Euobserver.com

British Brexiter MP Boris Johnson's father, the 78-year old Stanley Johnson, a Remainer, is to run for an MEP seat in the European Parliament elections in May. "The idea that we should be talking down these Euro elections is absurd," he told the LBC radio broadcaster Wednesday, amid concern that if his son were to become the next British prime minister, he might cause trouble in the ongoing Brexit process.

Carbon permit prices have hit a 10-year high in the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) due to hikes in natural gas prices and uncertainty over the effects of Brexit on the scheme, according to traders speaking to the Financial Times newspaper. The ETS, launched in 2005, was meant to fight global warming by making polluters pay, but was bedevilled by rock-bottom prices for years, undermining the scheme.

Former German domestic intelligence chief Hans-Georg Maassen has attacked German and EU asylum policy, speaking on a Hungarian government TV station. The European "lock is still open, even if fewer [migrants] come in," he told the M1 broadcaster, which is associated with hard-right and eurosceptic content, on Wednesday. Maassen was fired from his spy job last year over his public sympathies for far-right protesters and political parties in Germany.

A third Brexit extension and a second British referendum were still possible options for Europe, Germany's EU commissioner Guenther Oettinger has said after EU leaders agreed to extend the UK exit date for a second time, from 12 April to 31 October, at a summit in Brussels on Wednesday. France has opposed giving Britain too much time, but "everything" is still "conceivable," Oettinger told German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Thursday.

US senators have introduced a bipartisan bill to lift an arms embargo on Cyprus amid heightened tension over Russian arms. The bill authorises €5m of military aid to Cyprus and Greece after Turkey defied the US by buying a Russian-made anti-aircraft system and challenged Cyprus on rights to new gas finds in the Mediterranean. The 1987 embargo was meant to help make peace in the frozen conflict on northern Cyprus.

In a world full of conflict, often sparked by climate change, and arms races, Nordic countries look into pooling resources and offering better peace mediation.

I was an MEP for nearly 20 years and I was frequently lobbied. There were many good examples, but there were also bad examples.

The EU has agreed to an extend Brexit until 31 October, but with France insisting that Britain was kept on a tight leash.

Irish premier Leo Varadkar on Wednesday urged the UK to form a customs union with the EU. "I would like it to be considered the possibility of the customs union being formed between the UK and EU," he said, arriving at the Brussels summit. The customs union would help to solve the Irish border issue. "I have an open mind on short or long," Varadkar added, on the Brexit delay.

French president Emmanuel Macron said on arrival at the Brexit summit that it was key that "nothing compromises" the European project, when deciding if the UK should be granted an extension to the Brexit date. He added that "nothing is decided, including a long extension". France has been concerned that if Britain is granted a long extension, London could use it to undermine EU decision-making.

Spanish prosecutors have opened a probe into allegations that €35m of suspicious Russian money was moved via Moldova, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Estonia to Spain to individuals of Russian and ex-Soviet Union origin to buy real estate, car parts construction equipment, shoes and other items, including via Spain's CaixaBank. The funds are linked to the Danske Bank money-laundering scandal in Denmark and to the death of Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.

The UK may end up participating the European elections in May, after all. For some, like Green MEP Molly Scott Cato, the election will now be a proxy referendum in the broader hope or reversing Brexit.

British prime minister Theresa May said on arrival at the Brexit summit on Wednesday that "any extension enables us to leave at the point which we ratify the withdrawal agreement, so we could leave on the 22 May". May has requested a second postponement, until 30 June, but the EU-27 are considering a longer one.

The cornerstone the EU's asylum reforms referred to by the shorthand as 'Dublin' could end up in the scrapheap following the European elections in May.

EU leaders will discuss a Brexit extension, as requested by the British PM, to avoid a no-deal Brexit and allow more time for MPs to ratify the divorce deal. But they disagree on the length of the delay.

Divisions on how to handle Russia's "neo-imperial appetite", among other factors, are set to block Italian Matteo Salvini's dreams of a new EU league, Jan Zahradil, a leading Czech MEP and a candidate for EU commission president has said.

In a last-minute push, EU and Chinese officials agree on a joint statement at their summit in Brussels addressing some of the EU's longstanding grievances. Trump's "America First" policy seemed to have pushed the two closer together.

We are campaigning for the next European Commission to appoint a commissioner with a clear mandate to take on the challenge of the protection of freedom, independence and diversity of journalism.

The European Union is gearing up a Brexit delay that could extend until the end of this year or even March 2020. The issue is at the heart of an emergency summit among EU heads of state and government in Brussels on Wednesday. British prime minister Theresa May is asking for a much shorter 30 June extension.

Italy is set to raise its deficit target, according to a draft document seen by Bloomberg. It says Italy's deficit forecast for 2019 is 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The country had promised the European Commission it would remain at 2.04 percent of GDP. The document also says Italy's GDP is forecast to rise 0.1 percent, down from the projected one percent estimated last year.