Josep Borrell

17 countries, including Iran and Venezuela, have requested financial assistance from the European Union in relation to the disease caused by the new coronavirus. This was announced by EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell after a meeting of foreign ministers from 27 countries in the community in a video conference.

European Union foreign ministers were on Monday to discuss, by video conference, ongoing efforts to repatriate hundreds of thousands of European citizens who have become stranded abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

During the discussion, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Brussels time, ministers are expected to discuss the geopolitical repercussions of the pandemic. 

European Union governments will consider on Friday whether to provide more money for migrants in Turkey, but will not accept that refugees are used as a bargaining tool, the EU's top diplomat said.

"We are going to discuss it," Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, told reporters in the Croatian capital before chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

He hopes the EU will not need to deploy military troops in order to stop a possible new wave of Syrian refugees.
The situation in Syria and at the Turkish-Greek border is the major topic of a meeting of European defense ministers, with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg taking part alongside Borrell.

The European Union's foreign policy and security high representative, Josep Borrell, and its commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarcic, will hold talks in Turkey after the Turkish government decided to open its borders to Europe to refugees late last week.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarcic will pay a two-day visit to Ankara Tuesday for talks with senior Turkish officials on the ongoing escalation in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib and the humanitarian consequences for the civilian population on the ground, as well as the situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has convened an extraordinary Foreign Council for next week on developments in Syria and the ensuing migration emergency, at the request of Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.

Dendias had formally requested an extraordinary meeting Saturday.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was busy Saturday contacting his counterparts in several European countries, as well  as the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell Fontelles, whom he asked to convene an extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

In an op-ed published today, Surroi revealed the details of a meeting Borrell had a few weeks ago in Berlin with distinguished European experts, Gazeta Express reports.
At the meeting, Surroi wrote, the Spanish diplomat raised the issue of border adjustment, asking if it would be a good solution for Serbia to take over northern Kosovo.

Greece welcomed a decision by European Union foreign ministers on Monday to launch a new maritime effort focused on enforcing the UN arms embargo around Libya.
Speaking in Brussels where the meeting of EU foreign ministers took place, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias reiterated Greece's commitment to take part in the operation.