Euobserver.com

The so-called "all-Russia" vote finishing today, with more than 200 amendments to the Russian constitution, has been marked by systematic electoral fraud, mass mobilisation of the administrative resources, populistic promises or exploiting the historical memory.

Iran has sentenced to death a government-critical journalist, Ruhollah Zam, who had been living in Paris, prior to visiting Iran, for unknown reasons, in October last year. Zam's website AmadNews exposed government corruption. He also became known for sharing messages and videos about anti-Iranian regime protests in 2017. "Reporters Without Borders is shocked and dismayed by the death sentence," the Paris-based NGO said. Zam had been "kidnapped", the NGO added.

"It is our desire to Europeanise the fight against terrorism in the Sahel," French president Emmanuel Macron said in Nouakchott, Mauritania, Tuesday at a summit with five regional states. "When France gets involved, it's Europe that gets involved," he added. The Spanish foreign minister also attended, while German and Italian leaders and EU officials dialled in on video. France has been fighting Islamists in the area, mostly alone, since 2014.

Brussels Airport is aiming to serve up to 140 international destinations by the end of August and handle 15,000 passengers a day from 1 July, Nathalie Pierard, a spokeswoman told The Brussels Times. That was still "far off" the normal summer vacation figures, she added, amid ongoing "confusion" over EU restrictions on overseas locations. "It is difficult for everyone ... the situation can still change day by day," she added.

The EU foreign service on Tuesday welcomed Gabon's decision to decriminalise homosexuality, saying it had "taken a step forward towards ensuring the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by all, regardless of their sexual orientation". Homosexuality is still illegal in more than half the 54 African countries and only South Africa recognises same-sex marriage. One of the last European countries to formally decriminalise it was Germany in 1994.

Top EU officials and national politicians have condemned China's new security law on Hong Kong, with Chris Patten, its last British governor, saying it "marks the end of 'one country, two systems'," the Sino-British accord in 1997 in which the UK ceded control of its former colony. China's act was "deplorable," EU Council president Charles Michel said. The European Commission was analysing how the EU should react, it said.

The king of Belgium, Philippe, has sent a letter to Congo's president Félix Tshisekedi, conveying his "deepest regret" for the "acts of violence" committed during the reign of king Leopold II and during the colonial period, on the occasion of Tuesday's 60th anniversary of Congolese independence. He also writes of wounds of the past and of the present by "acts of discrimination", referring to Black Lives Matter protests in Brussels.

Travellers from Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay ought to be able to enter the EU, its 27 ambassadors agreed Monday, The Guardian reports. China can also join, if it reciprocates border opening, they said. Brazil, India, and China have been left out for now. The list will be updated every two weeks.

China has passed a controversial security law giving it new powers over Hong Kong, deepening fears for the city's freedoms, the BBC reports. Last month China was criticised when it said it would criminalise any act of secession, subversion, terrorism, or collusion with foreign forces, after months of protests in the city. China defended the law saying Hong Kong lacked a security law.

French president Emmanuel Macron railed against Turkey's actions in Libya, while defending Russia, in a press briefing in Germany Monday. "I think it's a historic and criminal responsibility for [Turkey] a member of Nato," to have sent troops to Libya, he said. "Russia doesn't claim to be intervening in Libya," he added. Turkey has backed the EU-backed government in Tripoli, while France and Russia have backed an opposing warlord.

Venezuela has expelled the EU ambassador to Caracas, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, after Europe added 11 more names to its blacklist of regime officials. "If they can't respect Venezuela, then they should leave it," president Nicolás Maduro said Monday, giving her 72 hours to leave. "A plane can be loaned for her," he added. The EU backs a rival president, Juan Guaidó, who is also endorsed by parliament, after flawed elections.

"Nothing will stop" Nord Stream 2, Russia has said after new US sanctions on a pipeline that is seeing the EU side with Moscow against its transatlantic ally.

Disagreements are running deep between EU leaders over the overall size of the budget and recovery package, the criteria and mode of distribution and the conditions, with rule of law "another battle ground opening up".

Slovenia is a nature-lovers retreat, complete with snow-peaked mountains, pristine lakes, frigid clear rivers and a small coastline along the Adriatic to boot. Coronavirus entry restrictions have now impacted its tourism industry hard. EUobserver takes a closer look.

The Brussels public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation against MEP Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, after she filed a "racist aggression" complaint against Brussels agents and gave her testimony in the European Parliament.

Action on climate change was long-slated as the priority for Germany's six-month presidency of the European Union which starts tomorrow. But as Europe struggles to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, is Germany really going to maintain momentum on climate?

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Monday in a press briefing that the coronavirus epidemic is far from over. "We all want to get on with our lives, but the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over," he said, adding that the pandemic is speeding up. So far, there are over 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 500,000 deaths globally.

Reports Chinese authorities are force-sterilising women from the Uighur ethnic minority in its Xinjiang province merit a UN enquiry, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), a global caucus that includes more than 40 European MPs and MEPs, as well as dozens of Australian, British, and US ones. "The world cannot remain silent in the face of unfolding atrocities," Ipac said Monday, citing fears of a hidden "genocide".

Finland is keen to join a club of four EU states - France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands - who spearheaded joint procurement plans for a future coronavirus vaccine, according to a senior Finnish health ministry official, Päivi Sillanaukee, cited by Finnish news agency Yle. Finland was also in talks with the European Commission for another project to advance purchase a set of promising new vaccine drugs, Sillanaukee added.

Switzerland and the EU are unlikely to agree a new treaty on trade relations until after the outcome of Brexit is known, Günther Oettinger, a German former EU commissioner, told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung, a Swiss newspaper, Monday. "I don't think that an [EU-Swiss] agreement will be reached ... before the exact course of Brexit is clear," he said. "The willingness to agree is likely to be low," he added.