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In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about the Swedish foreign minister resigning from his post, Bulgaria's pro-Russian party advocating for Bulgaria to join the BRICS, and so much more.

The US filed money-laundering charges against two employees of Russian state media network RT for what officials said was a scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 presidential election.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, responding to a question about the potential delivery of long-range US missiles to Ukraine, warned the United States on Wednesday (4 September) not to joke about Russia's "red lines".

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he intended to discuss a gas supply contract with Serbia that expires in March 2025 with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin.

The former prime minister turned MEP Beata Szydło disagreed with her PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński's approach to finding a candidate for next year's presidential election, marking an unusual show of defiance towards the powerful politician.

Bulgaria's largest pro-Russian party, Revival, called for the country to leave the European Union and become a member of BRICS, where Russia has a leading influence.

Lawmakers in Moldova's separatist region of Tiraspol passed a law on Wednesday banning the use of the term 'Transnistria', equating it with terms such as 'fascism' and 'Nazism', with the region's de facto leader, Vadim Krasnoselski, saying he prefers the Russian term 'Pridnestrovie'.

The Spanish government will present a progressive draft budget for 2025 next week, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) announced on Wednesday, asserting that his coalition government will complete the three years left of its mandate amid opposition calls for it to resign.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström unexpectedly announced his resignation on Wednesday evening, halfway through a term marked by his country's accession to NATO, amid speculation of a rift between him and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said a cooling tower at Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had been badly damaged in a fire last month and would probably have to be demolished.

Italy approved on Wednesday (4 September) a plan to put 28,000 concessions for lucrative beach bars and clubs up for bidding by June 2027, in a long delayed response to a European Union demand for Rome to open the sector to newcomers.

Mario Draghi’s presentation of his long-awaited report on the future of Europe’s competitiveness to EU officials on Wednesday (4 July) was light on details and policy proposals - with Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen signalling she hasn't accessed the full document yet.

Untreated dossiers like hydrogen, nuclear energy, and carbon capture are piling up on the desks of absent ministers, as France remains without a government since the July elections. Industry fears this governmental paralysis puts the country's energy and climate goals and associated investment at risk.  

The Swedish Medical Products Agency is pushing for the creation of a state-run pharmaceutical production company to deal with shortages of critical medicines.

The Bulgarian government has been accused of illegally blocking exports of insulin and antibiotics despite having enough stockpiles. The European Commission has been urged to intervene.

A sharp increase in preventive screening points to a post-pandemic silver lining as Czech citizens seek to futureproof their health, including a 73% year-on-year increase in claims for voluntary vaccinations.

The Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture’s final recommendations suggest agricultural policy needs to fundamentally change. What does this shift look like?

The Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture’s final recommendations suggest agricultural policy needs to fundamentally change. What does this shift look like?

Court proceedings from the Irish Data Protection Commission against X are officially over as of Wednesday (4 September), after the company agreed to permanently stop processing some personal data collected in the EU to train artificial intelligence (AI).

On World Sexual Health Day, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) calls for urgent measures to stifle the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STI) in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) amid rising diagnoses.