Putin Says Nuclear Weapons Deployed in Belarus

Putin returns to nuclear threats as the West pledges new arms deliveries to Ukrainian forces conducting their counter-offensive against Russian invaders.

Upcoming on Visegrad Insight:

• Merili Arjakas breaks down the new LGBTIQ+ inclusive legislation in Estonia and how the Baltics are countering the trend in CEE.
• Paweł Marczewski analyses Poland’s hypocritical migration policies.

EU/REGIONAL

• The EU readies a massive package of financial support for Ukraine as well as a new proposal on matching the U.S. green and technology investment plan under the Inflation Reduction Act, according to Eurasia Group. 
• EU’s Environmental Council will be held on 20 June to discuss a proposal aiming to restore ecosystems, habitats and species across the EU’s land and sea areas. The legislation has become a bone of contention, with the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) mounting a last-minute resistance calling the proposal excessive.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a two-day visit to China on Sunday in a bid to de-escalate tensions and re-establish high-level communication between the two countries. Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang starts a much-anticipated visit to Berlin on Monday.
• Italy, which under PM Georgia Meloni has become a leading China-sceptic in the EU, announced it was going to block Chinese voting power in the iconic Pirelli group, according to the FT.
• Satellite data showed that water reservoirs worldwide fell between 1999-2018. A study published by Nature Communications covers 7,245 water reservoirs and notes the drop occurred despite a 28 cubic kilometre annual increase in the capacity of the water reservoirs.
• Switzerland passed a measure through a referendum to limit greenhouse emissions seriously, despite a backlash from opponents suggesting the country was imitating failed German policies.
• Poland and Hungary intensified their criticism of a recent EU deal on handling asylum seekers, misrepresenting the measure as a “forced relocation” of migrants from the south to central Europe.
• In Poland, Jarosław Kaczyński has called for a referendum on the measure, saying it infringed on Poland’s sovereignty – a desperate ploy to revive his Law and Justice party’s lacklustre election campaign. However, an opinion poll published by the Rzeczpospolita daily showed only a third of Poles support his hardline stance. A majority, 42 per cent, would be inclined to accept the measure if it was accompanied by financial aid for millions of Ukrainian refugees Poland had accepted since the outbreak of the war.
• Germany unveiled its long-delayed national security strategy. It identified Russia as the biggest threat to European and German security. Critics pointed out that the strategy was short on detail in terms of how Germany intends to cooperate with CEE countries in tackling this threat.

‼️ Big @EU_Commission package coming next Tuesday for Ukraine and also EU response to Inflation Reduction Act. Understand support for Ukraine could equal €72bn up to 2027 – a mix of loans and grants for budgetary support and post war reconstruction