Euobserver.com

This is the first time the EU has raised money collectively – some called it Europe's New Marshall Plan – and if the process is seen to fail, it could shatter the frail trust in the European project.

The very porousness of the border poses questions about EU states' contingency plans, which for the most part have remained confidential.

Unsurprisingly, given the sensitivities surrounding energy issues in Africa and Europe, leaders did not appear to be in a hurry to announce big, new financing deals for fossil fuels at the summit.

The EU has been busy drawing up a list of sanctions against Moscow in retaliation for any aggression. But the threshold for their imposition still needs to be determined.

In Munich, Volodymyr Zelensky voiced his concerns that the chances of Nato membership for his country may already have been diminished, because of the pressure from Russia.

We are sounding the alarm to prevent an irreversible destructive scenario from unfolding. We must take lessons from the bitter experiences of the 20th century and dedicate all our efforts to reversing a march towards conflict.

African leaders, after their two-day summit in Brussels, called an offer by the EU to help Africa build vaccine-manufacturing plants was incomplete without backing a vaccine patent-waiver proposal.

Commission will need up to three weeks to update guidelines for suspending EU funds to rule-breaking member states.

Final communiqué at EU-African Union summit stripped of reference to women's health and sexual freedoms.

EU leaders said they remained united on "tough" Russia sanctions amid fears of an escalation on Ukraine's front line.

Senegal president Macky Sall, who is also president of the African Union, said on Thursday that Africa is not responsible for climate change and, therefore, will need a "transition period" to adapt and be able to provide electricity to more than 600 million people across the continent. "We demand more climate justice," he said ahead of the first day of the AU-EU summit.

Obligatory detentions, more security-screening, and faster deportations - these are the French EU presidency's migration priorities.

A cross-party group of 62 MEPs from five parties has called for a full-scale election observation mission in Hungary for the 3 April general election, in a letter released on Wednesday. Critics of prime minister Viktor Orbán have raised concerns as his government has been weakening independent institutions for years. In 2018, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe elections monitors said the ballot was free but not fair.

It is "very unlikely" that Finland would apply for Nato membership during her term of office, but her country was ready to stand with its European allies and United States by imposing tough sanctions on Russia if it attacked Ukraine, Finland's prime minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday. "It would have a very substantial impact and the sanctions would be extremely tough," she told Reuters.

German prosecutors have opened a probe over alledged special pandemic payments into Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock, the two co-leaders of the Greens, one of the governing parties in the country, the party said on Wednesday. Spiegel Online reported the start of the investigation for a possible breach of trust to the detriment of the party over illegal payments of €1,500 to Greens board members in 2020.

Brussels remains committed to follow US-led on negotiations with Russia, EU officials said according to the Financial Times. French president Emmanuel Macron fell out of line when he called for a separate EU dialogue with Moscow on Wednesday. "We were given zero notice of this crazy idea," one source said. Macron blindsided EU diplomats, pushing EU states to "start their own dialogue" in his speech at the European Parliament.

The EU Commission is starting the process to deduct millions of euros from payments to Poland in order to cover fines imposed on Warsaw for ignoring a court injunction to close down a coal mine, a commission spokesperson said Wednesday. The European Court of Justice ruled last year that Poland should close the open-pit brown coal mine in Turow, near the Czech Republic, and pay fines, but Warsaw refused.

The "Patriotic Millionaires"- a group of more than 100 billionaires and millionaires - on Wednesday issued an appeal to political leaders to make them pay more taxes. "As millionaires, we know that the current tax system is not fair. We have actually seen our wealth rise during the pandemic," the signatories said in an open letter published at the start of the World Economic Forum.

Borders in Europe must not be moved by force, German chancellor Olaf Scholz warned on Wednesday, amid rising tension around Ukraine's border with Russia, after Moscow amassed some 100,000 troops along the border. "After years of rising tensions, staying silent is not a sensible option," he said in a speech delivered by video link to the World Economic Forum.

The chairs of the European Parliament committees for economy and environment, MEPs Irene Tinagli and Pascal Canfin, have called for a public consultation on the proposed inclusion of nuclear and gas to the EU's taxonomy for sustainable investment. "In light of the controversial subject matter, it's important that this procedure allows sufficient time to exchange views before adoption," they wrote to the European Commission on Wednesday.