Euobserver.com

Only three EU countries, Estonia (2.4 percent), Greece (2.1 percent) and UK (2.0 percent), meet Nato's target of spending at least two percent of GDP on defence, 2016 figures released by Eurostat on Friday showed. On average EU member states spent 1.3% of GDP on defence. In absolute figures UK spent the most (€47bn), which was almost a quarter (24 percent) of the total EU public expenditure on defence.

US president Donald Trump on Thursday criticised European defence budgets, telling Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg in Washington that members not meeting commitments would be "dealt with". Nato members have agreed to spend at least two percent of GDP on defence by 2024; only three EU countries meeting that target today. "And two percent is a very low number. The number really should be four percent," Trump said.

At the first summit in 15 years with Western Balkan leaders, EU chiefs made it clear that enlargement is not at hand - but offered economic incentives to keep the region close to the bloc.

The European Commission will begin the process on Friday of applying a 'blocking statute' against potential US extraterritorial sanctions on EU companies that operate in Iran, commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday at an EU summit in Sofia. The 1996 regulation allows companies to ignore penalties issued by certain non-EU jurisdictions. Juncker also said the European Investment Bank will "facilitate investment between Europe and Iran".

Relations between Macedonia and Greece are "even stronger" after the two countries' leaders met in Sofia, Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev said Thursday. He said that he and Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras "looked at possible options for creative solutions" to their dispute over Macedonia's name. He said he hoped an agreement can be found in June, but that it will depend on "relevant political factors" in both countries.

The European Commission on Thursday referred six member states to the European Court of Justice for repeated failures to tackle air pollution. The six are Germany, France, United Kingdom, Hungary, Italy and Romania. Environment commissioner Karmenu Vella said: "The member states referred to the court today have received sufficient 'last chances' over the last decade to improve the situation." The six are accused of failing to tackle nitrogen dioxide levels.

Quim Torra, the new president of Catalonia's regional government, was sworn in at the Catalan parliament on Thursday. He pledged to be "loyal to the will of the Catalan people and its representatives in parliament". The oath did not mention loyalty to the Spanish king nor to the country's constitution, as it was the tradition until Torra's predecessor, Carles Puigdemont. Torra was elected by the parliament on Monday.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg's EU charm tour has gone awry before it began over plans to hide from public scrutiny.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and German chancellor Angela Merkel will meet for the second time in just one month in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Friday to discuss current global issues of Iran, Syria and Ukraine. The meeting could signal a shift in EU-Russia relations, amid a deepening US-European crisis of confidence, Russian state broadcaster RT reported.

"With friends like that, who needs enemies?" European Council Donald Tusk asked on Wednesday, as EU leaders were trying to come up with a reply to the US president's questioning of the transatlantic relationship.

French energy giant Total said on Wednesday it might quit a $2bn natural gas project in Iran if it could not secure a waiver from US sanctions. It follows a decision on Monday by Danish shipping operator Maersk Tankers to wind down business in Iran by November. German insurer Allianz said on Tuesday it was also prepared to curtail Iran-related business to avoid US sanctions.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that the UN has "collapsed" and described the international body as "finished" because of its lack of response to Israel's use of force against demonstrators in Gaza, where over 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands wounded during protests earlier this week. Irish premier Leo Varadkar blamed the US decision to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem for the violence.

A majority of 58 percent of voters in Ireland supports repealing the Eighth Amendment and allowing for abortions, a fresh poll from Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI has found ahead of the abortion referendum on 25 May. The pro-abortion camp is however shrinking, and is now three points lower compared to opinion polls in April, while the anti-abortion side increased four points in the past month to 42 percent support.

The EU is prioritising motorways and gas pipelines across the potential accession Western Balkan countries, plus hydropower energy projects which threaten one of the world's freshwater biodiversity hotspots.

Three European capitals are seeking to annul laxer nitrogen oxides limits for cars - which were introduced as compensation to the car industry's difficulties in passing the new on-road emissions test.

Tusk and Juncker to hand Poroshenko a letter notifying Ukraine the EU has completed ratification of a symbolic trade pact.

An inquiry by the House of Lords has found that the EU's naval operation, Sophia, has led to more people drowning at sea given the mission's mandate to seize and destroy smuggler boats.

The city of Moscow is undergoing a controversial urban renewal project amid accusations that those who stand to benefit the most are also on the EU sanctions list.

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the BBC that EU membership is "not indispensable". Erdogan said that if the EU "bluntly" told Turkey it is not welcome, "this will be comforting" for Turkey, because it has a plan B. Erdogan also noted a majority of Turks "don't want the EU anymore", but that Turkey will continue the process "for a little more time". Turkey applied for membership in 1987.

UK foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that "there is no plan for no [Brexit] deal". Without a divorce settlement by March 2019, the UK would fall out of the EU from one day to the next. "I think the chances of such an outcome are vanishingly unlikely," said Johnson, noting that a "great free trade deal" is in the interest of both sides.