Bled

The European Union is preparing to take emergency action to reform the electricity market and get a grip on energy prices that have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine, senior officials have said

Energy ministers from EU member states will hold urgent talks in Brussels on September 9.

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Reports of intense gunfire in the Ukrainian city of Energodar

Russian forces fired on two neighborhoods in Energodar - the city near which Europe's largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, is located.

Ljubljana – Opponents of the government anti-coronavirus measures gathered on Tuesday in Republic Square in front of the parliament building, which the police protected and cordoned off after a similar protest turned violent last week. The police used a water cannon and tear gas and the crowd dispersed around the centre of Ljubljana, continuing to protest.

Ljubljana – The government decided to restrict or prohibit movement in Ljubljana, the lakeside resort of Bled and around the Brdo pri Kranju conference centre on Tuesday and Wednesday, citing a high probability of severe violations of public order and peace. This comes as new mass protests have been announced and ahead of the EU-Western Balkans summit.

"Politics for me requires being a manager and at the same time a leader in order to solve problems and steadily manage crises, big and small. Today we need to produce results because that is what people expect from us. Being a leader means first of all telling the truth and occasionally making unpopular decisions.

Ljubljana – Slovenia’s tourism is beginning to pick up with fresh statistics showing visitor numbers rose by well over 50% and nights spent at tourism accommodation facilities by almost 70% year-on-year in June.

Arrivals were up by 54.7% to over 375,000 and nights spent rose by 66.7% compared with June last year to over a million, data from the Statistics Office show.

Romania and Croatia face a veto from their neighbours, Hungary and Slovenia, on Friday in Paris, when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, discusses their applications for membership.

Hungary on Wednesday said it would block Romania's membership application over the closure of a Hungarian-language Catholic school in Transylvania.

Asked to comment on EU's enlargement policy, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that enlargement was good not only for Serbia, but also for the EU.

Asked to comment on EU's enlargement policy, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that enlargement was good not only for Serbia, but also for the EU.

US State Department official Hoyt Bryan Yee thinks that "integration and transformation" of the Western Balkans is in the interests of Brussels, and the region.

Speaking in Bled, Slovenia, he added that the readiness for this on the part of EU institutions is what is currently missing.