Euobserver.com

Cutting EU funds could be one way to punish Hungary for its recent anti-LGBTI laws, German interior minister Horst Seehofer said in the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper Wednesday. "I think cutting EU funding is one way to show that we are not standing idly by," he said. The Hungarian law "violates central values of the European Union. We must not and will not accept this," he added.

The European Commission has pledged to put forward a bill to end most farming of animals in cages in 2023.

"We are checking if there is a violation of EU treaties" in the creation of 'LGBT-free' zones in Poland, said one EU official to Reuters, adding the process has not yet been completed. In March Poland's ruling party explicitly banned same-sex couples from adopting children, while more than 100 towns and areas have declared themselves "LGBT-free". Poland is already under a special EU probe for undercutting the rule of law.

Tension over a weeks-long hunger strike by hundreds of undocumented migrants in Belgium's capital has mounted after four of them stitched their lips shut to stress their demands for legal recognition and access to work and social services, Reuters reports. Aid workers say that more than 400 migrants stopped eating on May 23 and their health was deteriorating. The government has not responded to their pleas.

A UN court in the Hague convicted two former allies of late Serbian president Slobodan Milošević of war crimes for their role in financing and equipping Serb militias during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, Reuters reports. Judges handed the former head of Serbia's state security service, Jovica Stanisic, and his subordinate Franko "Frenki" Simatovic 12 year sentences for aiding and abetting crimes committed in a Bosnian town in 1992.

Roma community members have called on EU leaders to speak out against the brutal death of Romani man Stanislav Tomáš in the Czech Republic last month, with parallels drawn to the killing of George Floyd in the US.

The revival of a European Community might not be a solution that solves all problems, but it could be a positive way out of several deadlocks in which the EU finds itself.

EU states Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia have not ratified the Istanbul Convention on women's rights, while Poland is on course to follow Turkey out of the accord.

France decided to delay the unwinding of Covid-19 restrictions in a southwestern region of the country, while the government's leading scientific adviser said a fourth wave of the virus was likely due to the emergence of the 'Delta variant', Reuters reports. The Covid-19 Delta variant, first found in India, is more transmissible than other forms of the virus, experts say, and has led some countries to reimpose travel restrictions.

The European Union agreed to a ceasefire with Britain in a post-Brexit dispute dubbed the "sausage war" by extending a grace period for shipments of certain meat products from mainland United Kingdom to Northern Ireland, Reuters writes. The bloc will also make it easier for medicines and guide dogs to cross the Irish Sea and allow Northern Irish drivers to travel to Ireland with existing insurance documents.

Lithuania has become a new "eastern front-line" for irregular migration, after Belarus began "weaponising" people in its clash with the EU, Lithuania's foreign ministry has said.

The Dutch defence ministry said Russian planes "repeatedly harassed the Evertsen," a Dutch frigate, over a period of five hours when it sailed south-east of Russia-annexed Crimea in Ukraine, adding that they "flew dangerously low and close by, performing feigned attacks," AFP reports. "The fighters were armed with bombs and air-to-surface missiles ... After hours of intimidation, disruptions to electronic equipment of the Evertsen also took place," the ministry said.

Sweden's speaker of parliament has asked Ulf Kristersson, the leader of the right-wing opposition's largest party, to see whether he could rally votes to succeed the ousted prime minister, Stefan Löfven, The Guardian writes. Löfven announced on Monday he would resign rather than call a snap election after losing a confidence vote last week, leaving it up to the speaker to begin the search for his replacement.

From Friday, Spain will demand a negative test or proof of full vaccination from UK travellers, due to concerns over the coronavirus Delta variant, El Pais writes. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said "The cumulative incidence rate in the United Kingdom has been progressing negatively [...] and that is why we have to take an additional precaution with respect to the arrival of British tourists."

Poland's justice minister infringed on the rights of two court officials when he dismissed them without appeal, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday, in another blow to the Warsaw government's rule of law record. The right to hire and fire court officials is part of the judicial overhaul of the government. The court ruled Poland to pay each applicant €20,000 in damages, Reuters reported.

EU auditors said on Tuesday the Covid-19 pandemic has had a "harmful effect" on air-passenger rights. Although airlines are legally obliged to give passengers their money back when a flight is cancelled, many forced customers to take vouchers. "While every effort has been made to support airlines, far too little has been done to secure the rights of millions of people in the EU," said EU auditor Annemie Turtelboom.

Lesbian couples and single women will be given access to fertility procedures in France for the first time after a new law was passed on Tuesday following two years of debate, AFP reported. Under current French law, only heterosexual couples have the right to medical assistance for reproduction, such as in vitro fertilisation. Under the new law, France will cover the cost of fertility procedures for all women under 43.

Germany has banned most travel from Russia due to the spread of mutated coronavirus strains there, the German Embassy in Moscow announced, The Moscow Times writes. The announcement came as Russia reported its highest number of coronavirus deaths since the beginning of the pandemic amid a third wave fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant. Germany last week added Russia to its list of countries where coronavirus mutations are spreading.

MEPs and the European Council on Tuesday struck an agreement on the new EU Asylum Agency (EUAA), which will replace the existing European Asylum Support Office. The EUAA will have liaison officers in member states and third countries, enabling quick deployment of personnel. The new agency will also set up a pool of 500 national experts to be deployed in asylum support teams at request of EU countries.

The European Commission unveiled on Tuesday common guidelines designed to ensure the safe and gradual reopening of cultural activities and venues. Brussels wants cultural establishments to have a protocols for when Covid-19 cases are detected and targeted information to minimise risks of staff infection. Depending on variants, participants could be asked to have a negative Covid-19 test, while vaccination should be promoted among staff.