German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will try to build on the momentum from Europe's success in agreeing new aid for war-torn Ukraine when he heads to Washington this week, where President Joe Biden is struggling to overcome opposition to a US package.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about the Fidesz party boycotting a parliamentary session called by the opposition to vote on Sweden’s accession to NATO, the Czech media landscape shifting as Babiš’s sells his media house, and so much more.

Privacy has dominated the discussion over the regulation curbing child sexual abuse online - at the expense of children's rights, writes Liora Lazarus.

The top US diplomat met Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler on Monday (5 February) during a Middle East visit Palestinians hope will clinch a truce before a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah, a border city where about half the Gaza Strip population is sheltering.

King Charles has been diagnosed with a form of cancer and will postpone public engagements to undergo treatment, Buckingham Palace said on Monday (5 February), but added he remained "wholly positive" about the scare less than 18 months into his reign.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has jumped to the defence of Kosovo, noting its right to enforce its own constitution in relation to new rules from the Central Bank, reinforcing that the euro is the only legal tender in the country.

President Zoran Milanović suggested that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković convene a meeting of the National Security Council, and although no specific reason was given, there is little doubt that the reason is the government’s proposal to appoint Judge Ivan Turudić as the new State Attorney, a proposal Plenković has publicly opposed.

An audio recording from May 2023 made public on Monday (5 February) suggests that the so-called Qatargate court case, centered on allegations that Qatar and Morocco bought influence bribing MEPs, risks being derailed due to procedural defects.

A high-ranking official in Bulgaria’s anti-organised crime police service was arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia on Monday.

Negotiators from the Parliament and the Belgian EU presidency on Monday (5 February) night reached a political agreement on the €50 billion Ukraine aid package.

“We have to make sure that we work on reindustrialisation before our history has disappeared, and that is really why we have to act now."

The European Union needs to take into account its ambitious targets for solar power deployment before it considers any measures to curb imports of photovoltaic panels, wafers and other components, a senior EU official said on Monday (5 February).

The recovery and resilience plan needs to be renegotiated if Poland is to receive the money that has until now been frozen due to the rule of law concerns, Polish Development Funds and Regional Policy Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz told the press.

Foreign Affairs Minister João Gomes Cravinho and Education Minister João Costa arrived in Kyiv on Monday morning for a two-day visit and will be received by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and their counterparts to discuss the war, reconstruction, and education.

The right-wing Partido Popular issued harsh accusations against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday, suggesting some official sectors are trying to influence the judiciary for the future amnesty law to allow former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and other separatist leaders to return to Spain as free individuals.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is in Tokyo for the handover of the G7 presidency, while thousands of farmers on tractors arrived to protest in Rome on Monday in response to Brussels’ agricultural policies.

Saxony prime minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU/EPP) blamed the USA’s ‘protectionism’ against China for the current malaise of European solar manufacturers, arguing that it proves the necessity of an independent trade policy approach towards China. 

The far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) party, recently plagued by major infighting, is looking to patch up the bonds between its national parties in preparation for a European Parliament that will likely veer to the right following the EU elections.

One of the largest publishing houses in the Czech Republic – Mafra – will no longer be owned by the Agrofert holding, whose beneficial owner is former prime minister Andrej Babiš, a positive step for Czech media, David Klimeš, director of the Czech Foundation for Independent Journalism, told Euractiv Czechia.

France’s Gabriel Attal was in Berlin on Monday to meet with his German counterpart, Olaf Scholz, to deepen both countries’ ties, but the meeting laid bare deep disagreements on the EU-Mercosur trade deal.