Euobserver.com

Germany is sending 250 soldiers on a frigate for a five-month mission to enforce the Libya arms embargo. The mission is part of the European Union efforts to enforce a United Nations embargo, also known as Operation Irini. Irini was launched in May to prevent the flow of weapons to Libya. The German frigate set sail on Tuesday.

The head of a German doctors union warned that the spike in covid-19 cases is a signal that the second wave of the virus is already hitting the country. "We are already in a second, shallow upswing," Susanne Johna, the president of Marburger Bund, told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper on Tuesday. Germany has registered over 212,000 cases and more than 9,000 deaths.

Some 47 percent of Germans are happy the US is pulling 12,000 soldiers out of Germany, according to a survey by pollster YouGov for the DPA news agency. Some 25 percent would like all US soldiers to leave. Some 66 percent also wanted the US to remove nuclear weapons from Germany. The poll came after US president Donald Trump said he was pulling troops to punish Germany on defence spending.

A US decision to build new military bases in Poland is the "crowning glory" of the Polish government's foreign and defence policy, Polish defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak said Tuesday. The US intelligence, infantry, and aviation facilities are to be staffed by some 1,000 troops on a "rotational" basis, but Błaszczak said it meant an "enduring" US presence. The Russia-deterrent forces will join 4,500 US soldiers already on rotation in Poland.

Coronavirus infections have risen by 58 percent in Belgium in the past week to reach 535.4 per day, while the rate of infection per 100,000 inhabitants went up 200 percent in two weeks, according to Belgian public health body Sciensano. Belgium is a part-amber, part-red zone for coronavirus in Europe, along with Romania, Spain, and other isolated hotspots. Large parts of France, Poland, Sweden, and the UK are also amber.

The 33 men from Russia's Wagner mercenary firm recently detained in Belarus were planning a "massacre" to destabilise the country ahead of elections on Sunday, Belarus president Aleksander Lukashenko said Tuesday. "An attempt to organise a massacre in the centre of Minsk is already obvious," he said. He also accused Russia of having sent a second mercenary unit to south Belarus, amid mounting domestic opposition to his 26-year rule.

France, Italy, and the UK offered aid to Lebanon after an explosion in Beirut killed some 100 and injured 4,000 on Tuesday. The blast, initially blamed on chemical stockpiles in a port warehouse, was heard in Cyprus. "The EU stands ready to provide assistance and support," EU Council president Charles Michel said. It had also made available its "Copernicus" satellite observation system, EU crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarčič said.

The United States recovery focused on a number of important issues, including unemployment benefits and funding for health care providers, but lacked any programs directed towards addressing pollution, renewable energy industries, and clean technology improvements.

Azerbaijan ambassador to EU Fuad Isgandarov had shared a virulent rant against George Floyd. Asked why, Isgandarov told this website he doesn't recall the message and forgot how he had responded to it.

EU protection of LGBTI people in Poland has enraged members of the ruling elite, who hit back with apocalyptic rhetoric.

Serbia has purchased Chinese medium-range, radar-guided surface-to-air missiles. "The biggest part of imports is related to the modernisation of MIG-29 planes, the procurement of drone systems,... (and) air-defence system FK-3," sadi the state-run arms company Jugoimport SDPR's annual report, seen by Reuters news agency. China has invested heavily in the Balkan region as part of its One Belt, One Road initiative.

The EU demands Hong Kong reverse decision to postpone Legislative Council elections by one year, as western powers suspend extradition treaties with the global financial hub given China's controversial national security laws.

Why is the EU Commission promoting a lose-lose (pay more, get less) strategy rather than the straightforward use of green electricity, where it will deliver bigger CO2-reductions and for less money?

The EU ought to better use regional data on coronavirus travel, a Belgian expert has said, amid confusing national rules.

Travellers to France from 16 countries must now get tested for Covid-19 upon arrival at French airports and ports. Those who test positive must quarantine for 14 days. The new rules began on 1 August. The countries on the list are: Algeria, Bahrain, Brazil, India, Israel, Kuwait, Madagascar, Oman, Panama, Peru, Qatar, Serbia, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United States.

France's Europe minister Clément Beaune tells the Financial Times that rule of law and fundamental rights cannot be compromised under the new €750bn EU budget recovery fund.

A revamping of Indian and EU strategic priorities - coupled with wariness of Chinese expansionism in the absence of American leadership - is pushing them both to seek like-minded partners elsewhere.

The EU has imposed new-model sanctions on Russian and Chinese cybercriminals, but fresh revelations of Russia-linked media-hacking indicate it might need to go further.

The mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close, announced the closure of the capital's mosques this Friday to halt the spread of new coronavirus infections. "Our Muslim fellow citizens will exceptionally celebrate Eid in their homes, with their loved ones. I want to thank the mosques for leading by example," Close tweeted. The increase in infections has forced the Belgian government to tighten measures.

The European Court of Auditors concluded on Thursday that the set of principles and tools named "Better Regulation" has improved EU policy-making for nearly 20 years. However, the auditors also stressed that more could be done to consult citizens, improve the evidence base for decision-making and enforce EU law. According to a recent OECD study, the European Commission put in place one of the world's most advanced Better Regulation systems.