The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.

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The 13 newest EU member states signed the Warsaw Declaration in a meeting in Poland on 1 May to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the 2004 enlargement.

“We are grateful for what we get from the EU, but we want to underline that we are giving back at least as much through opening our markets, our talents, and even hard money in the form of the dividends we pay,” Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki said.

The Declaration said all member states should take part in the EU decision-making process on the same principles and in the spirit of cooperation and unity.

“We need a really strong Europe, but a Europe of strong member countries,” Czech PM Andrej Babis noted, adding that the EU Council should have the main say in the EU while the EU Commission shouldn’t be the one who “decides on everything”.

Babis also criticised the fact that the EU internal market unification was not yet finished but admitted that the EU membership is the only alternative.

The Czech PM also commented on a statement made by EU Commissioner Jyrki Katainen, who said Poland should stop treating the EU as a money-making machine.

“I cannot understand how a Commissioner can dare to say this.” said Babiš, who faces EU subsidy fraud charges in his country.

For his part, Slovenian President Borut Pahor said: “I cannot imagine that we will experience another five years of deadlock in the EU.”

He added that thanks to economic and social development, Slovenians have two identities today: a national and a European one.

(Aneta Zachová, EURACTIV.cz, Łukasz Gadzała, EURACTIV.pl, Željko Trkanjec, EURACTIV.hr)

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BRATISLAVA

V4 thanks Turkey. On Tuesday (April 30), Turkey´s Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with his V4 counterparts in Bratislava. According to Slovak FM Miroslav Lajčák, Turkey has created “a dam against illegal migration to the EU” while Hungary’s FM Peter Szijjarto highlighted Ankara´s role in anti-terrorism efforts. “We can count on Turkey, unfortunately, we cannot count either on the EU or on the UN,” Szijjarto said, adding that both the EU and the UN “promote migration”.

The Hungarian FM also urged other EU countries not to be “hypocritical” when it comes to the future of the EU, which is being blocked “behind-closed-door ministerial meetings”. “Playing such kind of game is disrespectful towards Turkey […] as the EU security starts with Turkey”, he added. (Lucia Yar, EURACTIV.sk)

Meanwhile, Slovenian media have published a Nordic Monitor story suggesting that Turkish diplomats spied on critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Slovenia. (Željko Trkanjec, EURACTIV.hr)

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BRUSSELS

Tax credit. Ahead of the elections, francophone Green party Ecolo has proposed a tax credit for salaries of less than €2,500 per month. It would give low-income workers a monthly €225 net gain. According to Federal Planning Office estimates, this measure will benefit 1.9 million public servants, contractors and other wage earners.

Anti-Semitism on the rise.“Except in France, nowhere else in the EU do Jews experience so much hostility on the streets as in Belgium,” the University of Tel Aviv and the European Jewish Congress found in a report. In Belgium alone, 101 cases of anti-Semitism were documented last year compared to 56 in 2017. The report also said the majority of the cases takes place online. (Alexandra Brzozowski, EURACTIV.com)

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LONDON

Huawei leak scandal. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has been sacked from his role in the government, following an inquiry into the recent Huawei leaks scandal. During a recent high-level Five Eyes security meeting, reports surfaced that the UK would allow Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei limited involvement in developing the country’s 5G infrastructure.

An inquiry into the source of the leaks took place on Wednesday. Former international development secretary Penny Mordaunt is due to take on the security portfolio while Williamson continues to deny that he was the source of the leaks. (Samuel Stolton, EURACTIV.com)

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BERLIN

An EU-wide minimum wage: Tens of thousands of marchers joined Germany’s main trade unions and took to the streets on May 1 asking for the implementation of a Europe-wide minimum wage as well as improved collective bargaining rights. Organisers also urged workers to make their voices heard in the upcoming EU elections.

West Africa tour: German Chancellor Angela Merkel started her West Africa tour (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) on 1 May and will focus on security and counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel region. (Claire Stam, EURACTIV.de)

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MADRID

Centre-right crisis management: Following last week’s electoral outcome, which saw Spain’s Popular Party fall from 137 to 66 seats, leader Pablo Casado is trying to restore his party’s credentials as a centre-right force, EURACTIV’s partner EFE-EPA reported.

Casado kept his distance from PP’s two main contenders on the right of Spanish politics, the business-friendly Ciudadanos and the far-right Vox, which got 24 seats in the 350-member parliament. At a press conference on Tuesday, he said Vox was an extreme-right party, although during the campaign he avoided calling it as such. (EFE/EPA/EURACTIV.es)

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ROME

“Stay at home, Silvio”: Former PM Silvio Berlusconi went into surgery for a bowel obstruction on Tuesday. The night before, the 82-year-old suffered abdominal pain and did not attend an electoral event of his Forza Italia party.

Despite his age, he will be running for a seat in the European Parliament. But his personal physician told the press that he suggested Berlusconi stay at home and forget about the elections. (Gerardo Fortuna, EURACTIV.com)

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ATHENS

New poll: Centre-right New Democracy party (ND-EPP) is leading a new poll with 27.2%, followed by leftist Syriza (EU Left) with 20.7%. Media reports suggest that the gap will be further narrowed ahead of the EU elections and undecided voters will play a key role.

In addition, the political cost of the North Macedonia name change deal seems to be enormous for the ruling Syriza party: in the 13 regions of northern Greece, the difference between ND and Syriza is projected at 14.3%, compared to 4.2% in the other prefectures of the country.

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SOFIA

Guesthouses scam revelations impact EU elections: Centre-right GERB (EPP), the party of Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov, has lost some 5% of support and may lose the EU elections following the “apartment scandal” and revelations of wrongdoing and fraud with EU funds with the so-called guesthouse scam.

European taxpayers have lost dozens of millions of euros as a result of fraud with the European Operational Programme – “Development of Rural Areas” in Bulgaria. From 2007 to 2013, the EU provided €101 million for building 746 guesthouses in rural areas of the poorest member countries.

The idea was to develop tourism and to promote the natural habitat and the old traditions of Bulgaria. Instead, much of the money was used for building private villas that are not open for guests. One-third of the guesthouses checked so far have been found with irregularities and their owners will be asked to reimburse EU funding. (Georgi Gotev, EURACTIV.com) [More]

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ZAGREB

€340 million from EIB. The Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed two agreements worth almost €340 million. In 2018, the EIB supported economic and social growth with €507.3 million, reaching 0.98% of the national GDP. (Željko Trkanjec, EURACTIV.hr)

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BELGRADE

Dacic fumes at Bosnian PM. Serbian FM Ivica Dacic has lashed out against Bosnia’s PM Denis Zvizdic because of his statement that any border change between Serbia and Kosovo would open a ‘pandora’s box’ in the region.

“What he said is meaningless and ridiculous. We don’t care about what they think. Who are they to speak about the issue? They should not be even present when it is on the agenda. That should be discussed with the big (countries)”, Dacic said. (Beta-EURACTIV.rs)

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SARAJEVO

NATO ‘blocks’ a new government. Dragan Čović, leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina party, has said the main obstacle for the formation of a new government is the activation of the NATO Membership Action Plan. Milorad Dodik, the Serbian representative in Presidency of BiH, said cooperation with NATO was possible, but membership not. (Željko Trkanjec, EURACTIV.hr)

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos and Samuel Stolton]