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Tag Archives: BRU
EU wants to send more migrants away as irregular arrivals grow
STOCKHOLM, Jan 26 (Reuters) – European Union ministers on Thursday sought ways to curb irregular immigration and send more people away as arrivals rose from pandemic lows, reviving controversial ideas for border fences and asylum centres outside of Europe.
EU border agency Frontex reported some 330,000 unauthorised arrivals last year, the highest since 2016, with a sharp increase on the Western Balkans route.
“We have a huge increase of irregular arrivals of migrants,” Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told talks among the 27 EU migration ministers. “We have a very low return rate and I can see we can make significant progress here.”
Denmark, the Netherlands and Latvia were among those to call for more pressure through visas and development aid towards the roughly 20 countries – including Iraq and Senegal – that the EU deems fail to cooperate on taking back their nationals who have no right to stay in Europe.
Only about a fifth of such people are sent back, with insufficient resources and coordination on the EU side being another hurdle, according to the bloc’s executive.
The ministerial talks come ahead of a Feb. 9-10 summit of EU leaders who will also seek more returns, according to their draft joint decision seen by Reuters.
“The overall economic malaise makes countries like Tunisia change from a transit country to a country where locals also want to go,” said an EU official. “That changes things. But it’s still very manageable, especially if the EU acts together.”
‘WALLS AND FENCES’
That, however, is easier said than done in the bloc, where immigration is a highly sensitive political issue and member countries are bitterly divided over how to share the task of caring for those who arrive in Europe.
The issue has become toxic since more than a million people crossed the Mediterranean in 2015 in chaotic and deadly scenes that caught the bloc off guard and fanned anti-immigration sentiment.
The EU has since tightened its external borders and asylum laws. With people on the move again following the COVID pandemic, the debate is returning to the fore, as are some proposals previously dismissed as inadmissible.
Denmark has held talks with Rwanda on handling asylum applicants in East Africa, while others called for EU funds for a border fence between Bulgaria and Turkey – both ideas so far seen as taboo.
“We are still working to make that happen, preferably with other European countries but, as a last resort, we’ll do it only in cooperation between Denmark and, for example Rwanda,” Immigration Minister Kaare Dybvad said on Thursday.
Dutch minister Eric van der Burg said he was open to EU financing for border barriers.
“EU member states continue making access to international protection as difficult as possible,” the Danish Refugee Council, an NGO, said in a report on Thursday about what it said were systemic pushbacks of people at the bloc’s external borders, a violation of their right to claim asylum.
While EU countries protest against irregular immigration, often comprising Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa, Germany is simultaneously seeking to open its job market to much-needed workers from outside the bloc.
“We want to conclude migration agreements with countries, particularly with North African countries, that would allow a legal route to Germany but would also include functioning returns,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in Stockholm.
Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Bart Meiejer, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Bernadette Baum
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Erdogan to Sweden: Don’t expect Turkish support for NATO bid after Stockholm protest
ANKARA, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Sweden should not expect Turkey’s support for its NATO membership after a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm at the weekend including the burning of a copy of the Koran, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
Protests in Stockholm on Saturday against Turkey and against Sweden’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have heightened tensions with Turkey, whose backing Sweden needs to gain entry to the military alliance.
“Those who allow such blasphemy in front of our embassy can no longer expect our support for their NATO membership,” Erdogan said in a speech after a Cabinet meeting.
“If you love members of terrorist organisations and enemies of Islam so much and protect them, then we advise you to seek their support for your countries’ security,” he said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom declined to immediately comment on Erdogan’s remarks, telling Reuters in a written statement he wanted to understand exactly what had been said.
“But Sweden will respect the agreement that exists between Sweden, Finland and Turkey regarding our NATO membership,” he added.
Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but all 30 member states must approve their bids. Ankara has previously said Sweden in particular must first take a clearer stance against what it sees as terrorists, mainly Kurdish militants and a group it blames for a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Finland and Sweden are ready to join the alliance, but declined to comment on whether Washington thought Erdogan’s comments meant a definitive shutting of the door to them.
