Belgium

(Reuters) --- European Union countries agreed on Friday to an easing of travel restrictions over summer that will allow fully vaccinated tourists to avoid tests or quarantines and broaden the list of EU regions from which it is safe to travel.

Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states approved a modified European Commission proposal that people who have been fully vaccinated for 14 days should be able to travel freely from one EU country to another, current EU president Portugal said.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Almost 9 months after a fire gutted a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, work on a new reception center has still not begun despite pledges to have the facility built before next winter, Greece’s migration minister confirmed Wednesday.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers on Wednesday endorsed a new travel certificate that will allow people to move between European countries without having to quarantine or undergo extra coronavirus tests, paving the way for the pass to start in time for summer.

The widely awaited certificate is aimed at saving Europe’s travel industry and prime tourist sites from another disastrous vacation season. Key travel destinations like Greece have led the drive to have the certificate, which will have both paper and digital forms, rapidly introduced.

BRUSSELS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission is engaged in negotiations with third countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, on the mutual recognition of vaccine certificates, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said here on Monday.

(Reuters) --- The European Union on Friday submitted a plan to the World Trade Organization that it believes will more effectively broaden supply of COVID-19 vaccines than the intellectual property (IP) rights waiver backed by the United States.

India, South Africa and dozens of developing countries are demanding the waiver to address what they say is a "staggering inequity" in access to vaccines and other COVID-19 treatments.

(Reuters) --- The European Union will impose a new round of sanctions on Myanmar's military junta and its economic interests in the coming days, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told Reuters on Thursday.

In an interview in Jakarta after meetings with Southeast Asian diplomats, Borrell said the fresh sanctions from the EU would be the third batch introduced since the military ousted Myanmar's democratically-elected government on Feb. 1.

03 June 2021; MEMO: Europe is testing a "sound cannon" – which gives off a high-pitched noise as loud as a jet engine – to deter people arriving and seeking refuge, according to a video made by DW News which captures the truck and the sound.

Between 2021 and 2027 the EU plans to invest almost €35 million ($42.7 million) in border control, according to the report.

Besides the sound cannon they will buy cameras and drones and an Interrogation AI.

(Reuters) --- European Union governments agreed on Wednesday to add Japan to their small list of countries from which they will allow non-essential travel, while holding off until at least mid-June for British tourists, EU sources said on Tuesday.

Ambassadors from the EU's 27 countries approved the addition of Japan at a meeting on Wednesday, with the change to take effect in the coming days.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO’s foreign and defense ministers were meeting Tuesday to lay the groundwork for the military alliance’s first summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, setting aside four tumultuous years with the Trump administration.

The ministers will discuss a hefty communique being drafted for the June 14 summit in Brussels, which will reaffirm the unity of the 30-nation security alliance — which has been riven by infighting in recent years — and focus on future threats and challenges.

(Reuters) --- Personnel at Belarus' diplomatic mission to NATO will have their access restricted at the alliance's headquarters, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, following the forced landing of a passenger plane by Minsk.

Belarus is not a member of NATO but has had ties with the military alliance since 1992 following the fall of the Soviet Union, and has maintained a diplomatic mission to NATO since 1998.