Euobserver.com

The EU said that Around 1,000 firefighters, 9 planes, and 200 vehicles have been sent to Greece from other European countries to help with the wildfires.

Poland said it would introduce changes in September. Kaczyński said the move would test if the EU had a "semblance of goodwill".

Protesters took to the streets in France and Italy in opposition to Covid-19 measures that they say infringe on their civil liberties but which officials argue are needed to curb the coronavirus pandemic, Deutsche Welle reported. The protests come as European countries double down on efforts to get wide portions of their populations vaccinated in the face of the spreading Delta variant.

Officials on Greece's second-largest island of Evia have urged for more firefighting support as blazes prompt locals and tourists to flee, Deutsche Welle reported. The fires ripped through Evia's dense forests, cutting off escape routes on land and prompting rescues via sea. Air turbulence and surging wind from the fires on Evia are making it difficult for water-bombing planes and helicopters, said Civil Protection chief Nikos Hardalias.

Italy's former prime minister Giuseppe Conte has been officially elected leader of the 5-Star Movement, ending months of uncertainty and division since he was first asked to lead the troubled party in February, Reuters reports. 5-Star is the largest group in Italy's parliament following the 2018 elections when it took 32 percent of the vote. Its support has since ebbed due to infighting and policy U-turns.

Hungary ordered shops on Friday to sell products, including books, seen as "promoting homosexuality" in "closed wrapping", spelling out restrictions that have set prime minister Viktor Orban on a collision course with the EU, Reuters reported. The decree, issued last Friday included books seen as promoting gender change and containing "explicit" depictions of sexuality. It also banned any sale of them within 200 metres of a school or a church.

No one believes Ukrainian activist Vitaly Shishov killed himself in Ukraine, so who benefitted from his murder?

The EU has blamed Iran for a drone attack on a merchant ship off Oman in July that killed a Romanian and a UK national. "All available evidence clearly points to Iran," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Sunday, adding: "Such reckless and unilateral actions ... need to stop". The attack took place amid EU-led talks on an Iran nuclear non-proliferation deal, but Borrell did not link the two.

Europe has threatened further sanctions against Lukashenko after a year of intensifying brutality, which has begun to spill across the EU border.

The EU called on Tuesday on Lebanon political leaders to form a government without delay, following the nomination of businessman Najib Mikati as prime minister. "It is now of crucial importance that a credible and accountable government is formed in Lebanon without delay, one that is able to address the severe economic and social crises the country is facing," the EU said in a statement.

The US decided not to lift travel restrictions for visiting EU nationals, given the spike in Covid-19 infections.

At least 57 migrants died in a shipwreck off the Libya coast on Monday, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration. "According to survivors brought to shore by fishermen and the coast guard, at least 20 women and two children were among those who drowned," said IOM spokesperson Safa Msehli, in a tweet.

The European Commission has requested 23 EU member states - including France, Italy, Spain and Poland - to explain their delay in transposing EU copyright rules into national law, as the deadline for enacting EU rules was 7 June 2021. The EU executive sent on Monday letters of formal notice, the first step of infringement proceedings, to the group of countries. They have now two months to respond.

The European Commission and national consumer authorities, led by Dutch and Belgian agencies, asked Google on Monday to be more transparent in the way it presents search results of flights and hotels, making clear when payments influence such rankings. Google Flights and Google Hotels results are expected to display final prices, including fees or taxes. The multinational is expected to communicate improvements within two months.

The EU on Monday urged Tunisian authorities to respect the country's rule of law, after the president sacked the government and shut down the parliament with the help of the army, Reuters reported. "We call on all Tunisian actors to respect the constitution, its institutions and the rule of law," an EU commission spokesperson said, urging authorities to avoid any further violence to preserve the stability of the country.

Hundreds of Hungarians took the streets of Budapest on Monday to protest against the alleged surveillance carried out by their government with the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, according to Reuters. Journalists, businessmen, lawyers and critics of the Viktor Orban government were among those targeted for surveillance. Hungarian prosecutors have opened an inquiry into the allegations. During the protests, some chanted "Victator" - referring to the prime minister.

China said on Monday that the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), unveiled by the European Commission earlier this month, violates international trade rules and undermines global prosperity, Reuters reported. "CBAM is essentially a unilateral measure to extend the climate change issue to the trade sector," a ministry of ecology and environment spokesman said. As the world's main manufacturer of steel and cement, China could face high border tariffs.

Russian authorities have blocked access to the website of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, and his allies, ahead of the country's parliamentary election in September, The Guardian reported. Russia's state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, argued the internet sites were being "used for propaganda" of extremist groups. Russian president Vladimir Putin introduced constitutional changes in 2020 to stay in power until 2036. Navalny was arrested in January, after recovering from a poisoning attempt.

Comedians, businessmen and other outsiders – think of Edward Snowden, Slawi Trifonow (the TV star who won the Bulgarian elections recently), or Donald Trump – try to disrupt power, pretending to expose political elites. Why is this happening?

Hundreds of documented cases of pushbacks of migrants and asylum seekers tell the story of a European Union whose member states seem to resort to increasingly degrading and inhuman practices in the management of its external borders.