“Ultimately, this is a decision and consensus that Finland and Sweden are going to have to reach with Turkey,” Price said.
Price told reporters that burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act, adding that the United States is cognizant that those who may be behind what took place in Sweden may be intentionally trying to weaken unity across the Atlantic and among Washington’s European allies.
“We have a saying in this country – something can be lawful but awful. I think in this case, what we’ve seen in the context of Sweden falls into that category,” Price said.
The Koran-burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line. Paludan, who also has Swedish citizenship, has staged a number of demonstrations in the past where he burned the Koran.
Several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait denounced the event. Turkey had already summoned Sweden’s ambassador and cancelled a planned visit by the Swedish defence minister to Ankara.
Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Huseyin Hayatsever; Additional reporting by Niklas Pollard in Stockholm and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Grant McCool
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
EU imposes new Iran sanctions, won’t brand Guards ‘terrorists’ for now
BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on more than 30 Iranian officials and organisations, including units of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, blaming them for a “brutal” crackdown on protesters and other human rights abuses.
The United States and Britain have also issued new sanctions against Iran, reflecting a deterioration in the West’s already dire relations with Tehran in recent months.
Foreign ministers from the EU’s 27 member countries agreed the measures at a meeting in Brussels.
The sanctions targeted units and senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) across Iran, including in Sunni-populated areas where the state crackdown has been intense, a list published in the EU’s Official Journal showed.
Some EU governments and the European Parliament have made clear they want the IRGC as a whole added to the bloc’s list of terrorist organisations. But the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, noted that could only happen if a court in an EU country determined the IRGC was guilty of terrorism.
“You cannot say ‘I consider you a terrorist because I don’t like you’,” he told reporters ahead of the Brussels talks.
The new sanctions were imposed on 18 people and 19 entities. Those targeted cannot travel to the EU and any assets they hold inside the EU can be frozen.
Relations between the EU and Tehran have spiralled downwards during stalled efforts to revive talks on its nuclear programme and as Iran has moved to detain several European nationals.
The bloc has also become increasingly critical of the continuing violent treatment of protesters in Iran, including executions, and the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia.
Sweden, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the new sanctions targeted “those driving the repression.”
“The EU strongly condemns the brutal and disproportionate use of force by the Iranian authorities against peaceful protesters,” Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said in a Twitter post by the country’s EU diplomatic mission.
The IRGC was set up shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system. It has an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy and air units, and commands the Basij religious militia often used in crackdowns.
“The Iranian regime, the Revolutionary Guards terrorise their own population day after day,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told Monday’s meeting.
The day before the Brussels meeting, over a thousand people took to the streets of the city to protest against the detention in Iran of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele.
Iran earlier warned the EU against designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity.
Reporting by Andrew Gray, Bart Meijer Philip Blenkinsop and Parisa Hafezi, Writing by Ingrid Melander and Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Peter Graff, Timothy Heritage and John Stonestreet
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Microsoft faces EU antitrust warning over Activision deal – sources
BRUSSELS, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Microsoft (MSFT.O) is likely to receive an EU antitrust warning about its $69 billion bid for “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O), people familiar with the matter said, that could pose another challenge to completing the deal.
The European Commission is readying a charge sheet known as a statement of objections setting out its concerns about the deal which will be sent to Microsoft in the coming weeks, the people said.
The EU antitrust watchdog, which has set an April 11 deadline for its decision on the deal, declined to comment.
Microsoft said: “We’re continuing to work with the European Commission to address any marketplace concerns. Our goal is to bring more games to more people, and this deal will further that goal.”
The U.S. software giant and Xbox maker announced the acquisition in January last year to help it compete better with leaders Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T).
U.S. and UK regulators, however, have voiced concerns, with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission going to court to block the deal.
Microsoft was expected to offer remedies to EU regulators in an attempt to avert a statement of charge and shorten the regulatory process, other sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in November.
