Euobserver.com

"I've always been a great enthusiast for a trade deal with our European friends and partners," British prime minister Boris Johnson told the AP news agency Sunday, but added he would still pass a bill enabling him to renege on a previous withdrawal agreement if needed. He spoke with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen by phone Saturday, who said "large differences" remained on fishing rights and state aid.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by phone Saturday Armenia must withdraw from Azerbaijan's territory and "sit down at the negotiating table" for a peaceful solution to warfare over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Erdoğan's diplomatic overture to play a leading role in the conflict came after his military support for Azerbaijan. Russia has a joint defence pact with Armenia, if Armenian territory is attacked.

Police snatched another 360 protesters off the streets of Belarus on Sunday, as weekly demonstrations against rigged elections on 9 August continued despite the crackdown. Olympic decathlon silver-medallist Andrei Krauchenko and kickboxing champion Ivan Ganin were among those arrested, Reuters reported. About 60 medical doctors were also detained in a rally on Saturday. The EU blacklisted Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko on Friday, saying more sanctions could follow.

NGO ClientEarth, and other 13 organisations, have filed an injunction to stop a €3bn plastics-plant project expansion in Antwerp. The environmental groups are trying to prevent the clearance of woodland necessary for the construction of two extra industrial units before submitting a judicial appeal. "The Flemish authorities' decision to welcome yet more plastics refineries directly contradicts its own commitments to reduce plastic pollution and tackle climate change," ClientEarth said.

EU leaders and officials have congratulated Joe Biden on his victory in US elections, in what looked like a coordinated effort to stop Trump challenging the result.

Plans to reform the EU free-travel zone were already announced in September by the European Commission. On Friday, it re-stated those intentions following demands by the French president for a major overhaul.

The Interreg Med, a cross-border initiative of 13 countries around the Mediterranean Sea, has made the fight against climate change the cornerstone of its strategy for the next years - since the region is facing irreversible environmental damage.

As the US elects a new president, EU foreign affairs and trade ministers will discuss developments on Monday.

A new report published on Monday by NGO watchdogs Counter Balance and CEE Bankwatch Network exposes serious failures of the European Investment Bank in the development field.

German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron have congratulated Joe Biden on his US election win, despite incumbent president Donald Trump's earlier claims of voting fraud. "Our transatlantic friendship is irreplaceable," Merkel said. "We have a lot to do to meet the challenges of today. Let's work together," Macron said. The Belgian, Cypriot, Greek, Irish, Polish, and Portuguese leaders also issued congratulations, as did the British prime minister.

Joe Biden has won US elections after taking the state of Pennsylvania, ending what some EU politicians have called four "nightmare" years of outgoing president Donald Trump.

The EU has imposed a visa-ban and asset-freeze on president Alexander Lukashenko and his son, due to the "gravity of the situation" in Belarus after rigged elections in August.

Slovak citizens are required to present their negative "Covid certificate" - which prime minister Igor Matovic tagged their "ticket to freedom" - at their work place, shops and other public spaces or even when casually checked by police when outdoors.

The EU foreign service has condemned Israel's demolition of more than 70 Palestinian structures in Khirbet Hamsa al-Foqa, in the occupied West Bank, which made 11 families, including 41 children, homeless, saying it was "an impediment towards the two-state solution" favoured by the UN. There were 52 Palestinian schools still under threat of being bulldozed, including an EU-funded academy in the West Bank's Ras Al-Teen community, the EU noted.

French president Emmanuel Macron has pledged deep reform of free movement in the EU in the wake of recent terrorist attacks.

The World Health Organisation in Europe said on Thursday it was seeing an "explosion" of coronavirus cases on the continent and warned of a "tough time" ahead as mortality rates rose, AFP reports. "We do see an explosion ... in the sense it only takes a couple of days to have over the European region an increase of one million cases," WHO's regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said.

EU politicians have cautioned against thinking the US would make a full U-turn toward Europe even if Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden wins.

In Paris, 84 patients with the coronavirus died Wednesday in its hospitals, which are at 92 percent capacity, with 1,050 Covid-19 patients in intensive care and another 600 patients in ICU with other ailments, AP news agency reports. With more than 27,000 people hospitalised across France, Covid-19 patients occupy more than 80 percent of the nation's ICU beds, according to the public health agency, the highest level since April.

Norway's environmental groups, including Greenpeace and Youth Norway, have argued that new licences for exploratory oil-drilling violate a constitutional right to a healthy environment, the New York Times reported on Thursday. After two lower courts previously rejected invalidating the exploration licences issued by the government, the Supreme Court has been asked to confront this apparent contradiction to the country's constitution's environmental provisions.

The deal means MEPs and the German EU presidency unblocked a major political hurdle to agreeing on the €1.8 trillion long-term EU budget and coronavirus recovery package.