN development aid target for the first time in 2022 derstandard.at
Czechia to ‘CAP’ EU funds for large agrarian companies euractiv.com
Ireland: Bullied football referees go on strike de.euronews.com

⊂ POLITJOBS ⊃

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⊂ LAST BUT NOT LEAST ⊃

French flag changes colour – but no one notices: The French presidency has reverted the blue of the country’s tricolour flag back to the pre-1976 navy tone in a nod to the Revolution. The change of blue of the flags adorning the Elysée Palace was first made a year ago but went largely unnoticed. There’s been no administrative communication regarding the colour change and no instructions have been given to replace any official flags, a Europe 1 report said.
euronews.com, news.yahoo.com