The EU competition enforcer, however, is not expected to be open to remedies without first sending out its charge sheet, although there are ongoing informal discussions on concessions, the people said.
Microsoft last month reached a 10-year deal with Nintendo (7974.T) to make “Call of Duty” available on Nintendo consoles, saying it was open to a similar agreement with Sony, which is critical of the acquisition.
The deal has received the green light without conditions in Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Serbia.
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee
Editing by Mark Potter
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
European Parliament kicks out VP Kaili over Qatar graft scandal
STRASBOURG, Dec 13 (Reuters) – The European Parliament removed Greek MEP Eva Kaili as a vice president of the assembly on Tuesday after she was accused of accepting bribes from Qatar in one of the biggest graft scandals to hit Brussels.
Kaili has denied any wrongdoing, but European lawmakers have moved rapidly to isolate her, worrying that the Belgian investigation will badly dent the assembly’s efforts to present itself as a sound moral compass in a troubled world.
“There will be no sweeping under the carpet. Our internal investigation will look at what has happened and how our systems can be made more watertight,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said as 625 MEPs voted to deprive Kaili of her VP role, with only one voting against and two abstaining.
Kaili, who is in police detention, was one of 14 vice presidents in the parliament.
Belgian prosecutors charged her and three Italians at the weekend of taking part in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption.
A source close to the investigation has said they are believed to have pocketed money from World Cup host Qatar. The Gulf state has denied any wrong doing.
Police have raided numerous buildings in Brussels, including parliament offices and 19 homes, discovering around 1.5 million euros ($1.58 million), some of it stashed in a suitcase in a hotel room, a source close to the investigation said.
Kaili’s lawyer in Greece, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, said on Tuesday that she was innocent. “She has nothing to do with financing from Qatar, nothing, explicitly and unequivocally,” he told Open TV in a first public comment.
Several MEPs nonetheless called for the 44-year-old Socialist politician to quit the assembly altogether.
“Given the extent of the corruption scandal, it is the least we could expect of her,” said MEP Manon Aubry, who co-chairs the Left group.
CORRUPTION
Countries which have faced criticism from the assembly said it had lost the moral high ground.
“From now on the European Parliament will not be able to speak about corruption in a credible manner,” Hungary Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook.
Belgian prosecutors said they had suspected for more than four months that a Gulf state was trying to buy influence in Brussels. Although no state was publicly named by prosecutors, a source with knowledge of the case said it was Qatar.
None of the four people charged have been formally identified, but their names were rapidly leaked to the press.
According to a source familiar with the case, the other accused are former EU lawmaker Pier Antonio Panzeri, Kaili’s partner Francesco Giorgi, who is a parliamentary assistant, and Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, secretary-general of a human rights campaign group.
There were no replies to calls and emails made by Reuters to their respective offices or homes.
Kaili was among a stable of young aspiring Greek politicians who emerged in the debilitating debt crisis which swept Greece from 2010 to 2015. The Greek socialist PASOK party has said it will expel her from its ranks.
In a speech in the European Parliament on Nov. 21, at the start of the month-long World Cup, she lashed out at Qatar’s detractors and hailed the energy-rich Gulf state as “a frontrunner in labour rights.”
Qatar has faced fierce criticism of its human rights record in the run up to the World Cup, including its treatment of migrant workers.
Additional reporting by Phil Blenkinsop, Karolina Tagaris, Clement Rossignol, Max Schwarz, Lefteris Papadimas, Michele Kambas, Alan Charlish, Giselda Vagnoni; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Edmund Blair and Crispian Balmer
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Qatar graft probe damages European Parliament, EU ministers say
BRUSSELS, Dec 12 (Reuters) – The European Union’s credibility is at stake, EU foreign ministers warned on Monday, following allegations Qatar lavished cash and gifts on European Parliament officials to influence decision-making.
Greece on Monday froze the assets of a key suspect in the case, Eva Kaili, a vice president in the European Parliament and one of four people arrested and charged in Belgium at the weekend, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
Kaili’s office did not respond to a request for a comment. Qatar has denied any wrongdoing.
