Euobserver.com

Ahead of the EU-AU summit, Europe seems rather optimistic, while the African side is much more cautious. The water between both sides of the Mediterranean is still deep.

For many Europeans it may be weird to hear German citizens tell phone-in programmes that "with weapons you cannot create peace" - as if Ukraine would be wrong to defend itself against an enormous military threat posed by Russia.

Poland's deputy commissioner for human rights says over 1,500 migrants are still stranded at detention centres inside Poland. Of those, some 400 are children and 290 are women. She said a 13-year old girl had committed suicide.

EU citizens want the European Parliament to defend democracy and human rights, but feel less sure about whether things are going in the right direction.

The EU aims to produce 20 percent of the world's chips by 2030 in response to efforts from the US and China. But is the effort too little, too late?

The EU aims to produce 20 percent of the world's chips by 2030 in response to efforts from the US and China. But is the effort too little, too late?

France is pushing for EU action against Islamist radicalisation, in a test of Europe's appetite for French president Emmanuel Macron's "strict secularism".

Leaving Nato membership open to Ukraine risked war in Europe, Russian president Vladimir Putin warned Macron in Moscow.

ECB president Christine Lagarde signalled monetary tightening, but some MEPs underlined a threat to jobs and urged her to keep easy money flowing into the economy.

Andrzej Duda said his rule-of-law proposal was met with approval and "relief" by both the EU Commission's Ursula von der Leyen and the European Council's Charles Michel.

As Europe searches for alternative energy sources, concerns mount among green groups over Europe's continued dependence on fossil fuels.

Austria has disputed claims by the French EU presidency of an informal agreement about one the most contentious issues surrounding migration and asylum.

A war in Ukraine would lead to an influx of refugees, and an unprecedented energy shortage. A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would shut down our economy due to a scarcity of semiconductors.

The European Commission is mulling additional oversight of the EU's powerful border and coast guard agency, Frontex. "We should at least once a year have a political management board for Frontex with ministers," said EU home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson.

The EU foreign service is pulling out 1,000 local people from Afghanistan, but what would it do for local staff at missions in Ukraine or Mali?

Poland's president Andzej Duda will be in Brussels in an apparent attempt to end the EU-Warsaw rule-of-law row. The commission will meanwhile put ramping up European microchip production on the agenda.

French president Emmanuel Macron was hoping "to build a historic solution" on European security when he meets Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, Macron told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper on Sunday. "I believe President Putin is available for this," said Macron, who noted that he'd previously been in "deep dialogue" with the Russian leader.

Even without shaking up the ranks of the German coalition, the EU's green taxonomy may be the biggest controversy of Ursula von der Leyen's presidency of the Commission.

US and EU tensions with a Russian-Chinese bloc meant "the pressure on Switzerland to cultivate deeper relations with Europe will grow," Swiss president Ignazio Cassis told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper Sunday, adding that, "the EU is closest to us economically, ideologically and socially". He also proposed resuming EU-Swiss talks on the "health, research, media, or culture" sectors after negotiations collapsed last year.

Authorities in France and Luxembourg have written to Lebanon seeking information on personal bank accounts and assets of its central bank chief Riad Salameh amid money-laundering allegations, Reuters reported Saturday, citing Lebanese sources. Switzerland has charged the bank chief with aggravated money laundering and Luxembourg also has a criminal case against him, according to Reuters. The action comes after an economic collapse in Lebanon in 2019.