Euobserver.com

Some 51 percent of people in Northern Ireland wanted a referendum on independence, according to a survey by pollster LucidTalk, British newspaper The Times reported, in what it called a potential "constitutional crisis" in the wake of Brexit. More people (42 percent) than before also wanted a united Ireland. Meanwhile, half of Scottish people wanted a second independence referendum, the Panelbase pollster found, with 49 percent keen to leave Britain.

Portuguese far-right party Chega came third in presidential elections in Portugal Sunday with 11.9 percent, up from 1.3 percent in a parliamentary election in 2019. "For the first time an openly anti-system party has disrupted the traditional right, with nearly half a million votes," Chega leader André Ventura said. The centre-right president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was re-elected with 60.7 percent Sunday, ahead of Socialist Ana Gomes on 12.9 percent.

Germany's far-right AfD party has filed two lawsuits designed to stop German intelligence service, the BfD, from designating it as a threat to national security and putting it under surveillance, according to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The BfD already did so to the AfD's youth wing two years ago and interior minister Horst Seehofer was poised to extend the measures, the newspaper said, ahead of upcoming federal elections in Germany.

Street violence in Russia redoubled calls for new sanctions when foreign ministers meet on Monday, after eight EU states earlier proposed asset-freezes and visa-bans.

Russia could expand hostile operations, such as poisonings, including beyond its borders, if it feels an "existential" threat and there is no European pushback.

MEPs called for a new law guaranteeing workers can 'disconnect' outside work hours, without repercussion. But they also passed a last-minute amendment, calling on the commission to delay any legislation for three years.

The EU's hotspot of Moria, a sprawling ghetto-like camp for migrants and refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, burned down last September. EU leaders declared such scenes would never be replicated. But its replacement faces similar problems.

Investing in the Arab world, in a smart way, is also investing in the European Union's future itself. Let's hope that the disasters of the last decade help to shape the neighbourhood policy of the next 10 years.

The director of the European Medicine Agency, Emer Cooke will be quizzed by MEPs in the parliament on vaccine authorisation on Tuesday. EMA is expected to give the green light to the third vaccine at the end of the week.

The EU-Israel Association Agreement, and Israel's systematic violation of its article 2, must be stopped until Israel implements its obligations under international law. This should not be a matter of controversy, but the least peace-loving countries must do.

Hungary has signed a deal to buy Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine - the first EU country to do so - foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks in Moscow on Friday. Hungary has bought two million doses to vaccinate one million people. Hungary has been critical of the slow arrival of vaccines under EU agreements and was the first EU country to give preliminary approval to the Russian jab.

The Netherlands will impose a curfew on its citizens, beginning Saturday, in an attempt to halt the rapid spread of a new coronavirus variant, Deutsche Welle reports. Residents will be housebound between 9PM and 4.30AM. The restrictions come on top of a lockdown in place since December. Non-essential businesses, schools, and restaurants are closed and strict contact restrictions are in place until 9 February.

Environmental NGO ClientEarth, on Thursday, lost a legal bid to stop Europe's largest gas-fired power plant being built in the UK by the Drax company. The facility would account for 75 percent of Britain's power-sectorCO2 emissions when it up and running, ClientEarth said, amid British and EU commitments to curb global warming. It would "play a vital role in the UK's energy system, generating reliable electricity," Drax said.

Swedish foreign minister Ann Linde said she welcomed the "lower level of violence" in Russia's war in eastern Ukraine, after visiting the front line in her role as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's chair. "However, lives are still being lost and the everyday life of citizens in this region is still heavily affected," she added Thursday. Russia invaded Ukraine six years ago after a revolution in Kiev.

The Roman Catholic Jesuit order in Spain has admitted that 81 children and 21 adults had been sexually abused by 96 of its members since 1927 and apologised for the "painful, shameful and sorrowful" crimes, The Guardian writes. In a report released on Thursday, the Society of Jesus, whose members often work as teachers, said most of the abuse had taken place in schools "or was related to schools".

EU leaders agreed to maintain open borders, while discouraging all non-essential travel, amid fears over the spread of dangerous new coronavirus variants.

The EU is coaxing US president Joe Biden to open up to Cuba, amid its worst economic crisis in decades, but foreign money risks feeding the regime's "feared" rule.

Last year's German EU presidency refused corporate sponsorships. But the new Portuguese presidency has decided they are needed and has signed three contracts. One of them is with one of Europe's largest paper companies, The Navigator Company.

The Belgian and Bulgarian prosecutors who were appointed had also not been the experts' first choice. Belgian prosecutor Jean-Michel Verelst has challenged the council's decision at the European Court of Justice.

The UK has raised eyebrows in the EU and at home over its reluctance to give full diplomatic privileges to João Vale de Almeida, the EU's ambassador to the UK.