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Good morning. Dutch far-right chief Geert Wilders and his Freedom celebration are set to win essentially the most votes in the Netherlands’ parliamentary elections yesterday, in line with exit polls. Although Wilders might wrestle to search out coalition companions to manipulate, the victory of the anti-Islam campaigner will ship shockwaves via the EU.
Right this moment, our local weather correspondent explains why a summit between the EU and Canada is predicted to run extra easily than the same assembly with the US earlier this yr. And our Europe editor speaks to Austria’s international minister, who needs Ukraine to lastly set an election date.
Boring however good
EU leaders are jetting off to Newfoundland in the present day to satisfy Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the primary EU-Canada summit for the reason that Covid-19 pandemic, writes Alice Hancock.
Context: The nineteenth such assembly can be attended by European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel. Whereas temperatures in St John’s are hovering round freezing, diplomatic relations between the 2 companions look like heat.
“Co-operation between the EU and Canada might be at unrivalled historic ranges,” one EU official stated. Trudeau stated in a press release that the connection was “extra necessary than ever”.
Canada, which the EU has signed a free trade agreement with, is among the many bloc’s closest allies, providing help to Ukrainian refugees and co-ordinating on sanctions. As a part of the G7, Canada has additionally performed a “very important position” in working with Brussels on using the proceeds of Russian frozen assets, the official stated.
One EU diplomat famous that “everyone is comfortable that issues run a lot smoother” for the Canadian assembly than for an EU-US summit in October. It resulted in disappointment, because the parties failed to agree on metal tariffs or an alliance on minerals that are important to the inexperienced transition.
The EU now hopes to announce such a uncooked supplies partnership with Canada, which is residence to greater than half of the world’s listed mineral exploration corporations and has ample deposits of magnesium and zinc.
Officers say additionally they hope to launch a “Inexperienced Alliance” that can promote collaboration on clear applied sciences, and talk about working extra carefully on digital issues together with quantum expertise and on-line platforms, in addition to Canada’s accession to the EU’s Horizon analysis programme.
The wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas may even characteristic.
“In instances of world turmoil it’s good to have a boring summit with a detailed ally,” one other EU diplomat noticed.
However amid the cordiality, there’s a doable fly within the ointment: Seven years after it was signed, 10 EU member states nonetheless haven’t ratified the free commerce settlement, largely due to farming and meals security considerations.
Chart du jour: Hazard indicators
![Line chart of Net flows of non-performing loans per quarter (€bn) showing Bad debts are rising at eurozone banks, after years of decline](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2Ff3890f40-8932-11ee-b3db-ed23f1e40880-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
The European Central Financial institution has warned that stability sheets of eurozone banks are showing “early signs of stress” after an increase in mortgage defaults and late repayments from historic lows. It additionally cautioned that losses in the real estate sector have been rising and will impression the broader monetary system.
Set a date
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s predicament over whether or not to carry presidential elections subsequent yr by no means fairly goes away.
“Now isn’t the time,” Zelenskyy stated earlier this month, as he tried to quash hypothesis he was making ready for a poll.
Now Austria is wading into the controversy, writes Ben Hall.
Context: Ukraine was supposed to carry a parliamentary election final month and a presidential one in March subsequent yr, however Russia’s battle of aggression, martial legislation, media censorship and tens of millions of internally displaced voters and refugees overseas imply fair elections would be hard to organise.
Till now, Zelenskyy has confronted little overt stress from EU officers to carry a vote, though the problem was reportedly raised throughout a go to by EU international ministers to Kyiv final month.
Polls counsel Zelenskyy would probably win a second time period, but in addition {that a} wartime vote would be massively unpopular with the Ukrainian public.
“We can not have elections postponed without end,” Austrian international minister Alexander Schallenberg told the FT in an interview. “It’s a candidate nation and we now have been asking for elections from international locations like Libya or the Palestinians.”
Schallenberg stated there needs to be no beneficial therapy for Ukraine over the western Balkans in relation to a choice on beginning accession negotiations. The identical, he says, ought to apply to the foundations of democracy.
“Now we have been asking for elections to be held in Libya, and it’s a war-torn [country]. So let’s not have double requirements,” Schallenberg stated.
“It’s completely acceptable to postpone them however it’s important to give a date. It has to have a restrict. It shouldn’t be [that] we come again to it as soon as we deem it proper. Postpone it by 12 months, OK. However not indefinitely.”
What to look at in the present day
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Two-day EU-Canada summit kicks off.
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Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Spain’s Pedro Sánchez go to Israel and Palestine.
Now learn these
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