A new fiscal model proposed by Spain's finance minister for its regional governments has faced a heavy backlash from regional leaders, who accuse the central government of toying with public finances to win political favours as it struggles to hold its fragile coalition together.

The Socialists, who head a minority coalition government, struck a bilateral deal with Catalonia at the behest of separatist party ERC that guarantees the region will receive the same amount in services as it pays in taxes, while other governments receive varying amounts.

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That has infuriated the country's other regions, with some threatening to take the state to court for, they claim, contravening the constitutional principle that no territory should be given a financial advantage over another by the central government.

Economists and ratings agencies have also expressed concern over an additional 21 billion euros promised in the model by the state to regional governments, worsening Spain's fiscal position when it is already buckling under the strain of higher pensions and pressure to boost defence spending.

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Spain's central budget is still being rolled over this year from its 2023 version after it failed last November to secure backing from the conservative opposition People's Party, hard-right Vox and hard-left Podemos for a new proposal.

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MaiaSpace has been selected by Eutelsat for multi-year OneWeb LEO satellite launches, strengthening Europe’s access to space from 2027.

Serbia entered 2026 in full pre-election mode — even though a date for a parliamentary election has not yet been set.

After more than a year of protests, student blockades and political tension, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has accepted the challenge posed by students and citizens who have been demanding a snap election.

Nevertheless, just when the president will call that election remains to be seen.

Over the course of the past few months, Vucic has gradually narrowed down possible dates for a poll, moving from a vague promise that the election would take place "before the legal deadline," through information that it would be in "late 2026 or early 2027" to the latest announcement that suggests a vote could be held in October, November or December.

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By the end of 2025, the mass protests that had been taking place across Serbia since November 2024 had largely subsided: Faculty blockades were lifted, and students returned to class.

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In related news, the upcoming visit of the mission of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) to Belgrade has triggered a harsh reaction from Serbian high officials, including President Aleksandar Vučić and Speaker of the Parliament Ana Brnabić. They claim that the MPs were coming to the country “uninvited”, stressing that they had no intention of meeting the delegation from Brussels ...

The members of the European Parliament are scheduled to visit Serbia from 22 to 24 January, in order to assess the situation on the ground, speak with relevant actors, and, based on that, define the next steps of the EP towards the country.

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Aleksandar Vučić said that he did not want to see or talk to the MEPs from Brussels “who are coming to Serbia uninvited”.

“I have no intention of wasting my time… The EP delegation decided on the timing of their visit on their own… I will be at the World Economic Forum in Davos during their visit”, Vučić stated during his visit to Abu Dhabi.

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He clarified that the delegation, which comprises MEPs from various political groups, aims at “gaining a complete picture of the situation in Serbia, through direct conversations with those who reflect the sentiment of the Serbian people”.

The Serbian opposition parties strongly criticised the officials for their unwillingness to meet with the EP delegation. Stefan Janjić, a MEP of the “Serbia Centre” party, denied the claims by Ana Brnabić that she was not informed about their arrival in Serbia.

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Well...

In the name of fighting crime and terrorism, EU law requires mandatory police surveillance of international air travel. Governments are now considering surveillance of all other modes of transport, in particular maritime travel. They also want to use data for new purposes, such as immigration control. A working group has been set up to consider new legal proposals.

https://archive.is/nt3mD

In a press release, the telecommunications equipment manufacturer announces headcount reductions for 1600 employees in Sweden.

A round-up of reactions from European leaders in response to Trump's tariff threats.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.ca/post/58874841

Russian officials welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on NATO allies over Greenland, with Kremlin economic negotiator Kirill Dmitriev claiming on Jan. 17 that the move signals the "collapse" of the transatlantic alliance.

Trump earlier said that Washington would impose 10% tariffs on NATO allies — France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, and Finland — until the U.S. reaches a deal to buy Greenland. He has threatened to acquire the island "one way or the other."

"The transatlantic alliance is over," Dmitriev wrote on X, mocking European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and urging European leaders not to "provoke" Trump.

