Summary of the day
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said that “the people of Gaza need an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire – and they need it now.”
In her speech at the European parliament, von der Leyen also said that Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken “impressive steps forward” and that the Commission will recommend to the Council to open accession negotiations with the country.
At a summit next week, EU leaders are set to say that “the European Council is deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza,” according to draft conclusions seen by the Guardian.
They are also expected to urge “the Israeli government to refrain from a ground operation in Rafah” and to call for “an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire.”
Two people died as they attempted to reach Spain’s Canary Islands, while four others were evacuated to hospital in serious condition.
Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance, regional and S-Bahn services were “massively affected nationwide” today, the rail operator said after train drivers’ union GDL called a strike.
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said that he is planning a trip to Ankara in May.
Swedish police have forcibly removed Greta Thunberg and other climate activists after they blocked the entrance to the Swedish parliament for a second day.
Hungary summons US ambassador
Hungary on Tuesday summoned the US ambassador over comments from the US president, Joe Biden, who said the country’s leader wants a dictatorship.
The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, visited Florida on Friday for talks with Donald Trump.
During a campaign event in Philadelphia, Biden referred to his rival’s meeting with the Hungarian politician: “You know who he’s meeting with today down at Mar-a-Lago? Orbán of Hungary, who stated flatly he doesn’t think democracy works, he’s looking for dictatorship.”
Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, dismissed the American president’s words as “lies.”
In a press conference on Tuesday, he said the American ambassador in Budapest, David Pressman, had been summoned and met with a senior Hungarian official earlier in the day.
“We asked the ambassador to show us the quote, with location and time,” Szijjártó said, denying that Orbán ever said what Biden described. “This is a very serious insult,” the minister said.
EU leaders to call for 'humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire': draft
At a summit next week, EU leaders are set outline concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and call for “an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire,” according to draft conclusions seen by the Guardian.
The leaders are also expected to reiterate their stance condemning Hamas and calling for the immediate release of all hostages.
While officials caution that the text, which is dated March 11, is still in an early phase and could change, it provides a starting point for discussions ahead of the summit, where the EU’s 27 heads of state and government will discuss a range of pressing issues.
According to the current draft, the leaders will declare:
The European Council is deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and its disproportionate effect on children, as well as the imminent risk of famine.
Full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access into and throughout the Gaza Strip is essential to provide the civilian population with life-saving assistance and basic services at scale.
The European Council welcomes the opening of a maritime route for emergency assistance from Cyprus to Gaza.
Immediate measures should be taken to prevent any further population displacement and provide safe shelter to the population.
The European Council urges the Israeli government to refrain from a ground operation in Rafah, where well over a million Palestinians are currently seeking safety from the fighting and access to humanitarian assistance.
The leaders are also set to address UNRWA.
The European Council stresses that the services UNRWA provides across the region are indispensable and welcomes the recent EU financial support provided. It welcomes the swift launch by the UN of an internal investigation and external review following the serious allegations against 12 UNRWA staff about their alleged participation in the 7 October terrorist attacks.
They are also set to call “for restraint in the West Bank and East Jerusalem” and “strongly” condemn “extremist settler violence.”
And, they will call “on all actors to refrain from escalatory actions.”
The European Union remains firmly committed to a lasting and sustainable peace based on the two-state solution. Palestinians and Israelis have an equal right to live in safety, dignity and peace. The European Council condemns Israeli Government decisions to further expand illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank. It urges Israel to reverse these decisions. The European Council calls on all parties to refrain from actions that undermine the principle of the two-state solution and the viability of a future Palestinian state.
Greek prime minister to visit Turkey amid desire to 'bridge the tensions'
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said today that he is planning a trip to Ankara in May, Kathimerini reported.
“There is a sincere desire on the part of the Turkish leadership to bridge the tensions… We are talking about the big thorn of the EEZ [exclusive economic zone] delimitation, but, even if we don’t resolve it, we can agree to disagree in a civilised manner,” the prime minister told Skai TV.
But he also added: “This does not mean we will not enhance our deterrent capabilities.”
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, visited Athens late last year, and the two sides agreed to reset ties.
German military lacks sufficient equipment and personnel, commissioner says
The German military still lacks sufficient equipment and personnel despite a 100 billion euro special fund, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces said today, Reuters reported.
“Despite the remarkable efforts, it remains to be said that substantial improvements in personnel, equipment and infrastructure are still a long way off in the second year of the Zeitenwende,” said Eva Hoegl.
She also said the German military is facing an “enormous personnel problem”.
Two dead as boat tried to reach Spain’s Canary Islands
Two people died as they attempted to reach Spain’s Canary Islands, while four others were evacuated to hospital in serious condition, the Spanish maritime rescue service said, Reuters reported.
The 34 survivors comprised 27 men and seven women of sub-Saharan African origin, a spokesperson for the rescue service told Reuters.
Updated
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Updated
Slovenia’s foreign minister, Tanja Fajon, has welcomed the Commission decision to recommend opening accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As a long-standing supporter of #BiH 🇧🇦 integration in the #EU 🇪🇺 I’m delighted to see @EU_Commission’s recommendation to open accession negotiations w/ #BiH 👏🏼 Well deserved 🇧🇦!
