Euobserver.com

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán has threatened to veto an EU deal on its next multi-annual budget and a pandemic recovery fund, after the accord envisaged cuts to states which abuse rule-of-law. "The situation leaves no other option for Hungary but to not agree to the other elements ... including those requiring unanimity," he wrote in a letter to EU Council president Charles Michel, seen by the Politico news agency.

Saudi Arabia is considering clemency for jailed female activists ahead of its hosting of the G20 summit this month, the Saudi ambassador to the UK has said, the Guardian writes. "The G20, does it offer an opportunity for clemency? Possibly," he said. One of the jailed women, Loujain al-Hathloul, has been on hunger strike in Al-Hayer high security prison since 26 October in protest at her conditions there.

The UK has criticised Belarus for expelling two of its diplomats, as the crisis following rigged election on 9 August continues to deepen. "The expulsion of two UK diplomats from Belarus for legitimately observing protests is wholly unjustified. [Belarus president Alexander] Lukashenko can't hide the oppression of his own people," British foreign secretary Dominic Raab said Tuesday. Belarus has also threatened to expel foreign media in response to EU sanctions.

Migrants ought to learn EU languages and "integrate" their children, while encrypted messaging apps should give keys to authorities to combat terrorism, EU ministers are preparing to say.

Estonia's far-right interior minister, Mart Helme, 71, has resigned after groundlessly accusing US president-elect Joe Biden of election-rigging and predicting "bloodshed" in a US civil war in a radio show Sunday, prompting a backlash by the Estonian prime minister and former Estonian leaders. His son Martin Helme, 44, who is Estonia's finance minister, said the same on Sunday and repeated the conspiracy theories on Monday also, but has not resigned.

French president Emmanuel Macron will host Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz for talks on Tuesday ahead of a videoconference with German chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel. Macron wants to discuss a joint EU response to recent terrorist attacks carried out by Islamists in France and Austria. EU leaders could discuss a joint response next week at their online summit.

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban on Monday announced the country's strictest measures taken to date to slow the spread of the coronavirus amid surging number of hospitalisations and deaths. A general curfew will be imposed between 8PM and 5AM while secondary schools, universities and restaurants will be closed. Sport events will be held in empty stadiums, and family gatherings will be limited to 10 people.

EU states have imposed €3.4bn of tariffs on US agricultural and industrial products, as of Tuesday, in retaliation against US tariffs imposed a year ago on European whisky and other imports in a dispute about aviation industry subsidies. "This step was logical," German economy ministry Peter Altmaier said. "They should cut him some slack," Peter Chase, from the German Marshall think tank, told AP, referring to US president-elect Joe Biden.

After an experimental Covid-19 vaccine jointly developed by the American giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech was found to be more than 90 percent effective, the EU announced that it will sign a contract for up to 300 doses.

"Strategic autonomy" has become the mantra for European Union officials. But now with Joe Biden as US president-elect, and prospects for a renewal of trans-Atlantic ties, the urgency and relevance of the concept are again up for debate.

Some 30 percent of the world's tourists go on holiday in and around the Mediterranean Sea. Good for the economy - but a disaster for ecosystems.

Now, in a country which the European Union often holds up as an example of its success story - Georgia - something has gone very wrong.

A vaccine candidate has been found to be more than 90-percent effective in preventing Covid-19, according to the first interim results of a large-scale trial, manufacturers Pfizer and BioNTech said Monday. The companies will gather more safety data, and then submit the findings to regulators. If licensing is speeded up, the first doses could be rolled out to health care workers by the end of this year.

An analysis of member states' national energy and climate plans by think tank Ember on Monday found that seven countries are blocking Europe's electricity transition. Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Germany, Belgium, Romania and Italy will be responsible for 80 percent of the sector emissions by 2030 due to their reliance on coal and gas. Fossil fuels are still expected to generate 25 percent of EU electricity by 2030.

Greek fishermen say territorial waters in the northern Aegean are constantly being violated by Turkish fishing boats which engage in bullying tactics to spread their nets over a wider area, the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini writes. According to the Fishermen's Association of the Municipality of Alexandroupoli, Turkish boats resort to threats "so that we leave the fishing grounds to make way for Turkish boats," especially east of Samothraki and Limnos.

Polish ruling party chief Jarosław Kaczyński had wanted police to use force, including water cannon, to disperse protesters against new anti-abortion laws on 25 October, but Polish police chief Jarosław Szymczyk blocked his instructions, ordering his officers to act in a "balanced and cautious way", according to Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, citing anonymous sources. About 80 people have been arrested so far for unruly behaviour, including vandalism of monuments.

Britain's GCHQ spy agency is launching "offensive" cyber-operations designed to disrupt Russian disinformation on coronavirus. "GCHQ has been told to take out antivaxers online and on social media," a British government source told The Times newspaper. The same methods have already been used to "monitor and disrupt terrorist propaganda", the source said. Russia stands accused of spreading lies about the pandemic and vaccination projects to sow disorder in the West.

"I've always been a great enthusiast for a trade deal with our European friends and partners," British prime minister Boris Johnson told the AP news agency Sunday, but added he would still pass a bill enabling him to renege on a previous withdrawal agreement if needed. He spoke with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen by phone Saturday, who said "large differences" remained on fishing rights and state aid.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by phone Saturday Armenia must withdraw from Azerbaijan's territory and "sit down at the negotiating table" for a peaceful solution to warfare over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Erdoğan's diplomatic overture to play a leading role in the conflict came after his military support for Azerbaijan. Russia has a joint defence pact with Armenia, if Armenian territory is attacked.

Police snatched another 360 protesters off the streets of Belarus on Sunday, as weekly demonstrations against rigged elections on 9 August continued despite the crackdown. Olympic decathlon silver-medallist Andrei Krauchenko and kickboxing champion Ivan Ganin were among those arrested, Reuters reported. About 60 medical doctors were also detained in a rally on Saturday. The EU blacklisted Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko on Friday, saying more sanctions could follow.