Euobserver.com

Several member states are putting forward restrictive Covid-19-related measures to try to control the surge of numbers of coronavirus cases, trying to avoid a second lockdown. Meanwhile, the global death toll from the novel coronavirus has reached one million.

Turkey has reportedly sent Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan, amid ongoing fighting with Armenia that threatens to draw in regional powers.

The draft proposal outlines an 'emergency brake' in case the member state under scrutiny thinks the procedure is partisan and not evidence-based.

The European Commission is banking on cooperation and coordination among EU states to help makes its new migration and asylum pact viable. But its plan is already being greeted with suspicion by more hardline anti-migrant countries like Austria and Hungary.

Dominic Fritz, the newly-elected mayor of Romania's Timisoara, holds no Romanian citizenship and no Romanian passport. In fact, he was born and raised in the Black Forest region of Germany, and lived in Berlin until 2019.

The EU's future relations with both the eastern and southern neighbourhood are at stake. A wrong signal to Belarus would be a wrong signal to all of the Eastern Partnership

Some 120m Covid-19 tests from two companies, which can show results in 15 to 30 minutes, will be supplied to low-and middle-income countries for around €4 each, The Guardian reported on Monday. The World Health Organization has approved one of the tests while the other is expected to receive approval shortly. The tests look like a pregnancy test, having two blue lines displayed for a positive result.

The Dutch government has increased restrictions for its citizens on bar and restaurant visits, and on foreign travel. The Netherlands have declared Belgium as an 'orange'-level alert risk. Until now only travel to Brussels and Antwerp was restricted. Orange means that Dutch citizens should only travel to Belgium if essential.

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has found the Covid-19 pandemic worsened Roma and Travellers' poverty and discrimination. The FRA report revealed these communities faced stricter lockdown as precautionary measures, many Roma and Travellers lost their income, the overcrowded households and lack of sanitation increased their health risks, and distance-learning was difficult without internet access. The European Commission will present a Roma inclusion strategy next month.

Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny while he was undergoing treatment for poisoning in a Berlin hospital, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert confirmed on Monday, Deutsche Welle reports. Navalny reported the "personal visit" earlier but did not provide any details. "There was a meeting, but you should not call it 'secret,'" he wrote. "Rather, it was a private meeting and a conversation with the family."

A group of 234 NGOs and academics have expressed concern about the European Commission's roadmap on critical raw materials, presented earlier this month. "Paradoxically, the expansion of mining to meet growing demands for renewable energy and other industrial transitions in the EU and beyond threatens the efficacy of global action to address the climate emergency," they said in an letter sent to EU officials on Monday.

A new survey on Monday by Eurofound - the EU agency that focuses on social and work-related policies - found that trust in the EU increased in July, while confidence in national governments declined. The largest increase was recorded in Italy and Spain, the most affected countries by Covid-19. Trust in both national governments and the EU was significantly higher among citizens that received financial support during the pandemic.

French president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday accused Lebanon's leaders of a "collective betrayal" after talks to assemble a cabinet collapsed, Deutsche Welle reports. Political parties have been trying to form a government after the deadly explosion in August, but prime minister designate, Mustafa Adib, stepped down because of lack of progress. "I am ashamed of Lebanon's political leaders," Macron told a news conference in Paris.

The mini-Europe theme park in Brussels, which contains models of EU capitals and other landmarks and which was opened 31 years ago as a tribute to EU integration, is to close at the end of December due to disagreements over rent and fewer visitors because of the pandemic. The attraction might move to either Louvain-La-Neuve or Waterloo, two nearby towns, Belgian media reported.

With a majority of 61.7 percent, Swiss voters on Sunday rejected an attempt to stop the country's agreement with the EU on the free movement of people, The Guardian reports. The largest party in the Swiss parliament, the right-wing, anti-immigration Swiss People's party (SVP), called the referendum, arguing that the country must be allowed to set its own limit on the number of foreigners coming in to work.

Eyewitness statements and video footage seen by The Guardian newspaper indicate Greek forces are systematically and illegally turning back would-be asylum claimants at sea before they have had a chance to file for help. Charities including Human Rights Watch and Border Violence Monitoring aim to call for "disciplinary and criminal sanctions" against those involved in a letter to be published later this week.

About 100,000 people joined opposition protests for the seventh Sunday in a row in Belarus, the BBC reports. Police arrested more than 200, grabbing people before and after the main rally in Minsk, in a war of attrition by authorities. French president Emmanuel Macron said Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko "must go". But that was an attempt to "bring chaos and anarchy to our country" Belarus foreign minister Viktor Makei said.

Poland's ruling right-wing parties - Law and Justice (PiS), United Poland, and Accord - signed a new coalition agreement on Saturday in a bid to stabilise government after infighting over LGBTI and animal rights. "I am absolutely sure that these years will be beneficial for Poland. This agreement guarantees that," Jarosław Kaczyński, the PiS chairman said, amid speculation he will enter government as deputy prime minister.

Heavy fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan has claimed dozens of lives and caused alarm in Europe.

Deciding on Belarus sanctions and the relationship with Turkey will be front and centre on the agenda for EU leaders who will meet this week in Brussels.