— Tanja Fajon (@tfajon) March 12, 2024
Now it’s #EU leaders turn #EUCO to give a final green light. 🇸🇮 will continue its staunch support.
Swedish police forcibly remove Greta Thunberg from parliament entrance
Swedish police have forcibly removed Greta Thunberg and other climate activists after they blocked the entrance to the Swedish parliament for a second day, Reuters reports.
Europe’s centre-right is campaigning on defence.
The leader of the European People’s party, Manfred Weber, said today that “Europe must take its security into its own hands.”
The @EPPGroup has one clear message: Europe must take its security into its own hands.
— Manfred Weber (@ManfredWeber) March 12, 2024
European defence is in our DNA. Today, we are leading the way, calling for a Defence and Security Commissioner and a Single Market for defence. pic.twitter.com/cXthaFriiH
Europe’s centre-right dilemma: work with the far right, or work to exclude it?
The dilemma facing Luís Montenegro of Portugal’s Social Democratic party (PSD) will be familiar to a growing number of Europe’s centre-right parties: if the shortest and surest route to power means working with the populist far right, should you take it?
Montenegro’s electoral alliance with two smaller conservative parties finished first in Sunday’s ballot, winning 79 seats: two more than its Socialist party (PS) rival, but a very long way indeed from a majority in the country’s 230-seat parliament.
In third place, multiplying its seat count by four to 48, was Chega (Enough), a far-right, populist party headed by a former TV sports commentator, André Ventura, regularly accused by his opponents of xenophobia, racism and demagoguery.
Repeatedly on the campaign trail and again on Monday, Montenegro ruled out a formal coalition, or even a loose confidence-and-supply arrangement, with Chega – but some kind of deal with the far-right party might prove his only path to a stable majority.
There would be enormous pressure to form a right-wing government, said Vicente Valentim, a political scientist at the University of Oxford and author of a forthcoming book on the normalisation of the far right. But Montenegro would “try all he can to avoid working” with Chega, he added.
“His problem is that his aim in the short term is to be prime minister. If he fails to form a stable government, what are the possibilities? An internal fight inside the PSD, fresh elections – or, perhaps, some kind of very informal deal with the far right.”
It is a choice others have faced before him, and more could soon be confronted with.
Germany faces another rail strike
Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance, regional and S-Bahn services are “to be massively affected nationwide” today, the rail operator said after train drivers’ union GDL called a strike.
This is the sixth strike in a long-running dispute. Deutsche Bahn on Monday tried to prevent the strike, filing an urgent lawsuit before a Frankfurt labour court, but a judge ruled that the strike was not disproportionate and could move ahead.
Deutsche Bahn had argued that the planned strike was too short notice and pushed back against what it described as “unpredictability.”
Yesterday, Martin Seiler, Deutsche Bahn’s human resources director, said in a statement that the 22-hour warning time was “far too short” for goods traffic. He said: “We consider these wave of strikes to be disproportionate.”
“This unpredictability of train services is unacceptable. People have to get to work, goods have to get to the factories, coal has to get to the power plants. Without the railway, nothing works in this country.”
Welcome to the blog
Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog.
Today we will be looking at the latest strikes in Germany, as well as EU debates ahead of a summit later this month.
Stay tuned and send comments to lili.bayer@theguardian.com.
Commission to recommend opening EU accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina
In her speech at the European parliament, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said that Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken “impressive steps forward” and that the Commission will recommend to the Council to open accession negotiations with the country.
“Today, we the college are presenting a report on Bosnia and Herzegovina,” she said, noting that “Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken impressive steps forward. More progress has been achieved in just over a year than in a whole decade.”
She added:
Of course, more progress is necessary to join our union.
But the country is showing that it can deliver on its membership criteria, and on its citizens’ aspirations to be part of our family.
This is – the good news comes now – this is the reason that we will decide to recommend to the Council to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Commission chief calls for 'humanitarian pause' leading to 'sustainable ceasefire' in Gaza
Speaking at the European parliament this morning, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said that “the people of Gaza need an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire – and they need it now.”
She also outlined the EU’s efforts to boost humanitarian aid.
“As we speak, a ship is setting sail from Cyprus to northern Gaza. It carries the most basic kind of humanitarian aid,” she said, adding that “this maritime corridor is the result of unprecedented international cooperation.”
Von der Leyen underscored that “the situation on the ground is more dramatic than ever and it has reached a tipping point.”
She added:
We have all seen the reports of children dying of starvation. This cannot be and we must do all in our power to stop it.
Von der Leyen also announced that the EU’s civil protection mechanism has been activated to strengthen support.
Addressing the situation of UNRWA, she said:
We will proceed with the payment of 50 million euros in support of UNRWA and the next tranches will be released as soon as the agency takes the other steps we have agreed together. All of this with one simple goal: that every euro we invest is spent according to our rules and reaches Palestinians in need.
And speaking of the broader situation, she stressed:
Of course, Israel has the right to defend itself and fight off Hamas. But the protection of civilians must be ensured at all times in line with international law. And right now there’s only one way to restore an adequate flow of humanitarian aid. The people of Gaza need an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire – and they need it now.
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