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There are so many pending court cases against allies of Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Socialist prime minister, that a newspaper story on New Year’s Eve forecast that 2026 would be his “judicial Calvary”. They include half a dozen investigations into allegations of corruption against his closest political allies. In addition, the country’s constitutional court is likely to hear an appeal against the Supreme Court’s conviction and dismissal of Álvaro García Ortiz, the former prosecutor-general, for leaking the tax problems of the romantic partner of the head of the Madrid regional government. And judges have charged Mr Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, and his brother with conflicts of interest (both say they are innocent).

The prime minister and his allies consider this a campaign of judicial harassment aimed at overthrowing the government.

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The wider problem for Spain’s democracy is that the judiciary has become a political football. Some Spaniards think judges have always been influenced by politics, and it has merely become more explicit.

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Nobody seriously questions ... judicial investigations into corruption. “It’s not true that the judiciary is [biased] against the government,” says Elisa de la Nuez, a campaigner for the rule of law. But the pushback is worrying, she adds. “For the first time judges feel threatened by political power.” In the long term, that is in nobody’s interest. It is up to politicians to take the first step, by ceasing to seek to judicialise politics. But given how polarised Spain has become, that may be too much to ask.

Calls grow for the EU to deploy its ultimate trade bazooka as Trump threatens fresh tariffs to force the sale of Greenland. The anti-coercion instrument would shut off access to the European single market, punishing US companies. It is powerful on paper, but untested in real life.

Pressure is growing on European leaders to deploy its trade bazooka against the United States after President Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs if Denmark does not agree to sell the territory of Greenland. In a scenario of coercion, the EU counts with a powerful tool in the anti-coertion instrument, and calls are intensifying for Brussels to trigger it.

But how does it work? Euronews explains:

Paywall? https://archive.is/OqOdb

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/world/p/1677169/eu-readies-eur93bn-tariffs-in-retaliation-to-trumps-greenland-threat

Tap for article

EU readies €93bn tariffs in retaliation for Trump’s Greenland threat

Europe could also threaten to restrict US companies’ market access in run-up to crunch talks at Davos

Danish warships off Nuuk. A a rupture in the western military alliance over Greenland would pose an existential threat to Europe’s security  © Getty Images

EU capitals are considering hitting the US with €93bn worth of tariffs or restricting American companies from the bloc’s market in response to Donald Trump’s threats to Nato allies opposed to his campaign to takeover Greenland. The move marks the most serious crisis in transatlantic relations for decades.

The retaliation measures are being drawn up to give European leaders leverage in pivotal meetings with the US president at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, officials involved in the preparations said. 

They are bidding to find a compromise that would avoid a deep rupture in the western military alliance, which would pose an existential threat to Europe’s security.

The tariff list was prepared last year but suspended until February 6 to avoid a full-blown trade war. Its reactivation was discussed on Sunday by the EU’s 27 ambassadors, along with the so-called anti-coercion instrument (ACI) that can limit the access of American companies to the internal market, as the bloc wrestled over how to respond to the US president’s threat with punitive tariffs.

Trump, who has demanded permission from Denmark to take control of Greenland, on Saturday evening vowed to impose 10 per cent tariffs by February 1 on goods from the UK, Norway and six EU countries that sent troops to the Arctic island for a military exercise this week.

“There are clear retaliation instruments at hand if this continues . . . [Trump’s] using pure mafioso methods,” said a European diplomat briefed on the discussion. “At the same time we want to publicly call for calm and give him an opportunity to climb down the ladder.”

“The messaging is . . . carrot and stick,” they added.

France has called for the bloc to hit back with the ACI, which has never been used since its adoption in 2023. The tool includes investment restrictions and can throttle exports of services such as those provided by US Big Tech companies in the EU.

Paris and Berlin are coordinating a joint response, with their respective finance ministers due to meet in Berlin on Monday before travelling to Brussels for a gathering with their European counterparts, a French ministry aide said. “The issue will also have to be broached with all G7 partners under France’s presidency,” the person added. 

While many other EU member states have voiced support for exploring how the ACI could be deployed against the US, a majority called for dialogue with Trump before issuing direct threats of retaliation, diplomats briefed on the discussions told the FT.

“We need to get the temperature down,” said a second EU diplomat.

In a step towards retaliation, the biggest parties in the European parliament this weekend said they would delay a planned vote on measures that would have reduced EU tariffs on US goods as part of a trade agreement struck last year.

