Commission assesses some confusing rules in Mobility Package

An ordinance signed by Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza on Thursday bans the entry of people arriving from at-risk countries into Italy due to the coronavirus, ANSA reported.

Poland's presidential candidates, incumbent Andrzej Duda and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, will make a final push to mobilize voters on Friday, the last day of the presidential campaign ahead of the Sunday vote. At midnight on Friday a pre-election silence will set in and the publishing of opinion polls and campaigning will be prohibited.

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on three senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party, including a member of the ruling Politburo, for alleged human rights abuses targeting ethnic and religious minorities that China has detained in the western part of the country, news wires reported.

The British government of PM Boris Johnson has decided not to join a European Union coronavirus vaccine scheme because of concerns there could be costly delays in securing the vaccines, according The Telegraph, which cited  sources. The European Commission is expected to be notified on Friday.

Located some 60 kilometres to the northeast of Bulgaria's 'seaside capital' of Varna, the picturesque rocky cape of Kaliakra (from the Greek - beautiful cape) protrudes more than two kilometres into the sea. Its oldest name - Tirizis, dates back to the 4th century BC and is derived from the name of the local Thracian tribe, the Tirizi.

Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe was elected as President of the Eurogroup, the group announced on Thursday evening. The other candidates for the position were the finance ministers of Spain - Nadia Calviño, and of Luxembourg finance minister Pierre Gramegna.

Online platforms such as YouTube do not have to give out IP addresses, phone numbers or email addresses of users who illegally uploaded content, according to a top EU court judgement.

Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation army (KLA), which fought for the independence from Serbia, gathered at a main square in the capital of Pristina and other cities on Thursday to denounce the indictment of President Hashim Thaci on war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during and after a 1998-1999-armed conflict.

Covid-19 clearly showed us that Europe is far from a finished product and needs a reboot. The world is changing and geopolitical layers are shifting. If we want to avoid getting squashed between global players, we need a different European Union, a union that is able to protect the interests of our citizens. As currently constructed, the bloc is not equipped to do so, says Ilhan Kyuchyuk, ALDE Party Vice-President and MEP, in an interview to Europost.

Commenting on the final adoption of the Mobility Package I, EU Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean said on Thursday that the social improvements in it are significant, but the Commission regrets that the new set of rules includes elements that are possibly not in line with the European Green Deal's ambitions and the European Council endorsement of the objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050.