Belgian prosecutors searched 16 houses and seized 600,000 euros ($631,800) in Brussels on Friday as part of the probe.
The four unnamed suspects have been charged with “participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption,” prosecutors said in a statement on Sunday.
The European Parliament said at the weekend it had suspended Kaili from her duties, while the Greek socialist PASOK party announced it was expelling her from its ranks.
According to sources familiar with the case, the three other accused are all Italian citizens — former EU lawmaker Pier Antonio Panzeri, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation Luca Visentini, and Kaili’s partner Francesco Giorgi, who is a parliamentary assistant.
There were no replies to calls and emails made by Reuters to their respective offices or homes in Belgium.
“This is an unbelievable incident which has to be cleared up completely with the full force of law,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said as she arrived for a regular meeting with her EU counterparts in Brussels.
“This is about the credibility of Europe.”
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney echoed her concern. “It is damaging. We need to get to the bottom of it.”
Belgian prosecutors said they had suspected for months that a Gulf state was trying to buy influence in Brussels.
A source with knowledge of the case said the state was Qatar. A Qatari official denied at the weekend accusations of possible misconduct.
“Any association of the Qatari government with the reported claims is baseless and gravely misinformed,” the official said.
BACKING QATAR
The investigation comes as World Cup host Qatar is in the global spotlight, amid criticism of its human rights record, including its treatment of migrant workers.
In a speech in the European Parliament on Nov. 21, at the start of the month-long soccer tournament, Kaili lashed out at Qatar’s detractors and hailed the energy-rich Gulf State as “a frontrunner in labour rights”.
“They committed to a vision by choice and they opened to the world. Still some here are calling to discriminate them. They bully them and they accuse everyone that talks to them or engages (with them) of corruption,” Kaili said.
The scandal is particularly awkward for the parliament, which has seen itself as a moral compass in Brussels, seeking tighter rules on the environment or on corporations, issuing resolutions critical of human rights abuses across the globe and taking EU governments to task.
As they arrived at Monday’s EU meeting, ministers were quick to condemn the alleged corruption.
“It is absolutely unacceptable, any kind of corruption,” said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.
“Qatar is an important partner for the energy of the EU,” he noted, while adding: “Of course the relation between the EU and Qatar needs to be built on a set of policies including human rights and labor rights.”
Some European diplomats told Reuters last month that pressure to maintain good ties with Qatar was increasing as the continent headed towards a winter of energy shortages because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The European Parliament was due to vote this week on a proposal to extend visa-free travel to the EU for Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Ecuador. Some lawmakers have suggested the vote should be postponed. Others have called for a debate on the corruption scandal.
The parliament was scheduled to start it plenary session in Strasbourg at 5 p.m. (1600 GMT), with many members making the trip from Brussels in the morning.
Reporting by Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels and Lefteris Papadimas in Athens; Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout and Angeliki Koutantou; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Crispian Balmer
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Croatia joins Europe’s free-travel zone, Romania and Bulgaria barred
BRUSSELS/BREGANA BORDER CROSSING BETWEEN CROATIA AND SLOVENIA, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Croatia got the green light on Thursday to join Europe’s open travel zone, but Bulgaria and Romania were kept out because of opposition led by Austria over concerns about unauthorised immigration.
From 2023, people will not have to stop for border checks as they pass between Croatia and the rest of the so-called Schengen area – the world’s largest free-travel area seen as one of the main achievements of European integration.
It will “shorten the journey and the wait, thank God,” driver Nenad Benic said as he queued to cross the Bregana border point from Croatia into Slovenia on Thursday.
Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said he was disappointed and would apply to enter the zone again. “We regret and honestly do not understand the inflexible position taken by Austria,” he said.
Bulgaria would also try again, its foreign minister said.
Croatia got the go-ahead to become the zone’s 27th member after tense talks between the bloc’s interior ministers in Brussels.
