Euobserver.com

Italy's far-right League called for a "historic" defeat of pro-EU forces at its event in Milan this weekend, but fiscal clashes, fascist symbols, and mafia links cast Salvini's party in a controversial light.

Austria's president Alexander Van der Bellen on Sunday called for a snap general election in September, after the resignation of Freedom Party vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, trapped in a corruption scandal, brought down the ruling coalition. A covert film of Strache in Ibiza before the October 2017 elections was published on Saturday by Der Spiegel and Suddeutsche Zeitung. The news outlets did not reveal the source of the footage.

Swiss voters approved, in a referendum on Sunday, by a two-thirds majority to tighten gun controls, including stricter controls for semi-automatic weapons, bringing the non-EU member state's rules in line with EU rules introduced after the 2015 Paris attacks. The result means Switzerland remains a member of the passport-free Schengen zone and the Dublin joint system for handling asylum requests. Nearly half of Swiss households own a gun.

UK prime minister Theresa May's fourth attempt to get a Brexit deal through parliament appears doomed, as leaked documents cited by the Daily Telegraph suggested it would be a "retread" of old ideas. Conservative leadership frontrunners Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have both declined to reveal if they would support it again. May is expected step down if she loses the vote in the first week of June.

Turkey has the right to drill for oil in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has insisted in a letter sent on Friday to the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, EU member states and UN Security Council permanent members. Cypriot officials have said that Nicosia will issue international and European arrest warrants "for all involved" if drilling takes place.

The removal of a protest banner against League leader and deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini during a visit to Campania on 7 May has fuelled a new trend in Italy of people hanging anti-Salvini banners from their windows as the League leader tours the country to rally support. Salerno prosecutors have now opened a probe into alleged election disruption after firefighters were ordered to take down such a protest banner.

Europe's far-right is set to rise in the next European Parliament election. This vote will not yet allow the populists to build a majority. But it may become another milestone in their process of changing European politics.

EU countries repeated their "unswerving commitment to promoting and protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex [LGBTI] persons" around the world in a statement by the EU foreign service on the international anti-homophobia day on Friday. They noted that 72 states worldwide continue to criminalise same-sex acts, but homophobia is also on the rise under some right-wing governments in Europe, such as Hungary and Poland.

EU states agreed Friday to slap asset freezes and visa bans on individuals responsible for cyber attacks against EU targets or international institutions in Europe as well as those who help or fund them. The sanctions regime comes amid allegations of Chinese and Russian hacking in Europe, including Russia's 2018 attempt to sabotage the work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, an international body in the Netherlands.

The EU foreign service has reassured the US closer European defence integration will not harm American arms firms. "The EU remains fully committed to working with the US as a core partner in security and defence matters," it said in a letter made public Friday. It spoke after the US threatened sanctions if America lost business. It also said some existing US arms export restrictions to the EU were "unacceptable".

The euro should play a bigger role in international transactions in order to help skirt potential US sanctions, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said at a conference in Brussels Friday, Reuters reports. "I don't want our companies to suffer from American decisions that we don't share," he said, alluding to US sanctions threats against EU oil firms that do business in Iran or energy firms building pipelines to Russia.

The political spotlight switches from Brussels to national capitals and regions this week as Europe gears up for the start of European Parliament elections on Thursday

Britain's opposition Labour party on Friday pulled out of cross-party Brexit negotiations with prime minister Theresa May, saying they had "gone as far as they can." May had entered the talks after failing to get her withdrawal agreement with the EU through parliament three times, largely due to opposition from her own Conservative MPs. The PM has announced a fourth vote on the deal in June, promising to resign afterwards.

Five German climate activists climbed inside segments of the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany on Thursday, skateboarding inside, holding protest placards, and refusing to leave despite police appeals. One of them, calling himself Fynn, told the BBC he was fighting a "global struggle against fossil fuels", adding: "We are skating in the pipeline and it is fun!".

An investigation by British broadcaster Channel 4 has shown that anti-EU MEP Nigel Farage got €515,000 worth of personal perks from Aaron Banks, a pro-Brexit British businessman, in the year after the Brexit referendum in 2016. The perks included rent for a luxury home in London as well as use of a chauffeur-driven car. Farage is currently campaigning as a champion of the British working class in the EU elections.

EU financial affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici has urged Italy not to break EU fiscal rules on debt and deficits. "It's in Italy's interest to have a credible fiscal policy," the French politician said Thursday, adding that Italy's situation would be assessed after the EU elections in May. Italy plans to spend extra money on welfare in defiance of EU limits. France does too, but has met with less EU criticism.

British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said Thursday he shared "the same assessment of the heightened threat posed by Iran" as the US did. His remarks came after he criticised the US earlier this week for sabre-rattling against Iran that could lead to an "accidental" war. Chris Ghika, a senior British general, also said this week that "No, there has been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces".

EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Friday are expected to rubber-stamp a new sanctions regime for individuals deemed guilty of cyber attacks, diplomatic sources told EUobserver. The asset freezes and visa bans are designed to snap into life more quickly than old, country-based sanctions. The EU recently agreed similar measures against people guilty of chemical weapons abuses and are in talks on a third regime for human rights abusers.

British prime minister Theresa May has agreed to step down after her fourth attempt to pass an EU exit deal in June - no matter what the outcome.

A loose network of cyber criminals recruited from an online Russian forum managed to infect thousands of computers in an effort to steal online banking credentials. The gang has been dismantled, with some now on the run.