Good morning from Brussels,

EU election flash poll: The national-conservative ECR group may overtake the liberal Renew Europe group as the fourth-largest political force in the European Parliament if the liberals’ downward trend persists, according to Europe Elects' latest projection for Euractiv. 

While EU leaders will hold a heated debate over the EU Ukraine aid, outside, several agricultural groups from across Europe will be protesting. Maria Simon Arboleas reports that it’s not certain that the Commission’s new proposal could help calm things down. 

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STOCKHOLM

Swedish PM will discuss NATO bid with Orbán. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he will “definitely” have the opportunity to talk to his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán to discuss Sweden’s NATO bid on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, where much is expected of Hungary’s turbulent leader. Read more. 

MADRID

Catalan separatists threaten to topple Sánchez government over amnesty law. The Catalan pro-independence party has threatened to withdraw its support for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s socialist party if they do not a pass “comprehensive” amnesty law to pardon all offences committed by Catalan separatist forces between 2012 and 2023. Read more.

Brussels mediates to unlock renewal of Spain’s top legal body. EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders met with Spanish Justice Minister Félix Bolaños in Brussels on Wednesday in a last attempt to mediate between the ruling Socialist Party and Partido Popular, the main opposition, to bring about the renewal of the judges’ governing body, which has been operating on an interim basis for over five years. Read more.

WARSAW

PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński is exerting pressure on President Andrzej Duda to call a snap election that might enable PiS to regain the power it lost to Prime Minister Donald Tusk last year. Read more.
 

PRAGUE

Czech winemakers urge EU dialogue on excise duty. An urgent dialogue on the future of European winemaking and a common EU approach towards the excise duty has been called for by the Czech Grape and Wine Producers Association in an open letter addressed to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Matovič announces presidential candidacy despite no desire to win. Former Prime Minister Igor Matovič, who gained EU fame for allowing Sputnik vaccines to be administered, which ultimately cost him his seat, threw his hat into the upcoming presidential elections but admitted it is not his ‘dream’ and that he is doing it to mobilise pro-democratic voters to support the right candidate. Read more.

SOFIA

The Bulgarian counterintelligence agency SANS has been accused of failing to thwart an illegal scheme allowing Russians to acquire Bulgarian — and therefore EU citizenship — with the help of false documents. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian government extends cap on food mark-ups for two months. Restrictions on commercial mark-ups to various essential foods were extended, as this measure has curbed speculative price increases, contributed to reducing inflation, and safeguarded the population’s purchasing power, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Wednesday. Read more.

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ZAGREB

Croatian journalists hold protests against the draft anti-leak bill. Several hundred journalists rallied in front of the government headquarters in Zagreb on Wednesday in protest against a bill tabled by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s ruling conservative party HDZ (EPP), which seeks to criminalise leaks from ongoing corruption investigations. Read more.

• EU: Special European Council convenes to discuss EU long-term budget 2021-2027, including long=term Ukraine facility and strategic technologies for Europe platform (STEP);
• Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič hosts United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai;
• Vice President Vĕra Jourová meets with Director general of the Czech TV Jan Souček and President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Josef Baxa, in in Prague;
• Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis participates via videoconference in Ottawa Group Ministerial Meeting;
• Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides delivers introductory statement to mark World Cancer Day at Parliament’s Subcommittee on Public Health; Delivers speech at strategic dialogue with WHO Europe;
• Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič hosts Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia Tim Watts; Meets with Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Kao Kim Hourn;
• Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit receives European Builders Confederation’s representatives;
• International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen meets with heads of delegations attending Third EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum;
• Commissioner Kadri Simson holds meeting with Minister of Energy of Moldova Victor Parlicov in Chişinău;
• Commissioner Mairead McGuinness holds meetings with Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authorities (ESMA) Verena Ross, EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore;
• Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton holds videoconference with Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada François-Philippe Champagne;

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