Euobserver.com

Russian planes fired at civilians on at least two occasions in Syria in what amounted to war crimes, UN investigators have said. A strike on Ma'arrat al-Nu'man last July killed 43 people, while one in Haas in August killed 20. "The Russian air force did not direct the attacks at a specific military objective, amounting to the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas," the UN report said.

Along with Greece, Hungary has also closed down its borders to asylum seekers, while Bulgaria's premier Boyko Borissov was due to meet with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

UK and EU negotiators are once again hunched over the negotiating tables this week, to try to come to an agreement on their future relationship. Several hurdles will to be overcome - in a very short time.

Europe can do more to stop the wars in Syria and Libya, and thus avoid a major comeback of Isis. Avoiding the causes of new movements of refugees is smarter than just closing borders.

A delegation of MEPs from the civil liberties committee have warned of the remaining "deficiencies" of the EU-US 'privacy shield' framework, amid concerns over the efficiency of this mechanism to protect EU citizens' fundamental rights.

Greece cannot waive its obligation to help asylum seekers by citing EU protocols, the UN has pointed out.

The European disease prevention agency on Monday increased the risk of coronavirus infection in the EU to "high," as the outbreak spread to 18 member states. The commission also launched a "corona response team" to work on halting the disease.

Latvia said Monday a citizen thought to be working for Russia has been arrested for allegedly trying to recruit a secret service officer to also spy for Moscow, AFP reports. Contacted by AFP, the Russian embassy in Latvia declined comment. Russian espionage activity in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania has increased since tensions with the West have grown over its backing for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

More than 160 organisations signed a declaration of concern published on Tuesday that urge decision-makers to ensure that no harmful chemicals are used in food packaging. According to the report, many of those chemicals can lead to health problems, like cancer or chronic diseases. "The EU must reform its legislative framework on food contact materials since it's outdated, insufficient and inadequate," said Justine Maillot from NGO Zero Waste Europe.

At the weekend, Luxembourg became the first country of the world to introduce free public transport for everyone. According to the country's minister of mobility, Francois Bausch, for trains, buses and trams everyone can simply "get on". Luxembourg invested €4.5bn in train and tram networks in order to make it as attractive as possible and make people leave the car at home.

EU states ought to open accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia "in the next few weeks and well ahead of the Zagreb summit", the European Commission said Monday, after recording progress on rule of law and other reforms in an enlargement report. EU and Western Balkan leaders are to meet in Zagreb in May. But France earlier vetoed opening talks until the EU had first reformed its enlargement protocols.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on Monday raised the risk of infection in the European Union from "moderate" to "high", due to the increase in the number of cases during the last days. A total of 18 member states have been affected by the outbreak, although this is a "rapidly-changing situation," said the commissioner for health, Stella Kyriakides, calling for a coordinated European and national response.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, EU Council president Charles Michel and president of the European Parliament David Sassoli will travel to the Greek-Turkish land border on Tuesday in show of support of Greece's efforts to stop migration at the EU's external border. "Important statement of support by all three institutions at a time when Greece is successfully defending EU borders," Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted, welcoming the visit.

The coronavirus outbreak is costing the European tourism industry around €1bn per month in lost revenue, EU commissioner for industry Thierry Breton said on Monday. "Chinese tourists are not coming to Europe since January. It means two million hotel nights lost. That is €1bn per month since January," Breton told BFM television according to Reuters.

The coronavirus is now spreading at a slower pace in China, but has already claimed nearly 3,000 fatalities, German daily Deutsche Welle wrote. Worldwide infections are soaring, with more than 86,000 confirmed cases globally. Infections are rising quickly in Europe too. Italy, in particular, has been unable to contain the virus' spread, registering a 50 percent increase in cases in the past 24 hours, Deutsche Welle said.

The centre-right opposition Civic Platform party's candidate for presidential elections in Poland in May has said she wanted to repair EU ties. "I will rebuild true partnerships with the EU," Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska told a rally on Saturday, Reuters reports. "Our children are suffocating from smog and our government, instead of investing in clean technologies, invests in Russian coal and does not allow Poles to use European green money," she said.

The EU's first ambassador to the post-Brexit UK has said he will help vulnerable EU nationals, such as Roma people, to stay in Britain if they want to. He would focus on "everyone that is for some reason outside the mainstream for socioeconomic [reasons] or age or ethnic or otherwise ... Roma people is a big issue as well", João Vale de Almeida, the ambassador, told British daily The Guardian.

Some 13,000 people were waiting to cross into Greece from Turkey on Saturday, prompting Athens to call for an emergency EU foreign ministers' meeting.

Slovak people have ejected their old, centre-left government in a vote marked by the murder of a journalist in 2018.

The European Commission will on Wednesday unveil the first-ever EU climate law, while environmental activist Greta Thunberg is in Brussels to meet with the college of commissioners and MEPs. Environmental ministers will also gather to discuss future climate developments.