The EU bluntly rebuffed the UK’s call to reset the two sides’ relationship, saying Britain needs to honour the promises it made on Northern Ireland as part of the Brexit deal, news wires reported citing a letter by Commission VP Maros Sefcovic.

The EC and the High Representative adopted on Tuesday a joint communication proposing an ambitious and innovative new Agenda for the Mediterranean. Its aim is to relaunch and strengthen the strategic partnership between the EU and its Southern Neighbourhood partners. 

The EU will host the fifth Brussels Conference on “Supporting the future of Syria and the region” on 29-30 March 2021, which will take place virtually due to Covid-19 constraints.

The European Union will not reopen parts of a stalled bilateral treaty with Switzerland, the EU ambassador to the Alpine republic said in an interview with newspaper Blick, taking a hard line on Swiss misgivings over talks that have lasted years.

The purpose of my visit today is to discuss the challenges we are facing, including issues where our views diverge and to listen to each other’s concerns, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said during the press conference he held on Friday morning in Moscow, together with Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov. It took place after the first session of their talks.

British Cabinet Minister Michael Gove and European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic will meet in London next week for further talks to resolve issues surrounding the Irish border, news wires reported. On Wednesday evening, Gove and Sefcovic held a video crisis meeting with the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill.

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that Boris Johnson’s government has to decide who its allies are, insisting that “half-friends is not a concept”. “What politics does Great Britain wish to choose? It cannot be the best ally of the US, the best ally of the EU and the new Singapore … It has to choose a model,” Macron said, in an interview with the Guardian and a small group of other media.

The EU foreign ministers were expected on Monday to discuss and impose new sanctions on Russian individuals after more than 3,000 people were arrested across Russia on Saturday during peaceful demonstrations  demanding the release of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, news wires reported.

Turkey and the European Union have started the year positively and steps to restart talks with Greece over hydrocarbons in the Mediterranean are welcome, but the EU remains concerned about human rights, the bloc’s top envoy said on Thursday.

Germany, France and Britain pressed Iran on Saturday to back off the latest planned violation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, saying that Tehran has “no credible civilian use” for uranium metal.