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In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Macron’s party struggling to find an EU lead candidate, Central European farmers rallying against EU policies and being backed by national governments, and so much more.

The US administration's decision to suspend the granting of permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals will have major consequences for the energy security of the EU, writes Andrea Di Giuseppe.

China said it sees Europe as increasingly viewing the country with a "rational perception," and that Europe should "not be afraid of it," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Croatian NGO Gong has investigated the HDZ’s use of Facebook and judged that its bots are deceiving citizens and manipulating the public – a problematic assessment in Croatia’s ‘super election’ year, when Sabor (parliament), head of state and EU elections are due to take place.

The Albanian government has called on social media platforms, including Meta and TikTok, to crack down on illegal activities such as revenge porn, bullying and facilitating human smuggling, demanding tougher measures and adequate monitoring capacity in the Albanian language.

Israel intensified its bombardment of Rafah in Gaza's south and over a dozen members of one family were killed in an air strike, residents said, as the ruined Palestinian enclave's health ministry announced 29,313 deaths in the war so far.

The PSD and the PNL have agreed to merge the European elections with the local elections and to present joint candidates for the EU Parliament to ensure the largest possible turnout of citizens to vote.

Bulgaria's ruling coalition parties on Wednesday began threatening each other with the withdrawal of support for the government amid a battle for top executive posts that could lead to early parliamentary elections alongside European elections in June.

An agreement on reimbursing member states for their donations to Ukraine remains out of reach, as Paris and Berlin are not giving in on their demands to reshape the facility according to their national priorities.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez praised his country’s bilateral relations with Morocco during an official visit to the North African country on Wednesday, where he met with King Mohamed VI.

Over 500 tractors from several regions descended on the Spanish capital, where they vowed to continue their struggle until Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his left-wing coalition implement concrete measures to secure the sector’s viability.

Iran has provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, six sources revealed, deepening the military cooperation between the two US-sanctioned countries.

Farmers from eastern European and Baltic countries – namely the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria – joined forces on Thursday to protest against EU policies, with many of their governments either supporting the farmers or at least expressing their understanding.

Italians are among the most sceptical and disillusioned Europeans about the future of Ukraine, and, above all, they do not believe that the EU has played a positive role in the conflict, according to a survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

A defeat of Ukraine would put European values at risk, which is why there is no alternative but for Europe's support to continue, European Council President Charles Michel told a group of media, including Euractiv, in an interview.

Germany's current economic weakness is mostly to blame on a slowdown of global trade and the aftermath of Russia's attack on Ukraine, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said while presenting economic forecasts on Wednesday (21 February).

Sweden is in a serious international situation, facing growing threats from foreign powers such as Russia at a time when the country is at a key stage in its accession to NATO, according to the Swedish Security Service’s annual threat assessment review on Wednesday. 

The date for the announcement of Macron’s Renaissance party’s EU candidate has been postponed several times, and key political figures have turned down the job, raising concerns that the party is not prepared or ready to launch its European Parliament electoral campaign.

Ending months of speculation,Ursula von der Leyen told members of her conservative CDU party in Germany on Monday (19 February) that she was seeking a second term.

The EU Council endorsed the Commission’s proposal on the renewal of trade liberalisation with Ukraine with no changes, as MEPs from the Parliament's agriculture committee instead side with farmers by pushing for more safeguards.