A video summit with the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo will be held on Friday, co-headed by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a source in the Elysee Palace announced on Monday. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovan PM Avduallah Hoti are expected to join the French and German leaders, as well as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the source said.

The White House is again rejecting calls for a national mask-wearing mandate, news wires reported. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says in an appearance on “Fox and Friends” on Monday that President Donald sees the issue as a “state-to-state” matter. He says that, “certainly a national mandate is not in order” and that “we’re allowing our local governors and our local mayors to weigh in on that.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for a "strong" and "efficient" coronavirus recovery fund for the EU, urging a deal to be sealed next month, news wires reported. The two leaders met for talks at the German government retreat in Meseberg, days before Germany takes on the EU’s rotating presidency.

All Germany residents should take advantage of a coronavirus app designed to recognize and break up infection chains, Chancellor Angela Merkel urged in her weekly video message on Saturday.  "The more people who participate, the greater its usefulness," Merkel believes.

Following the EU summit on Friday, Italian PM Giuseppe Conte said that the leaders made “a step forward", ANSA reported. "The right climate, one of convergence, is developing," he commented after the video conference, focused on the European Commission's proposed coronavirus Recovery Fund.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet on Wednesday passed a second supplementary budget of €62.5 bn, news wires reported. The move takes the government's total planned debt for 2020 to a record €218.5bn, and comes on top of an initial €156bn supplementary budget passed at the end of March.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that Beijing needs to take action to open up its market and treat foreign companies fairly, her spokesman said on Thursday following a video conference, during which the two leaders discussed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Leaders of France, Germany and four other EU countries on Tuesday urged the EU to take a greater role in preparing for any future pandemic, conceding that coronavirus responses had fallen short, news wires reported. There should be a “common European approach” to such challenges in the future, wrote France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel along with the Prime Ministers of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki, of Spain Pedro Sanchez, of Belgium Sophie Wilmes and of Denmark Mette Frederiksen.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declined an invitation from the US President Donald Trump to the upcoming G7 summit "given the overall pandemic situation," a government spokesman said on Saturday.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will present a new Franco-German initiative later on Monday, Macron’s office said in a surprise statement cited by Reuters. The two leaders will hold a video-conference at 1330 GMT, which will be followed by a news conference around 1500 GMT.