Euobserver.com

German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday condemned an attempt by far-right protesters to storm the country's parliament building over the weekend, AP reported. Hundreds of people, who were part of a broader demonstration against pandemic restrictions, breached a security barrier outside the Reichstag. Steinmeier called right-wing extremism "a serious danger". He defended the right of those protesting but urged them not to join forces with the far-right.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Monday imposed a travel ban on Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko and 29 officials involved in electoral vote-rigging, Reuters reported. "We see that we need to move forward and to show an example to other countries," said Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda, referring to the cautious approach taken by the EU and member states. The Belarusian foreign ministry said they will respond with similar sanctions.

The European Commission as of Tuesday will be able to impose €30,000 fines per car should an EU regulation on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles be violated. "From now on the Commission will be able to carry out checks on cars, trigger EU-wide recalls, and impose fines of up to €30,000 per car when the law is broken," said EU commissioner for internal market, Thierry Breton.

The European Commission is joining the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility. Also known as Covax, the facility aims to hasten affordable vaccines against the virus for everyone. The Commission said it will also offer Covax some €400m in guarantees as part of those efforts. "Global collaboration is the only way to overcome a global pandemic," said commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a statement.

The European Commission warned closing borders was not an "efficient" measure to fight the coronavirus pandemic, after Hungary decided unilaterally to shut down its borders to all foreigners. Meanwhile, neighbouring countries are considering different approaches.

Concerning the op-ed "Sudan asylum decision signals Dutch moral collapse", we would like to rebut statements made in this article and signal that it contains factual mistakes and misleading statements about the use of EU funds in Sudan.

Hezbollah has flagrantly violated the UN mandate, as it continues arms-smuggling via Syria with Iran and digging tunnels along the Israeli border.

Many European politicians have praised Russia for keeping a neutral line toward developments in Belarus. However, this is not the case at all.

Member states have yet to ask the European Commission to help coordinate the relocation of some 350 migrants and refugees stranded for the past 10 days on the charity rescue boat Sea Watch 4. "So far we have not received a request to coordinate the relocation of those rescued by the Sea Watch 4 and by the Louise Michel vessels," a European Commission spokesperson told reporters on Monday.

Ireland's deputy prime minster Simon Coveney is reported to be the frontrunner for the post. MEPs will also discuss where negotiations on the EU's long-term budget with member states are heading.

Lebanon's ambassador to Germany, Mustapha Adib, could become the crisis-stricken country's next prime minister after getting the support of senior Sunni politicians from the party of Saad Hariri, the Guardian writes. Adib was named by four former prime ministers at the start of consultations between the president and parliamentary political groups on their choice for the post.

The Belgian "informateur" Egbert Lachaert has succeeded for the first time since the elections 15 months ago in getting seven parties around the table to negotiate about a so-called Vivaldi coalition, De Standaard reports. Vivaldi stands for the colours of the four seasons: orange for the Flemish Christian-Democrats (CD&V), blue for the liberals (MR and Open Vld), red for the socialists (PS and spa) and the greens (Ecolo and Green).

Clashes broke out at an anti-Islam rally in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Saturday, prompting authorities to end the event early, Deutsche Welle reports. The rally, organised by the group Stop Islamisation of Norway (SIAN), was met with protesters chanting "no racism in our streets. Clashes started when an anti-Islam protester ripped pages from the koran. Police used tear gas to keep rival groups separated, arresting nearly 30 people.

China and the EU might be able to conclude a deal on investment protection "by the end of the year", but "we each need to take a step towards the other," Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said at a think-tank event in Paris Sunday. He spoke while on a longer European tour, following seven years of talks on how to help EU firms operate inside the Asian giant.

Holidaymakers on the beaches of Crotona, Italy, Sunday saw plumes of smoke after a migrant boat erupted in flames, probably due to an engine fault, as the Italian navy was trying to get people off. At least three died, with several others missing. A further 900 migrants arrived in boats near the island of Lampedusa at the weekend. And 200 more are waiting to get off an NGO rescue ship.

A fringe group of a few hundred protesters, some carrying far-right insignia, tried to storm into the German parliament building in Berlin on Sunday, after breaking away from a much-larger rally, of some 38,000 people, demonstrating against coronavirus restrictions. "The Reichstag is ... the symbolic centre of our democracy," interior minister Horst Seehofer said. German president Frank Walter Steinmeier also condemned "an unbearable attack on the heart of our democracy".

Mass protests against rigged elections continued for a third weekend in a row in Belarus despite a show of force by riot police. There were scuffles and more than 140 arrests in Minsk, but no large-scale violence, as people chanted slogans such as "disgrace!" and sang songs such as "Happy birthday, you rat", the BBC reports. Authorities had also stripped several foreign media of their accreditations ahead of the rallies.

First and foremost, do no harm: The danger of a rebound in greenhouse gas emissions after the coronavirus crisis is looming on the horizon.

Italy's Covid-19 emergency highlighted its reliance on undocumented migrants picking fruit and vegetables in conditions some have called "modern slavery".

Trump allegedly found Puerto Rico "dirty" and suggested he would exchange the territory for Greenland, a part of the Danish kingdom.