French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the government had lowered its forecast for 2024 GDP growth to 1% from 1.4% as war in Ukraine and Gaza and a slowdown at top trading partners Germany and China darkened the outlook.

The energy transition is no longer only important to fight climate change, but it has become a geopolitical necessity and a security issue, argue Louise van Schaik and Giulia Cretti.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Poland's foreign minister being likely to become defence commissioner if Ursula von der Leyen gets a second term, Croatia's opposition demanding early parliamentary elections, and so much more.

The UN top court on Monday (19 February) opens a week of hearings on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, with more than 50 states due to address the judges.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić unveiled the Repellent anti-drone system, acquired from Russia, on Statehood Day, adding that combat vehicles and infantry equipment had also been purchased and would be incorporated into the Serbian Armed Forces’ arsenal.

Thousands gathered in the centre of Zagreb on Saturday to join a protest organised by left-wing and centrist parliamentary parties, both opposing the policies of ruling HDZ leader and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and calling for early parliamentary elections.

The Czech Defence Ministry and local industry have identified 800,000 units of available ammunition that could be delivered to Ukraine within weeks, Czech President Petr Pavel announced on Saturday, with Defence Minister Jana Černochová adding that the deal would only go ahead if funding were secured.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski is being floated as a possible candidate to head the new EU Defence Commissioner portfolio, while Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski faces troubled waters amid ongoing bloc-wide farmers’ protests.

Spanish Justice Minister Félix Bolaños (PSOE/S&D) and Partido Popular’s Vice-Secretary for Institutional Action, Esteban González Pons, will meet again in Brussels on Monday with EU Justice Commissioner and mediator Didier Reynders, to try to broker the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Spain’s highest judicial body, which has been operating on an interim basis for more than five years.

Lithuania's incumbent President Gitanas Nausėda is standing for re-election on 12 May, and the latest poll puts him well ahead of potential challengers with 30% support, while the runner-up, Christian Democrat Ignas Vegele, is polling at 16%.

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While Germany’s new leftist breakaway party led by Sahra Wagenknecht soars with seven seats to the detriment of far-right AfD, Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia and France’s Rassemblement National are also on the rise, according to mid-February’s Europe Elects projections for Euractiv. 

China offered to support long-time strategic partner Hungary on public security issues, going beyond trade and investment relations, during a rare meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, just as NATO struggles to expand its network in Europe.

Italy’s political parties will participate in a procession in memory of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who was reported dead on Saturday, though Matteo Salvini’s Lega, known for its pro-Putin tendencies, first responded to the news by saying it did not want to “point any fingers”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz allegedly opposed the idea of incumbent European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen running for NATO’s secretary-general post, according to German media.

Denmark will send its entire stock of ammunition to Kyiv, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced, becoming the first to do so and appealing to other European nations to do more to help Ukraine.

More than 400 people have been detained at events across 32 Russian cities since the death of Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most formidable opponent, according to rights group OVD-Info, as Russians continued to gather and lay flowers.

In this week's edition: A glimpse in the Munich Security Conference corridors, European defence gets more meat, and Georgia wants to catch up with their fellow EU membership contenders.

EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell on Sunday (18 February) said the situation in the Israel-occupied West Bank posed a major obstacle to finding a long-term solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Europeans should focus on ramping up military capabilities and supporting Ukraine instead of worrying about who will be the next US president, outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a top contender to be the next NATO chief, told Euractiv.