Ukraine is seeking to expand its military "drone coalition" with allies, to include at least 20 new countries to help supply drones, cooperate on technology, and strengthen its military as the war with Russia enters its third year.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about the French right opposing von der Leyen’s re-run for EU Commission, the special EU fund for coal regions looking good but being costly, and so much more.

EU conditions for ensuring rule of law among member states before they can receive financial aid are not strong enough to completely rule out a backsliding in democracy, the 27-nation bloc's auditors said on Wednesday (21 February).

Liberal Action party (Renew Europe) leader Carlo Calenda slammed far-right Lega party leader Matteo Salvini on social media on Tuesday, demanding an account of the 2017 agreement with Putin’s United Russia party and evidence that the deal between both parties has been cancelled.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić will continue to refrain from imposing sanctions on Russia despite pressure from the West, he told the TASS agency, adding that when it comes to relations between Serbian and Russian citizens, a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Croatian President Zoran Milanović launched his strongest invective to date against conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Tuesday, calling him a “liar and a political faker who deceives Croatian citizens”.

The European Union summoned Russia's representative to the EU and called for an independent international investigation into the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the EU's diplomatic service said on Tuesday (20 February).

The Croatian Interior Ministry (MUP) is working on changes to the laws that should limit the import of labour into Croatia, a move that could result in a significantly larger import of labour ‘in the grey zone’ than now, independent labour market analyst Predrag Bejaković warned Euractiv.

AUR party leader George Simion is involved in “destabilising efforts in Moldova”, accused Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean, which resulted in Moldovan authorities extending the party leader’s ban from entering the country.

Creating a new European fund to support coal regions – the Just Transition Fund – may look like a positive step for disadvantaged areas, but its administration is complex, costly and threatens its effective use, warns a new Czech study based on interviews with officials.

Polish Justice Minister Adam Bodnar presented EU ministers with an action plan to restore the country’s rule of law, which EU Commissioner Věra Jourová described as a first step for the Commission to withdraw the Article 7 procedure against Warsaw.

Even though green investments have gained momentum in recent years, a gap of €406 billion remains to be filled annually in order to meet the EU’s 2030 climate goals, according to new research published on Wednesday (21 February).

Two years after the process was launched by European Commissioner for Regional Development Elisa Ferreira, and a year-long series of meetings and exchanges with academics and experts, the Group of High-Level Specialists on Future of Cohesion Policy has released their long-awaited report “Forging a sustainable future together: cohesion for a competitive and inclusive Europe”.

The European Union is not ready to accept the inclusion of a country at war, Former EU Commission President and former Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso warned on Tuesday, calling instead for an eventual understanding that would prevent the conflict in Ukraine from spreading.

Madrid is bracing for traffic chaos on Wednesday as thousands of farmers are expected to protest against the latest government proposals, which they say are insufficient to maintain the economic viability of their farms and reduce the bureaucratic burden of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) processing aid, among other demands.

Dissatisfied with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s reluctance to deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine, the EU lead candidate for the German liberals will side with the conservative opposition party in an upcoming motion, putting another strain on the coalition’s fragile bond.

Bulgaria's pro-Russian far-right Vazrazhdane (Revival) party sent a delegation to Moscow at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, according to an announcement by the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Russian emigres in Spain critical of the Kremlin called on the Spanish authorities on Tuesday (20 February) to better protect them, after a Russian pilot who had defected to Ukraine was found shot dead in a garage in a town on Spain's Mediterranean coast.

Leaving the EU remains the far right’s ultimate goal, even if they stay quiet about it ahead of election time, former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told Euractiv in an interview on Tuesday (20 February), warning that the far right has not learned the lessons of Brexit.

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday (20 February) Russian troops would push further into Ukraine to build on their success on the battlefield after the fall of the town of Avdiivka where he said Ukrainian troops had been forced to flee in chaos.