Euobserver.com

Far fewer people are arriving by sea into Europe. As EU leaders are discussing new measures, the debate appears to suggest a major migration crisis. Yet the crisis is more about political indecision.

The European Commission proposes a €13bn budget for research and development of military research, the European Defence Fund. Investing EU funds in military research will divert resources from more peaceful areas, and is likely to fuel arms races.

US president Donald Trump may meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July, a US official has said, according to CNN. Trump would meet Putin while in Europe for the Nato summit in Brussels in July. Neither the White House nor the Kremlin has confirmed a meeting. "At least neither country have strong objections to Helsinki as the location for a summit," researcher Teija Tiilikainen told Helsingin Sanomat.

After a nearly four-hour crisis meeting in chancellor Angela Merkel's office, party and parliamentary leaders of Germany's governing parties departed early Wednesday morning without agreement in the asylum dispute that is splitting the CSU and CDU sister parties ahead of the EU summit this week. Meanwhile a Spiegel survey showed a drop in support for CDU and CSU to 29.8 percent.

The Cypriot government on Tuesday confirmed a request from Israel to examine the possibility of building a port facility for Gaza-destined goods to pass through. Such a facility would provide a new way for goods to make it to the Gaza Strip, which is under a blockade by Israel and Egypt. The Cyprus port plan would include construction of a special pier for cargo ships carrying goods destined for Gaza.

Over 500 Austrian policemen and 220 soldiers took part in an exercise on Tuesday on the Slovenian border over fears of a repeat of the 2015 migrant crisis. "A state which can't protect its borders when needed loses its credibility," said far-right Freedom Party interior minister Herbert Kickl, overseeing the exercise with defence minister Mario Kunasek. It was the first time Austria's new border guard troop, 'Puma', was in action.

EU ministers agreed on Tuesday to revise the Union's maritime security strategy. With 90 percent of the EU's external trade and 40 percent of its internal trade transported by sea, security for the ships is of high priority. The strategy forms part of the larger EU Global Strategy, takes into account the future European Defence Fund and affirms the EU as a "global maritime security provider".

British and European trade unions and business organisations have clubbed together in a rare joint call for "pace and urgency" in Brexit negotiations. In a statement from CBI, BusinessEurope, TUC and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), ahead of this week's EU summit, they call on the UK government and the EU to bring "measurable progress". Disagreement would be "dire for firms, workers and the communities where they live."

Accession talks to start in 2019, not this year as hoped, after France, Denmark and Netherlands force delay despite breakthrough on Macedonia name dispute.

Under the EU's sanctions procedure, EU ministers listened to their Polish colleague trying to alleviate concerns over the independence of the courts.

UK campaigner Madeleina Kay, who dresses as UK-EU Superwoman, wants a second vote, based on facts, to stop UK's EU exit.

The Lifeline, a boat transporting some 230 people who were rescued at sea by the Mission Lifeline NGO, will be allowed to dock in Malta, the Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte said on Tuesday. After Italy had refused to open its ports, the Maltese government has said earlier that it wanted to prevent an "escalation into a humanitarian crisis" and explore actions that could be taken.

US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium "have consequences," EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Tuesday after Harley-Davidson announced moving some production outside the US. Malmstrom added the EU was "seriously contemplating" taking provisional measures by mid-July to further protect EU industry. She said however that the EU has "not yet a prepared list" of counter-measures in case Donald Trump imposed tariffs on EU cars, after threats to do so.

Court of Auditors says in critical report that Europe does not have a high-speed rail 'network', "only a patchwork of national high-speed lines, planned and built by the member states in isolation".

For Andrej Babis, a businessman turned politician, EU membership is a matter of conviction as much as of economic opportunities, in a country still looking for a purpose.

The speaker of Corsica's regional parliament, Jean-Guy Talamoni, said Monday that the French island was ready to open its port to the Lifeline, the boat of German NGO Mission Lifeline with some 230 migrants on board. Italy and Malta have refused to let the boat dock on their territory, as has Spain, which accepted the Aquarius, another boat, earlier this month.

US motorbike maker Harley Davidson announced on Monday it would move part of its production outside the US, citing EU tariffs as a reason. New taxes on Harley Davidson are part of the EU's "counter-balancing" measures taken in reaction to tariffs on EU steel and aluminium imposed by US president Donald Trump. In a tweet, Trump said he was "surprised" by Harley Davison's decision, which he called a "white flag".

Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini said on Monday that he wanted "reception centres situated at the southern border of Libya to prevent Tripoli becoming a bottleneck." In a visit to Libya's capital Tripoli, he argued that migrant centres in Italy would be "a problem for Italy and for Libya itself because the death fluxes would not stop." However Libyan deputy premier Ahmed Maiteeq said the idea was against Libyan law.

The European Banking Authority warned Monday that UK financial institutions' preparations for Brexit were "inadequate" for a no-deal scenario. It said in a report that "there remains a material possibility" that negotiations between the UK and the EU end with no agreement, and that the transition period following the UK's exit "does not provide legal certainty". It said financial institutions should do more to identity the risks.

It is our hope, that the rising of a reformed new Ukraine will demonstrate to Russia that 19th century aggression will not be tolerated nor prove itself worthwhile in our 21st century Europe, write Denmark and Ukraine's prime ministers.