The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in cooperation with the Albanian authorities, launched the first ever joint operation on the territory of a neighbouring non-EU country, EU press service reported. As of 22 May, teams from the agency will be deployed together with Albanian border guards at the Greek-Albanian border to strengthen border management and enhance security at the EU's external borders.

Talking at the joint meeting between European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and EP Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (DLAT), EU High Representative Federica Mogherini acknowledged once again the agreement reached between North Macedonia and Greece, announcing that, as already promised, North Macedonia and Albania's opening EU accession negotiations will start in June.

EU support to refugees and host communities in Turkey remains tangible and vital, according to the third annual report on the implementation of the EU Facility. The results include: monthly transfer to 1.5 million refugees for their basic needs, five million primary health care consultations, access to school for 470,000 children.

With more than €74.4bn, the EU and its Member States continued to be the world's leading provider of official development assistance in 2018, according the latest report on preliminary figures of OECD's Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC). European development assistance represents almost 57% of the total global assistance by all OECD-DAC donors.

French President Emmanuel Macron Macron, who invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to talks with Xi Jinping in Paris on Tuesday, said he wanted to build a fairer, more balanced multilateral trade framework with China, news wires reported. “We must show through actions that cooperation brings more than confrontation and that we have more to win through openness than through closing doors,” Macron said.

The European Union announced on Friday that American travelers will need registration through  the European Travel Information and Authorization System or ETIAS to visit the European Schengen Area. The Schengen Area is a zone of 26 European countries that do not have internal borders and allow people to move between them freely, including countries like Spain, France, Greece, Germany, Italy and Poland. Currently, US citizens can travel to Europe for up to 90 days without a visa.

The EU's General Court on Wednesday rejected a challenge by Hamas against its 2015 listing as a terrorist organization, a decision that made the Palestinian Islamist group liable to EU sanctions, news wires reported. The EU first included Hamas on its terrorist list in late 2001, which resulted in the freezing of assets owned in the bloc. The movement, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, has repeatedly contested the EU's listing decisions.

The European Union on Monday urged countries to avoid any military intervention in Venezuela, news wires reported."We must avoid a military intervention," Maja Kocijancic, the spokeswoman for EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, told reporters.

Countries in the Mediterranean region face similar challenges, which require shared solutions, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini said last Friday in La Valletta. She took part in the 15th Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 5+5 Western Mediterranean Dialogue in Malta's capital.

At the 8th edition of Friends of Europe's Europe-China Forum, held on 28 November in Brussels, were highlighted the mutual ties in the context of the opportunities and common challenges ahead. The forum, moderated by Shada Islam, Director of Europe and Geopolitics at Friends of Europe, brought together policymakers, business representatives and leading academics from across Europe and China.