Euobserver.com

The EU plans to add an extra €500m to its previous €1.5bn pot for buying arms for Ukraine, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Friday. The measures will be discussed by foreign ministers meeting in Brussels Monday. Ministers will also debate an oil embargo on Russia and blacklisting its top priest, Patriarch Kirill, for his support of the war, amid Hungarian reservations on the oil ban.

The EU Commission is drafting plans to allow firms to pay for Russian oil and gas without breaking EU currency-related sanctions by setting up dollar or euro accounts at Russian lender Gazprombank and letting the bank convert the money into roubles, Bloomberg reports, citing EU sources. Europe is still in talks on imposing a Russia oil embargo, in a decision expected later this month.

Pro-Russian hacker groups tried to attack the Eurovision song contest final on Saturday in Rome, in which Ukraine won, Italian police have said. The groups, dubbed Killnet and Legion, had also attacked the Eurovision semi-final and Italian institutions, such as its senate and a health agency, last week, Italian police said Sunday, Ansa reports.

Sweden has signalled it will follow Finland in applying to join Nato, as Switzerland also mulls closer ties with the Western alliance.

The EU Commission is expected to put forward the RePowerEU plan, which aims to help the diversification of fossil fuel imports in the bloc, as the EU aims to get rid of its dependence on Russian energy supplies.

Valdimir Putin's equivalent to Nato — the Collective Security Treaty Organization of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Armenia, Tajikistan, and Belarus — is convening in Moscow next week to give cover that Russia is not alone in its war against Ukraine.

The European Parliament and EU member states have reached an agreement over new rules intended to protect Europe's public and private critical entities from cyberattacks.

The European Commission announced on Thursday it will further support the Covid-19 vaccination rollout in Africa with an additional €400m. A total of €300m will be channelled through the global vaccine distribution facility COVAX while €100m will be used for diagnostics, therapeutics and strengthening health systems in the neighbouring continent. The EU will also provide €427m to the Global Pandemic Preparedness Fund, subject to agreement on its governance.

The EU unveiled plans to help Ukraine export its agricultural production — amid fears that the war will create a global food crisis.

Internal documents found EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and energy commissioner Kadri Simson coordinated their Russian gas cutting strategy with oil CEOs to determine which measures were "feasible".

Some 2.7 million Ukrainians have registered for protection in the EU. But many others are hesitating to do the same.

The Spanish government is planning an overhaul of employment and abortion law, which would see female employees allowed up to five days of menstrual leave, and ease abortion restrictions for 16 and 17-year olds, according to The Guardian. The socialist-led coalition will present draft legislation, to be approved by the cabinet next week, to eliminate measures requiring those aged 16 and 17 to have parental approval for terminations.

British foreign secretary Liz Truss said the UK has "no choice but to act" on the Northern Ireland protocol governing post-Brexit trade during a call with EU Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič — who warned unilateral action was "simply not acceptable".

In a tense vote in the European Parliament's environmental committee on Wednesday, lawmakers upheld a proposed ban on the sale of polluting vehicles from 2035, but rejected a proposal championed by Renew MEP Jan Huitema to increase the emissions target for cars in 2030 from 55 to 70 percent. The centre-right EPP group rejected the stricter targets and tried to water down the ban on polluting cars in 2035.

A basic lack of transparency around the EU's vaccines procurement negotiations has prevented effective public and parliamentary scrutiny. It has also made it impossible to answer some of the key questions we put forward here.

A study out on Thursday by London-based Statewatch, a civil liberties organisation, says the EU has since 2007 spent €341m on research into artificial intelligence technologies for asylum, immigration and border control. The 46-page report says an EU proposal for the artificial intelligence act, currently under talks, fails to safeguard against potential abuse by such technology.

Finnish public support for joining Nato has risen to record figures since Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Finland's historic move puts pressure on Sweden to also move towards joining the military alliance.

There are still over 100 million Europeans who remain unvaccinated or are partially-vaccinated, EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides told MEPs on Thursday. "It is not the time to relax, it is the time to be prepared," she said while inviting EU member states to increase the uptake of vaccines and have surveillance systems in place in case there is a new variant or a new wave of Covid-19 cases.

The EU's Fundamental Rights Agency on Thursday told MEPs that a large percentage of people who are victims of homophobic, racist, and antisemitic crimes do not report it to the police. "They believe police wouldn't do anything or they even fear to be further victimised by police," said Gerald Rosskogler of the agency. "The same is also true for women being victims of physical or sexual violence," he said.

Finland must apply for Nato membership without delay, president Sauli Niinistö and prime minister Sanna Marin announced on Thursday. Russia should "look in the mirror" if it wants to know what caused pro-Nato sentiment to grow in Finland, Niinistö said. Sweden is considering a similar move. During a visit on Wednesday, British PM Boris Johnson signed joint security declarations with the two Nordic countries.