Trump, who will be at the Swiss forum on Wednesday and Thursday, is set to hold private talks with European leaders including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in addition to participating in a wider discussion among western countries supporting Ukraine.

“We want to co-operate, and it is not we who are seeking conflict,” said Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s prime minister.

National security advisers from western countries will meet in Davos on Monday afternoon. The talks were initially set to focus on Ukraine and ongoing peace talks to end Russia’s invasion of the country, but have been overhauled to give time to discuss the crisis over Greenland, two officials briefed on the preparations said.

The Swiss foreign ministry, which is hosting the gathering, said it “will not comment on participants or topics”.

Trump’s threats “certainly warrant the ACI as it would be textbook coercion”, said a third European official. 

“But we need to use the time to February 1st to see if Trump is interested in an off-ramp,” they said, adding that much would depend on the outcome of the talks in Davos.

European officials said that they hoped their retaliation threats would increase bipartisan pressure in the US against Trump’s actions and result in him retreating from his tariff pledge. 

“It is already a situation that no longer allows compromises, because we cannot hand over Greenland,” said a fourth European official. “The reasonable Americans also know that he has just opened Pandora’s Box.”

But on Sunday US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said that Europe was too weak to guarantee Greenland’s security, and refused to back down on the US demand to take control of the strategically important island.

“The president believes enhanced security is not possible without Greenland being part of the US,” he told NBC News.

Additional reporting by Barbara Moens, Alice Hancock, Andy Bounds and Laura Dubois in Brussels, Sarah White in Paris, Laura Pitel in Berlin and Richard Milne in Oslo.

cross-posted from: https://lemmus.org/post/19453873

Donald Trump threatened to impose a 10% tariff from February 1 on all goods sent to the US from eight European countries. That levy would be increased to 25% on June 1 'until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland.'

DETROIT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Saturday it is up to Europe to decide whether it wants to raise new tariff threats from President Donald Trump against some European countries over Greenland.

Paywall? https://archive.is/01M6o

Very relevant to Europe, as Hungary will join and Italy is also very likely to do so (Meloni today: "I think Italy can play a leading role.").

Key phrase in this article"If [leaders of the 60 countries invited] "take part in the initiative, they will be personally responsible for participating in the destruction of the old world order."

Full article:

Dilemma of world leaders: To join or not Liza Rozovsky, Haaretz, 18 January 2026

On the night between Friday and Saturday, with a timing that showed total indifference toward Israel and its prime minister’s schedule, the White House released the composition of the executive board of the Board of Peace it has established, which is meant to manage the Gaza Strip. On Saturday night, an unusual response came from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. For the first time, Israel’s prime minister declared that his position and that of his friend and patron Donald Trump are separated not by insignificant cracks but by an abyss. This was an official protest, a public and vociferous one, against the composition of the Board’s executive body. This body includes Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and none other than the senior adviser to Qatar’s prime minister, Ali al-Thawadi, who witnessed Netanyahu’s humiliation in the Oval Office last year, when he had to apologize to al-Thawadi’s boss, Mohammed al-Thani.

According to sources familiar with the details, Netanyahu was well aware of the bitter pill he would have to swallow. The composition of the executive board was coordinated with him. Moreover, Washington made clear its intent to declare a transition to Phase 2 of the cease-fire in Gaza and to the administration’s tight ties with Turkey and Qatar. Everything was reported and declared, nothing was concealed. And yet, it appears that the White House’s move embarrassed Netanyahu, catching him unprepared, both mentally and in terms of the media. This was a moment in which the absence of Ron Dermer, his White House whisperer, was greatly felt.

At the same time, it turned out, as reported in Haaretz, that Gaza is in fact just a speck – or a cornerstone – in the colossal edifice Trump is trying to erect: a coalition of world notables that will answer to him and handle problems and conflicts across the globe in its own way. As has been blatantly hinted in a charter document disseminated to leaders who were invited, this new way will be totally different than the bad way conflicts and problems around the world have been dealt with up to now.

It’s hard to argue with the fact that the last few decades, and mainly the last four years, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have proved that the regulations-based world order that was constructed after World War II has developed cracks. “Cracks” may be too weak a term. This edifice, which has been rattled repeatedly, is now like a ruin after a bombing raid, one which barely offers a few displaced people some refuge from the storm raging outside or from other tremors. Trump, of one mind with his emissaries and confidants, is now determined to flatten this edifice for good. Gaza as a parable.

