European Union

Italy's government announced massive restrictions on the movement of some 16 million citizens in 15 provinces of the country on Sunday in a bid to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Shortly before the announcement the country's death toll had jumped by 133 to 366 within 24 hours. The Italian press discusses the citizens' sense of responsibility.

The trial for the downing of passenger flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine almost six years ago begins today in a criminal court at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. But the defendants, three Russians and one Ukrainian, are in Russia and not present at the trial. Dutch media debate whether despite these circumstances the procedure will be worthwhile.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said a meeting with Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday evening will aim to restart talks with Anakara. "Tonight is the restart of a dialogue, the rekindle of speaking together. This is the beginning of having the dialogue and developing at best a common roadmap," she said. The meeting follows Greek-Turkish border tensions over migrants.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said part of the solution on the Greek-Turkish border tension must include a right to seek asylum. "There is the obligation to protect the border, there is EU law, but there is the obligation to guarantee fundamental rights, including the rights to ask for asylum, so this is in the charter and this is what we need as a solution," she said.

The Netherlands wrapped up testing on its first foray into hydrogen train technology at the weekend, as the European Commission readies a strategy for the clean fuel that will debut on Tuesday (10 March).

Nato on Monday confirmed that one staff member working at the headquarters in Brussels has tested positive for coronavirus, after being on holiday in northern Italy. The person is currently at home in self-isolation. Nato has already taken preventative measures to prevent the spread of the virus, such as the temporary suspension of certain staff travel, encouraging staff to work from home, and the temporary suspension of group visits.

Over 3,600 scientists - from all EU countries and beyond - said on Monday the European Commission's proposal for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2020 must be "drastically improved" to stop harming the environment. They proposed 10 points to reform the CAP. The scientists said that EU authorities are diluting the environmental ambitions of the CAP "to defend the interests of a few at the expense of the many".

The European Green Deal risks deepening economic and social divisions between east and western EU countries, trade unions say, warning the 27-member bloc risks imploding before it reaches its 2050 climate neutrality goal.

The first hearing in the trial of four fugitive suspects in the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was set to start in Amsterdam on Monday (9 March), more than five years after the plane was downed in Ukraine.

A conference in Sofia debated the European Commission's proposal for an EU-wide rule of law mechanism on Friday (6 March) and one European lawmaker said there is already a clear majority in the European Parliament to set up a new control mechanism for the rule of law.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about how states are responding to the growing number of COVID-19 cases, Croatia wanting to help refugee children on the Greek islands, and so much more.

Boris Johnson’s government has promised a blank cheque for the NHS to contend with the Coronavirus when it publishes its first post-Brexit Budget plan on Wednesday (11 March). On Sunday (8 March), Chancellor RIchi Sunak vowed that the health service...

The Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration has reported that Serbia is home to almost 6,000 migrants and that four centres in southern Serbia’s Pcinja region, their first stop after crossing into Serbia from North Macedonia, have accommodated 1,300 migrants....