Photo : picture alliance/dpa
By Abhiruchi Chowdhury
GERMANY
Tussle between the ruling coalition continues
On 05 November, Deutsche Welle reported that disagreements between the Free Democratic Party (FDP) Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Green Party regarding the proposition of budget has caused uncertainty on the continuity of the coalition. The tussle between the three parties began when the court ruled against the proposition of using the reserved budget which was earlier agreed upon to spend on combatting the impact of COVID-19, but later was decided to be spent on combatting climate change, thus reducing the Government’s budget by USD 65 billion. Post that, the economy of the country deteriorated which had put further pressure on the government’s budget.
In October, Chancellor Olaf Scholz avoided calling both Economy Minister Robert Habeck from the Green party and Finance Minister Christian Lindner who belongs to the FDP to his meeting with trade unions and entrepreneurs at an industry conference. Economy Minister Habeck later called for a debt financing worth EUR one billion, however, it was rejected by FDP on grounds of further increasing deficit. Finance Minister Linder had also proposed to cut tax on companies which was dismissed by SPD and the Green party.
On 06 November, members of the coalition party would finally sit for a meeting which has come after weeks of deliberation. This comes amid when the draft budget is still falling short of funds and the actual budget is scheduled to be passed in late November. To compensate for the shortage of funds in the budget, Christian Linder suggested using the reserved EUR 10 billion that was supposed to fund a “new intel chip company.” Green party’s Robert Habeck had expressed his assent to the plan stating that it displayed the “compromising” capability of the party. (Sabine Kinkartz, “German government descends into crisis mode,” Deutsche Welle, 05 November 2024)
FINLAND
Blames global south for not reaching an agreement on biodiversity preservation
On 05 November, Helsinki Times reported that Finnish delegation was unable to lobby other countries that were participating at COP-16 Biodiversity conference hosted by Columbia to decide on the parameters on which biodiversity loss is to calculated. Another objective where Finland failed to build a consensus was to provide economic support to developing countries so that they can put an end to “biodiversity loss.” Finnish government itself was unable to come up with a final plan regarding biodiversity loss, however, it had earlier committed to do so in the last Cop meeting in Canada. Minister of Climate and Environment Kai Mykkänen had put the blame on big countries from the global south which he claimed were demanding setting up new funds, a proposition which did not go well with other countries. (“Results of Cop-16 met mostly with disappointment in Finland,” Helsinki Times, 05 November 2024)
HUNGARY
Investment in agriculture pays off in exports
On 04 November, Hungary today reported that the country witnessed a significant growth of 6.4 per cent in the first six months of 2024 has been seen in comparison to the whole year of 2023 with regard to exports of agricultural products. In the years from 2022 to 2024, Hungary has invested HUF 400 billion for improving their livestock farms, around HUF 100 billion in horticulture, HUF 230 billion in increasing the capacity for food yield and HUF 180 billion transforming present agricultural practices to “precision farming”. The majority share of exports of its agricultural products were to all European countries namely “Germany, Italy, Romania, Austria and Poland.” The positive side of this success story was that there is significant growth (62 to 74.2 per cent in 2023) observed in the exports of processed materials while exports of raw materials went down. (“Dynamic Growth in Agricultural Exports Continues,” Hungary today, 04 November 2024)
NORWAY
“A staggering 96.4 per cent of new car registrations in Norway in September are for electric cars" says an editorial in rfi
On 06 November, an editorial in rfi titled “Norway speeds ahead of EU in race for fossil-free roads” discussed the policy decisions taken by the Norwegian government to encourage the purchase of EV cars. From 2025, Government of Norway would only allow the sale of zero emission cars, thus achieving the EU’s deadline of getting rid of petrol and diesel cars by 2035 much earlier. The editorial mentions tax relief on EV cars which made them much cheaper and allowing EV cars to use public transport lanes were the two popular measures taken by the government to reduce the sale of fossil-based cars. Despite the challenging conditions for EV cars such as low temperatures and the need to travel “long distances” in Norway, the country has succeeded in phasing out fossil-based cars. (“Norway speeds ahead of EU in race for fossil-free roads,” rfi, 06 November 2024)
REGIONAL
Waste plastics from the EU continue to be dumped in Malaysia
On 03 November, Deutsche Welle reported that Malaysia saw a spike of 35 per cent in its import of plastic waste in 2023 from the EU countries amounting “8.5 million tons of paper, plastic and glass.” EU dumps 10 per cent of its waste in third countries while the majority is treated in the bloc countries itself. Plastic imports to Malaysia continue to grow amid its need for financial resources and its own recycling sector, nevertheless, most of it being not suitable for using it again. EU has however pledged to reduce the waste exports to third countries by 2026 which does not include textile waste. Malaysia and EU have to deliberate upon the exports through illegitimate route taken by some companies of Europe to dispose off their waste. (David Hutt, “Malaysia struggles to halt European plastic waste imports,” Deutsche Welle, 03 November 2024
RUSSIA
Indonesia seeks closer ties with Russia; Hold first joint naval exercise
On 04 November, Russian and Indonesian navies jointly conducted their first military drills in the Java Sea. The recently sworn President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto has vowed to strengthen defence relationship with Russia owing to the component of “non-alignment “in their foreign policy. The current President who was formerly a Minister of defence had put efforts to resist cancelling the USD 1.1 billion defence deal with Russia under the threat of US sanctions in 2019. Before he was sworn in as President, but had already won the elections, he met President Putin in July 2024 and expressed willingness to further deepen the relationship between two countries. (“Indonesia and Russia hold first joint naval exercises,” Deutsche Welle, 04 November 2024)
SERBIA
Minister of Construction Goran Vesic announces to resign over collapse of train station roof
On 04 November, Serbia’s Minister of Construction Goran Vesic had announced that he would be quitting his office after the city of Novi Sad witnessed death of 14 people due to the falling of a “train station roof.” The Serbian Minister however did not held himself guilty for the tragic incident. The reasons for the collapse of the train roof still remains unclear. On 4 November, several protesters had come out to mark their dissent against the Government failure and threw red paint on construction ministry’s edifice. (“Serbia: Minister to resign over train station roof collapse,” Deutsche Welle, 05 November 2024)
SPAIN
Rain alert in Barcelona; Protesters angry at King Felip VI
On 04 November, Deutsche Welle reported that post heavy rains in Barcelona, State Meteorological Agency had put the city under high alert. The flights arriving to and departing from Barcelona Airport were “cancelled delayed and diverted.” Classes in educational institutes were also cancelled. On 04 November, inhabitants of Valenica, the, criticized the Spanish king, calling him “murderer” and questioned why appropriate measures were not taken to save their city. (“Spain floods: Barcelona on high alert amid Valencia searches,” Deutsche Welle, 04 November 2024)