Euobserver.com

The EU's reluctance to take in hundreds of thousands more refugees means the bloc's best option is to try to renew migration co-operation with Turkey - even if this leaves a bitter taste in its mouth.

Italy adopted on Wednesday new emergency measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, as the country registered over 3,000 cases and 107 deaths. All schools and universities will be closed until 15 March, Reuters reported. The minister for education, Lucia Azzolina, said that she wants to ensure "essential public service, albeit from a distance" to students. Italy, the most-affected country in the EU, followed by Germany, France and Spain.

German chancellor Angela Merkel told German conservative MPs on Tuesday she favoured the creation of safe zones in Idlib, northwest Syria, where Turkish forces and their rebel allies are facing off against the Syrian government backed by Russia, Reuters reports. The Dutch foreign minister went a step further and called in an official statement to "stop humanitarian catastrophe with a no-fly zone over Idlib".

After two rounds of voting in the state parliament, Bodo Ramelow (Linke/Gue) has been elected as the new minister-president of the eastern German state of Thüringen. The former minister-president, the liberal Thomas Kemmerich (FDP/Renew), was elected with the support of CDU, FDP and the far-right AfD, which created a political crisis in Germany and the resignation of CDU party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Ramelow will lead now a minority government.

Ukraine's parliament approved on Wednesday Denys Shmygal as the new prime minister, following the resignation of his predecessor Oleksiy Goncharuk after six months in the job after he was caught out criticising the president by a leaked recording, AFP reported. Before the vote, president Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped that "we will finally have a government for people". Shmygal was previously deputy prime minister and minister of regional development.

Facebook is considering redesigning the Libra cryptocurrency project so that the network also accepts cash issued by central banks, such as the dollar or the euro, in a possible attempt to please regulators, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. In 2019, the Libra Association project was funded by Facebook to create its cryptocurrency and virtual wallet. According to the report, the launch of Facebook's virtual wallet will now be postponed until autumn.

A staff member at the Brussels-based European Defence Agency has contracted the coronavirus Covid-19. A spokesperson at the agency said the staff member had been diagnosed over the weekend and "is feeling fine." Agency staff members, who had been in close contact with the person, have been asked to self-isolate themselves for 14 days as a precaution. The EU agency is headed by the EU's foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell.

Germany is home to the most "super-rich" people in the EU and third worldwide after the US and China, according to a survey by consultancy firm Knight Frank. There were 23,708 people worth €27m each or more in Germany last year, it noted. France (18,776), the UK (14,367), Italy (10,701) and Ireland (1,343) also scored high in the ranking. Japan (17,013) came fourth top while Russia came ninth (8,924).

The EU must help Turkey in Syria as well as honour a 2016 migration pact if it wanted the flow of refugees to end, Turkey's EU embassy has said.

By opening Turkey's border, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to push Europe into supporting him in Ankara's negotiations with Russia's Vladimir Putin for a deal on Syria's Idlib.

The EU's unprecedented climate law will be unveiled on Wednesday, making its 2050 climate-neutrality goal irreversible, but proposal has been criticised for postponing action on the 'climate emergency'.

Greece is now "Europe's shield" said the European Commission, as it shores up border patrols on the Turkish border. But when it comes to Greece suspending asylum claims, the same institution was unable to comment.

In some parts of the world people are used to unpredictability. Europeans are not. Brexit has made them aware of the importance to stay together, especially in an increasingly-hostile environemnt with powers like Russia, Turkey, China and the US.

Critics misread the public mood when they claim that migration restrictions are a sign of creeping authoritarianism. More restrictive court judgements would result in broader support for common migration policies across the EU.

In a worst-case scenario, some 20 percent of the UK workforce would be off work with the coronavirus, the British government warned on Tuesday. That would mean enforced absence from work and self-quarantining, while shops, offices and schools were closed, the government action plan stated. As of Tuesday, there were 51 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.

Several MEPs asked EU Parliament president David Sassoli why climate activist Greta Thunberg's event can go ahead on Wednesday when all other visitors are banned due to fears over the coronavirus. Centre-right EPP MEP Nuno Melo asked in an email: "I would like to request to hear the considered reasons for the exception granted to the citizen Greta Thunberg." Around 130 events have been cancelled due to the lockdown.

The EU Commission is evaluating the compatibility of German ex-commissioner Guenther Oettinger's possible job at the Hungarian Science Policy Council with EU rules, an EU official said. Oettinger formally told the commission on 26 February, after being appointed to by Hungarian PM Viktor Orban on 5 February. Ex-commissioners have to notify the executive within "a minimum of two months". The commission then checks and authorises the role.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg said she is "honoured" to be on the Hungarian state media watch list after Politico said that staff there need permission to report on her. "Lists like these should never exist. But since they do, I guess it's an honour to be on them... This shows the importance of democracy. Freedom of the press is non-negotiable," she tweeted. Thunberg will be in Brussels on Wednesday.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has submitted a draft amendment to Russia's constitution that would enshrine marriage as being between a man and a woman, the Guardian writes. This measure is part of a 24-page document that would also name Russia as the successor to the Soviet Union, mention Russians' "faith in God", and ensure the "defence of historical truth" regarding the Soviet role in the second world war.

Some 12 EU states, led by Denmark, have urged the EU to quickly adopt new emissions goals to set an example to others at an international climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, in November. "If the fact that the EU goes in front is going to have an effect, then it not only needs to be before the summit, but also well in advance," Danish climate minister Dan Joergensen said.