Euobserver.com

The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe human rights watchdog on Tuesday deplored Serbian authorities for deciding to ban a march marking EuroPride2022 scheduled for Saturday. "Weeks of uncertainty concerning the holding of this march have sent a wrong message to the public and made space for hateful rhetoric and more threats against LGBTI people, including from religious leaders", said the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatović.

Finalnd's prime minister Sanna Marin told MEPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday that more EU sanctions are needed, arguing that with more measures, the "more expensive it will be for Russia to continue the war" against Ukraine. "Sanctions must be reflected in the lives of ordinary Russians," Marin said, adding the EU must strongly limit visa-issuing and the visa-facilitation programme must end — which the EU has suspended.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. It is time for Ursula von der Leyen to rise to the challenge. Better late than never, writes the opposition Socialists & Democrats' vice-president ahead of the State of the Union speech.

The appointment has been criticised for being rushed — Alessandro Chiocchetti only takes up his new position in January — and for overlooking other candidates, whose experience in administration management was seen as more substantial.

The European Parliament adopted on Tuesday their position on new rules for companies to limit imported deforestation, paving the way for negotiations with EU countries. Rules should also cover pig meat, sheep and goats, poultry, maize, rubber, charcoal and printed-paper products, MEPs said. They agreed products allowed to enter the EU market must not have been produced on deforested land after December 2019 — one year before the commission proposal.

Hungary's right-wing government led by Viktor Orbán will force women seeking abortion to listen to the fetal's vital signs before granting the procedure, according to a new decree published on Monday. The new rule requires doctors to present women requesting an abortion with fetal vital signs, tightening the country's abortion rules. Hungary's abortion laws are relatively liberal and have remained largely unchanged since the procedure was legalised in 1953.

EU data protection agencies (EDPB and EDPS) voiced concerns on Monday over the 2023 budget, arguing that "the lack of resources puts enforcement of individuals' data protection rights at risk". The agencies, which previously requested the commission an increase in staff and financial resources, said the proposed budget is "too small". "The public expects data protection authorities to deliver the promise of the GDPR," said EDPS chief Wojciech Wiewiórowski.

My key goal as UNHCR representative in Yemen is to enhance collaboration with and support to authorities to fulfil their primary responsibilities to displaced Yemenis and refugees to ensure they are protected, assisted and able to rebuild their dignified lives.

'A slow build-up of weak or unethical decision making leads over time to crises that can inflict an enormous human and financial cost', warns the EU Ombudsman writing for EUobserver ahead of Ursula von der Leyen's State of Union speech.

The EU Commission said Monday it was a matter for national Greek institutions to see if the centre-right Greek government broke the law by spying on an opposition leader. EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders also told an EU Parliament hearing he had "entered into an exchange of letters" with Athens on compliance with EU data-protection laws. But MEPs from the left, liberal, and green groups wanted tougher EU-level action.

The bureau of the European Parliament, consisting of president Roberta Metsola, the vice-presidents and the queastors, appointed Alessandro Chiocchetti, Metsola's head of cabinet, as the new secretary general of the parliament's administration. He'll take up his new position in January. His appointment has been criticised as a result of backroom deals. Green MEP Heidi Hautala, one of the vice-presidents, said the rushed process "is bound to damage the parliament's reputation".

The commission has launched in April a legal probe under a new EU law that links the disbursement of EU funds to the rule of law overseeing those subsidies.

EU commissioner in charge of negotiations with the UK over Northern Ireland, Maroš Šefčovič, said that the Irish Sea trade border would be "invisible" under the EU's new plans, involving just "a couple of lorries" a day, The Guardian reported on Monday. He said that physical checks would only occur "when there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal trade smuggling, illegal drugs, dangerous toys or poisoned food".

The German government's plan to legalise recreational cannabis use could fall foul of EU laws, according to a legal analysis by the Bundestag leaked to German news website RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. An EU Council decision from 2004 says cannabis sales should be criminalised. The free-travel Schengen-zone treaty, of which Germany is part, also calls for curtailment of circulation. Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Spain have found loopholes by part-legalising consumption.

EU auditors called on Monday on the commission to create pandemic procurement guidelines, reflecting on lessons learnt from the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out. In a report, they said EU negotiators did not fully analyse "the production and supply chain challenges" of vaccine production until most of the contracts were already signed. Contracts signed in 2021 had stronger provisions in delivery schedules and production locations than those signed in 2020.

Cyprus has ordered a trial of four men accused of corruption on EU passport sales in a sting by the Al Jazeera broadcaster in 2020. The group — Cyprus' former parliament speaker, an ex-MP, a lawyer, and a real-estate agent — offered to expedite a passport for a reporter posing as an Asian buyer with a criminal record. Cyprus sold 7,000 passports between 2007 and 2020, Reuters reports.

US president Joe Biden has confirmed he will attend queen Elizabeth II's funeral in London on 19 September, among other world leaders including from the EU (Austria, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, and Poland), as well as further afield, such as Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, South Korea, and Sri Lanka, Reuters reports. Royal families will attend from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden in what is becoming a diplomatic extravaganza.

Andrej Babiš denies wrongdoing and argues the process is politically-motivated ahead of the presidential election — in which he is expected to run for the (largely ceremonial) position.

The UN atomic agency is holding talks with Russia and Ukraine to set up a "safety zone" around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — whose last operating reactor has now shut down.

Bowing to pressure from radical-nationalist groups and the deeply-conservative Orthodox Church, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić announced last week EuroPride 2022 would be cancelled –– even though he legally lacks the authority to do so.