Euobserver.com

The jury is still out on Josep Borrell; more recruitment is under way and he has a chance to have more women channelled women towards leadership positions.

Some three million more Syrian refugees are being "deliberately" pushed by Russia toward Europe, US diplomats have warned.

The European Commission is traveling to Athens to discuss tension on the Greece-Turkey border. It wants to find a better response on getting EU states to take in unaccompanied minors. It also wants to discuss Greece's controversial asylum-suspension measures.

As Italy went into lockdown EU leaders discussed a more coordinated response to the outbreak. The commission promised financial help, as more and more meetings are cancelled in the EU institutions.

As Italy went into lockdown EU leaders discussed a more coordinated response to the outbreak. The commission promised financial help, as more and more meetings are cancelled in the EU institutions.

The New York Times newspaper has revealed a secret Greek centre used to deport arriving asylum seekers without due process in what François Crépeau, a former UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, has described as a "black site". Those detained are said to be kept in secret and without access to legal recourse.

The city council of Madrid announced on Wednesday that all education centres will be closed for two weeks, El País reported. The decision will affect over 1.5m students from early education to university. A city in the Basque region took the same measures earlier. All regions have reported cases of coronavirus, but about 60 percent of cases are concentrated in three regions: La Rioja, Madrid and the Basque Country.

A member of Russia's ruling party has proposed amending the constitution in a way that would reset president Vladimir Putin's term count back to zero, the Guardian writes. Currently, Putin is required by the constitution to step down in 2024 when his second sequential presidential term ends. If the amendment is approved Putin could thus be able to remain president of Russia until 2036.

More than 100 MEPs have signed a letter asking EU Council president Charles Michel to support them in their request for a stand-in, in case they take parental leave. They write "for women this [current system] can have the effect of hampering them either in their choice to enter politics or in their choice of having children. We cannot allow that seats in the European Parliament become vacant."

Women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul is facing trial. One of the allegations is contacting the EU delegation. Despite pressure from Brussels, Saudi Arabia remains unimpressed.

European Parliament president David Sassoli says he will be working from his home in Brussels after having recently returned from a visit in Italy. "I have decided after having been in Italy over the last weekend, as a precaution, to follow the indicated measures and to exercise my function as president from my home in Brussels in compliance with the 14 days indicated by the health protocol," he said.

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has put the whole country of more than 60m people under a lockdown to avoid the further spread of coronavirus, banning public gatherings and urging people to stay at home. "There is no more time. I will take responsibility for these measures. Our future is in our hands," he said Monday. Almost 500 people have died and more than 9,000 infected in Italy so far.

Migrants are still free to go to the Greek land border despite EU and Nato crisis talks with Erdoğan in Brussels on Monday.

A German export ban on masks that protects against the coronavirus has angered Austria and Switzerland. "It can't be that Germany is holding back products for Austria just because they happen to be stored in a German location," said Austrian economy minister Margarete Schramboeck. "These products are for the Austrian market, and unilateral moves by Germany are just causing problems in other countries," she added.

EU leaders are set to hold a teleconference to discuss a joint-response on the coronavirus outbreak. "Following consultations I will hold a EUCO [European Council] members conference call shortly on COVID-19 to coordinate EU efforts," Council president Charles Michel said in a tweet. "We need to cooperate in order to protect the health of our citizens," he said. The teleconference is likely to take place Tuesday.

The first 100 days of Ursula von der Leyen's commission were supposed to be about the digital and environmental transitions. However, that agenda has been hit by first the coronavirus, and now the Greek border situation.

A Dutch trial of four men accused of shooting down flight MH17 six years ago has put the spotlight back on Russia's covert war in east Ukraine.

The European Commission has a new strategy for Africa. The proposal, whose details have yet to be worked out, spans broad issues like climate, energy, digital transformation, jobs, peace, governance, and migration.

The European Commission published on Monday the rules for sustainable finance, also known as "EU taxonomy" - which aims to help investors and consumers to identify economic activities that can unambiguously be considered environmentally green. Nuclear was not included as it is impossible "to conclude that the nuclear energy value chain does not cause significant harm to other environmental objectives on the time scales in question," says the report.

The EU's new Pact on Migration and Asylum is an opportunity to take a different approach. To take a breath, to remember the values that the European project was founded upon, and to dust off the good old fundamental rights.