Good morning from Stockholm,

BERLIN

Representatives of energy-intensive industries have urged the government to decide on subsidies for electricity prices, which, while strongly discouraged by economists, will be discussed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s with government leaders. Read more.

Scholz slams Meloni, Sunak: Migration deals more important than ‘tough talk’. Repatriation deals with third countries are the game changer that will help EU countries reduce the number of migrants, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz claimed on Thursday while hitting out at right-wing leaders who “claim they can expel migrants with tough talk”. Read more.

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PARIS

French winegrowers protest cheap imports destroy crates at the Spanish border. Hundreds of French wine producers blocked the motorway at the Spanish border and unloaded lorries carrying Spanish cava juice, destroying the contents and pouring wine across the border in a protest for government support against cheap alcoholic beverages from abroad. Read more.

EU lawmaker: Commission should not fear ‘power struggle’ with China on fisheries. The EU executive should not fear embarking on a “power struggle” with China to ensure good fishing practices, the chair of the European Parliament’s fisheries committee, Pierre Karleskind told Euractiv France in an interview. Read more.

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VIENNA

Vienna calls crisis meeting over Middle East situation. The government in Vienna will convene a crisis meeting on Friday morning to discuss the Hamas-Israel conflict and the conflict’s impact on security in Austria. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch Labour and Greens apologise for supporting the pro-Israel motion. The Dutch Labour Party and the Greens apologised on Thursday after receiving a lot of criticism for supporting a parliament motion that underlined Israel’s right to self-defence in its conflict with Palestine. Read more.

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MADRID

Catalonia’s Aragonès calls for ‘Scotland-style’ referendum. Spain’s future government should agree to hold a ‘referendum like the one in Scotland’ in 2014, Catalonia’s regional prime minister, Pere Aragonès of the separatist ERC party, told the Spanish senate on Thursday. Read more.

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LISBON

Portuguese and Kuwait FMs agree to protect Gaza citizens. Portuguese Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho and his Kuwaiti counterpart, Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber al-Sabah, agreed on Thursday on the importance of protecting the people of Gaza and sending humanitarian aid there. Read more.

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VALLETTA

EU Parliament calls on Malta to do more to protect journalists. Maltese authorities have been called on to stop fostering a hostile climate for journalists, end the culture of impunity, and accelerate legal proceedings to bring to justice all those involved in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia by European Parliament lawmakers on Thursday. Read more.

BRATISLAVA

President Zuzana Čaputová refused Robert Fico’s climate change-denying envi-chief nomination, meaning he will have to come up with an alternative if he wants to meet his goal of attending the European Council Summit next Thursday. Read more. 

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WARSAW

Polish president launches talks with parties on new government formation. Polish President Andrzej Duda will begin consultations with parliamentary parties on forming a new government after Sunday’s elections saw a merger of the opposition do better than Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Nearly 80% of Czechs do not trust PM: survey. Almost four-fifths of the population does not trust Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, according to a new survey published by CVVM agency, which showed that he remains the Czech Republic’s most trusted politician. Read more.

SOFIA

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov confirmed on Thursday that there is interest in the sale of Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, which is the largest refinery in the Balkans and is managed by the Russian company Lukoil through its company in Switzerland – Litasco. Read more.

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BUCHAREST | LONDON

UK military trainers will travel to Romania to train Ukrainians. UK military experts will be training Ukrainians in the Romanian bases next year, the British ambassador to Bucharest, Andrew Noble, said at a press conference at the end of his mandate on Thursday. Read more.

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LJUBLJANA 

Slovenia reintroduces police checks at Croatian, Hungarian border. Slovenia will reintroduce Police checks at the border with Croatia and Hungary from Saturday for at least ten days due to heightened security risks amid organised crime and the escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Read more.

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BELGRADE | PRISTINA

Freedom of movement restrained amid Serbia-Kosovo blockade. The Jarinje border crossing has reopened for movement from Serbia into north Kosovo after a 24-day blockade, a situation that arose following the Serb paramilitary terrorist attack in Banjska, while residents of villages along the border report some difficulties in movement. Read more.

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PRISTINA

European Parliament passes resolution on Serbia, calls for measures after ‘terrorist attack’. The EU Parliament called on EU member states to adopt targeted restrictive measures against EU candidate country Serbia in relation to the terrorist attack in north Kosovo on 24 September, carried out by Serbian paramilitaries. Read more.

• EU: EU-US Summit between Council President Charles Michel, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Joe Biden takes place in Washington; Agenda highlights include joint leadership in support to Ukraine, artificial intelligence, and more;
• Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Iliana Ivanova meets with President of the Board of the European Innovation Council Michiel Scheffer;
• Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders participates via videoconference in “United for Justice. United for Nature” conference;
• Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius meets with Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets in Kyiv; Participates in “Russia Ecocide in Ukraine. A Danger for the Whole World” session, “Proclamation of the Draft Kyiv Environmental Declaration” session; and informal working group on environmental damages;

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