Euobserver.com

French president Emmanuel Macron asked Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for a "strengthening of Franco-Russian co-operation in the fight against terrorism and illegal immigration" in a phone call Tuesday, Macron's office said. The two leaders "reaffirmed their mutual interest in intensifying joint efforts in the fight against terrorism and the propagation of extremist ideology", the Kremlin said. The talks came after an extremist of Russian origin murdered a French teacher Friday.

A new report by the EU Agency for Cybersecurity revealed on Tuesday that EU health services were challenged by cyber threats. Given that the pandemic let to a transformation of the digital environment, cyber criminals have been seen advancing their capabilities, becoming more sophisticated, adapting quickly and targeting relevant victim groups more effectively. The commission will announce a new cybersecurity strategy by the end of the year.

Greece has asked fellow European Union countries to halt military exports to Turkey, the country's foreign minister Nikos Dendias said on Tuesday, amid a deepening dispute between the two neighbours over maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, Ekathimerini writes. Dendias also said he has written to EU enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi to complain that Turkey is violating its customs union with the bloc.

Spain's health minister Salvador Illa said on Tuesday the government is considering to introduce new restrictions, such as curfews, to halt the spread of the virus in hard-hit regions, Reuters reported. However, imposing a curfew in Madrid - one of the hotspots in Europe - would require invoking a state of emergency. France ordered a curfew in Paris and eight other cities, while Belgium recently introducing a nationwide one.

A new report for the European Public Health Alliance revealed on Wednesday that air pollution costs the average European city resident €1,276 per year. While Bucharest tops the rank for highest costs (€3,004 per year), Italian cities dominate the top 10 due to both pollution and higher general costs. However, those living in Spain's largely-unpolluted Santa Cruz de Tenerife face the lowest cost (€382 per year) in the bloc.

On Tuesday, MEPs and diplomats made little progress on legislation linking EU funds to respect for the rule of law, but the German EU presidency insisted that "differences narrowed down".

Cyprus and Malta are breaking EU law and facilitating crime by selling 'golden passports' to wealthy foreigners, the European Commission has said.

The European Commission says its funds help provide training for Libyan authorities. But a 60-page internal EU document seen by EUobserver says the training programmes are progressing poorly.

MEPs will vote this week on a supposedly historical reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, which accounts for over one-third of the EU's annual budget. But as it stands, it is set to become a historical failure of catastrophic proportions.

The European Parliament in a plenary vote refused to sign off the accounts of the EU's smallest institution, the European Economic Social Committee (EESC), over its harassment cases. Some 618 voted against "granting discharge" to the EESC, 68 abstained and only one voted in favour. "Harassment of any type cannot be accepted and certainly not be covered up by the EU institution," said Mikuláš Peksa Greens/EFA and Pirate MEP.

Russia's GRU military intelligence service tried to hack officials from the Olympic Games due to have taken place in Tokyo this year, the British government said Monday. "The GRU's actions ... are cynical and reckless," British foreign minister Dominic Raab said. Russian athletes were banned from the games due to a doping scandal and the GRU operation was meant to discredit the games, which were, anyway, delayed by Covid-19.

Frank Jensen, the 59-year old mayor of Copenhagen and the deputy-chairman of Denmark's ruling centre-left party, has resigned after two women accused him of sexual harassment. "It's obvious that we in the Social Democratic Party have problems," Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said. Jensen had fondled the women, he said in his Facebook apology, because he was part of a "harmful" and "old" culture in the party.

Greece plans to complete a 26-km long and 5-metre high concrete and metal wall along its land border with Turkey by April, connecting to a previous 10-km section, it said Monday. The €63m project will also see cameras installed along the whole 192-km border, most of which runs along the Evros river. Turkey, in March, let some of its 4 million refugees try to cross to Greece, prompting EU-wide alarm.

The European Commission adopted on Monday its 2021 work programme, which is closely linked to the recovery plan for Europe. For the Green Deal, initiatives include a carbon border-tax and measures to implement the circular economy action plan, the biodiversity and the farm-to-fork strategy. In digital policy, there will be new 2030 targets, a European e-ID and an update of the new industrial strategy for Europe.

A prominent Holocaust-denier has made the cover of an EU-funded newsletter, which was published by an avowed German neo-Nazi with a lengthy criminal record. The lack of clear labelling of the MEP behind it violates European Parliament rules.

A report from the European Environment Agency reveals the EU failed to meet the targets of its 2020 biodiversity strategy, with the vast majority of protected landscapes and species show notable deteriorating trends.

London was irked by the conclusion of the EU summit last week, which demanded that the UK moved on key hurdles on the substance of the negotiations - such as fair completion and fisheries.

Europe's migrants - including EU nationals living in other states - are more at risk of catching coronavirus or suffering from corona-linked poverty, a new study says.

The German government will invest €500m in improving ventilation systems of public buildings, such as offices, museums, theatres, universities or schools, in a bid to halt the spread of coronavirus, the BBC reported on Monday. The aim is to upgrade existing air-conditioning systems to reduce the risks associated with staying longer inside. Research studies suggest that the virus can remain in a room's air for at least eight minutes.

The European Commission, on Monday, tabled a bill on travel-bans and asset-freezes on human rights abusers worldwide, known informally in Brussels as the "European Magnitsky Act", after a late Russian activist, Sergei Magnitsky. EU presidency Germany aims to see it in force by January. More than a year in the making, the draft bill says the commission should retain "oversight" of travel-bans, which is normally a prerogative of member states.