The Board of Peace’s founding document includes some phrases indicating that it will operate according to international law, but when it comes to an administration that has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court and its judges, and to a president who has not hesitated to take control of a Nobel Prize that’s not his, it’s clear that this is not even lip service, but an empty turn of phrase devoid of any meaning. The only law expected to prevail in the Board of Peace will be the wish of its chairman, Donald Trump.

The question now is which of the 60 countries whose leaders have been invited to join the board – according to a few sources that have talked with Haaretz – will indeed accept the invitation. Their leaders face a clear dilemma. On one hand, if they take part in the initiative, they will be personally responsible for participating in the destruction of the old world order. Moreover, they will in fact agree to subjugate the new world to Trump and his whims. Any decision taken by the Board of Peace and even its agenda will be subject to the ratification of its chairman. If he wishes to, he could set up other bodies that are subordinate to the board. He will be able to “fire” members of the board or extend their tenure. Those pulling the purse strings will also be pulling the board’s strings. This has been stated openly. Anyone contributing $1 billion to the board’s needs will have their tenure extended automatically.

Such a move means a high risk to the image of Western leaders. For countries belonging to the “global South,” which enjoy, even if only ostensibly, some equality with large and powerful states at the UN General Assembly, the attempt to construct a “competing UN” is akin to sawing off the branch on which they sit. Furthermore, at least for now, the U.S. is still a democracy. According to its constitution, the president is expected to retire after two terms in office. What will Trump’s megalomaniac Board of Peace be worth once he stops leading the strongest country in the world?

On the other hand, it’s reasonable to assume that there are some countries that will not be able to or want to refuse Trump’s offer. Examples of such countries are the three mediators who are guarantors of the agreement between Israel and Hamas – Turkey, Qatar and Egypt,each one for its own reasons, but mainly because none of them will want to relinquish having maximal influence on the situation in Gaza and on the conflict in the Middle East. Their official representatives, as well as that of the United Arab Emirates, are already on the Gaza Executive Board, but that may not be enough. On the other hand, there are those who assume that Saudi Arabia, whose Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was declared by Trump as the possible first member of the executive board, will forgo the pleasure.

Western states will also have to decide which is more important: respect (for themselves and the law), and possibly some elusive legacy, or short-term impact. Britain and France will in practice have to relinquish their heft at the UN Security Council if they join Trump’s board. But what in fact does their veto right give them in an institution that cannot pass any significant resolution due to the paralyzing balance with Russia and China? In any case, as of the time of writing there was no clear information as to whether France was even invited to join the board. Britain was invited, according to some sources, and, according to reports in The Times, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer intends to join. A Western source who spoke to Haaretz also predicted that if Starmer was invited, he would join.

The board’s charter contains an interesting clause, according to which no qualifications can be made with regard to the document. In simple Trumpese, invitees to the board can take it or leave it. They can make some additions to the document with the approval of a supermajority and with Trump’s ratification but only after they agree to join. It’s possible that the establishment of the board was announced on the eve of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in an attempt to increase pressure on the invitees. They will all be locked in one room in the Swiss Alps, where they will feel that they have to decide, the sooner the better.

Some sources say that Trump did not hesitate to invite to the board leaders of countries which are not known to be that influential, such as Salvador and Paraguay.

The one not invited yet is Benjamin Netanyahu. The move – which began on Wednesday with Steve Witkoff’s announcement of a technocratic committee, continued on Thursday with a tweet by Trump about the Board of Peace and culminated in the White House’s official declaration on the night between Friday and Saturday – garnered sweeping and almost enthusiastic support by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, as well as other Palestinian factions. Netanyahu let drop some statement about a “declarative move” on Wednesday. He later remained silent for three days.

On Saturday night he was already protesting. It seems that the role of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (and by implication that of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio) in this show is mainly ceremonial. Netanyahu’s protest, delivered through Sa’ar, was meant to minimize the event and not turn it into a head-on collision with Trump. Whether this is an attempt to rebuild Gaza or an attempt to disrupt the global order, Trump’s train is rushing ahead and all Netanyahu can do is wave from the platform.