Euobserver.com

As well as calling for direct US-Russia peace talks, Viktor Orbán cited the "great replacement" theory, which claims there is a plot to dilute the white populations of the US and European countries through immigration.

The EU is seeking to import more liquid gas from Nigeria to make up for shortfalls from Russia, a senior EU Commission official has said. Oil and gas output had been reduced by lawlessness. But Nigerian officials told the EU side "Come and talk to us again at the end of August because we think we can deliver real progress on this", Matthew Baldwin, a Commission deputy director-general, told Reuters.

Moldova's prime minister Natalia Gavrilita has said she is "very worried" about the prospect of a Russian invasion in future. "This is a risk, it's a hypothetical scenario for now, but if the military actions move further into the southwestern part of Ukraine and toward Odessa, then of course, we are very worried," Gavrilita told CNN on Sunday. "Nobody's safe, and I think that a lot of countries are worried".

Turkey on Saturday summoned the Swedish deputy ambassador in Ankara for a formal compliant about what it called "terrorist propaganda" by Kurdish groups protesting in Stockholm. Turkey earlier threatened to block parliamentary ratification of Sweden's Nato accession if it did not crack down on Kurdish exile groups living there. It voiced its "strong reaction" to the Swedish diplomat on Saturday, sources told Reuters.

Some 1,200 people arrived in Sicily and in Lampedusa in Italy from Libya and Tunisia over the past 24 hours, Italian media report. Five dead bodies were also recovered from an overcrowded fishing boat. The arrivals have stretched facilities, especially on Lampedusa, where a holding centre has room for just 350 people. Far-right leaders are poised to make gains in upcoming snap elections in Italy, with immigration a hot topic.

Greek firefighters battled wildfires on the island of Lesbos for a second day on Sunday, as well as new fires in the western Peloponnese and in northern Greece, evacuating nearby settlements as a heatwave set in, Reuters reported. Temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius in parts of Greece on Sunday as a heatwave that has hit other parts of Europe spread east. Greece is suffering a second consecutive summer of wildfires.

Thousands of Hungarians joined the annual Budapest Pride march on Saturday, the hottest day in the country this year with 40 degrees Celsius, vowing to keep up their fight against prime minister Viktor Orbán's policies on LGBTI rights, Reuters reported. Earlier this month the EU Commission triggered legal action over a law targeting LGBTI people. Dozens of embassies in Budapest issued a statement in support of Hungary's LGBTI community.

British foreign minister Liz Truss and former finance minister Rishi Sunak will clash in a crucial TV debate on Monday as the two aim to convince 160,000 Conservative party members that they can lead the party and the UK, after disgraced Boris Johnson leaves office in September. Over the weekend, Truss and Sunak tried to outbid each other on immigration, China and the establishment of tax-free economic zones.

One of the first opportunities for the EU Commission to 'walk its talk' is to support the proposal for a broad restriction of harmful chemicals in single-use diapers that millions of children wear everyday across the continent.

World leaders have condemned a Russian missile strike on Ukraine's Odessa seaport, after a landmark deal to resume grain exports was reached.

The West must help Ukraine to defeat Russia in order to deter China from invading Taiwan, Britain's intelligence chief has said.

Kyiv is talking to major international financial institutions about reducing debt payments, Reuters reported. Ukraine this week asked its international creditors, including Western powers and the largest investment firms, to freeze payments for two years so it could focus on the war with Russia, which Western funds and governments backed. Ukraine estimates the costs of the war combined with lower tax revenues has left a €4.9bn-a-month fiscal shortfall.

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orbán is facing one of his biggest challenges of his more than a decade-long rule, as the economic pressures keep mounting, and EU funds remain suspended due to rule-of-law concerns.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has increased its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, to 0.0 percent, for the first time in more than 11 years as it tries to control soaring eurozone inflation. The rate has been negative since 2014 to boost the region's economy. However, inflation rose at a record 8.6 percent in a year, which is well above the bank's two-percent target.

Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN are expected to sign a deal on Friday at 13.30 GMT to unblock Black Sea grain exports, the office of Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said on Thursday night, according to The Guardian. Russia has had a grip on over 20 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain stuck at ports in the Black Sea since the war began — raising fears over food security globally.

Italy is set to hold national elections on 25 September, after president Sergio Mattarella dissolved parliament on Thursday following Mario Draghi's resignation as prime minister, Bloomberg reported. A group of conservative parties, led by the far-right Brothers of Italy, leads recent polls. "Th[is] period … does not allow for any pause in the [government] action which is needed to counter the economic and social crisis, and rising inflation," Mattarella said.

Germany will require gas storage facilities to be at 95-percent of their capacity by 1 November, raising its previous 90-precent target, the country's economy and climate minister Robert Habeck said on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. The announcement comes amid fears over gas supplies disruptions leading to shortages this winter. Habeck said storages should be 75-percent full by September and 85 percent by the start of October. 

The EU on Thursday added 10 Syrian men to its visa-ban and asset-freeze list, for recruiting mercenaries to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, Reuters reported. The announcement comes as the EU officially unveiled new sanctions against Moscow, hitting Russia's largest lender Sberbank. "The Syrian regime provides support, including military support, for Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine," reads the EU official journal.

Greece said on Thursday it opposes an EU plan requiring member states to reduce gas use by 15 percent, Reuters reported. "Greece is prepared, it has the necessary infrastructure which can secure supplies even at the most adverse scenario of natural gas being cut off," energy minister Kostas Skrekas said. Under its contingency plan, rotating power outages are being considered. Portugal and Spain also voiced opposition to the plan.

In a world of profound changes, we believe that healthy and stable China-EU relations, especially in the economic and trade realm, can help counter the uncertainty on the global economic stage, and are conducive to global development and prosperity.