“To the citizens of Croatia: welcome, congratulations!,” European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, said.
“To the citizens of Romania and Bulgaria – you deserve to be full members of Schengen, to have access to the free movement… I share the disappointment with the citizens of Bulgaria and Romania.”
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said he had opposed Romania and Bulgaria because of security concerns.
“It is wrong that a system that does not work properly in many places would get expanded at this point,” he said.
Austria, he added, had recorded 100,000 illegal border crossings so far this year, including 75,000 people who had not been previously registered in other Schengen countries as they should have been.
Accession needs unanimous backing from all members – 22 EU nations as well as Lichtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
The Netherlands also opposed granting access to Bulgaria, citing concerns over corruption and migration.
Immigration has been a hot button issue in Europe since 2015 when more than a million people arrived across the Mediterranean Sea, mostly on smugglers’ boats, prompting the EU to tighten its borders and asylum laws.
U.N. data shows some 145,000 people have made the sea crossing this year while more than 1,800 perished trying to reach Europe’s shores, numbers way lower than in 2015.
But the EU’s border police Frontex said last month that 281,000 irregular entries had been recorded throughout the bloc in the first 10 months of 2022, up 77% from a year before and the highest since 2016.
With the Western Balkans route currently the most active, and the EU welcoming several million Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war, worries about immigration have returned to the fore.
Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, additional reporting by Bart Meijer and Clement Rossignol, Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Crispian Balmer and Andrew Heavens
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Google must remove ‘manifestly inaccurate’ data, EU top court says
LUXEMBOURG, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Alphabet unit Google (GOOGL.O) must remove data from online search results if users can prove it is inaccurate, Europe’s top court said on Thursday.
Free speech advocates and supporters of privacy rights have clashed in recent years over people’s “right to be forgotten” online, meaning that they should be able to remove their digital traces from the internet.
The case before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerned two executives from a group of investment companies who had asked Google to remove search results linking their names to certain articles criticising the group’s investment model.
They also wanted Google to remove thumbnail photos of them from search results. The company rejected the requests, saying it did not know whether the information in the articles was accurate or not.
A German court subsequently sought advice from the CJEU on the balance between the right to be forgotten and the right to freedom of expression and information.
“The operator of a search engine must de-reference information found in the referenced content where the person requesting de-referencing proves that such information is manifestly inaccurate,” the Court of Justice of the European Union said.
To avoid an excessive burden on users, judges said such proof does not have to come from a judicial decision against website publishers and that users only have to provide evidence that can reasonably be required of them to find.
Google said the links and thumbnails in question were no longer available through web search and image search and that the content had been offline for a long time.
“Since 2014, we’ve worked hard to implement the right to be forgotten in Europe, and to strike a sensible balance between people’s rights of access to information and privacy,” a spokesperson said.
The same court in 2014 enshrined the right to be forgotten, saying that people could ask search engines like Google to remove inadequate or irrelevant information from web results appearing under searches for their names.
The judgment preceded landmark EU privacy rules that went into effect in 2018 and state that the right to be forgotten is excluded where the processing of personal data is necessary for the exercise of the right of information.
The case is C-460/20 Google (Déréférencement d’un contenu prétendument inexact).
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, additional reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten in Paris; editing by Barbara Lewis, Robert Birsel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Germany in talks with allies over Polish push for Patriot deployment to Ukraine
BERLIN/WARSAW, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Germany said on Friday it was discussing with allies Poland’s request that German Patriot air defence units be sent to Ukraine, after NATO’s chief suggested the military alliance might not oppose such a move.
“We are talking with our allies about how to handle Poland’s … suggestion,” a German government spokesperson told reporters in Berlin.
Berlin offered Warsaw the Patriot system to help secure its airspace after a stray missile crashed and killed two people in Poland last week. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak later asked Germany to send the fire units to Ukraine instead.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said such deployments should be decisions for individual nations, taking into account rules around final users.
“The specific decisions on specific systems are national decisions,” he told reporters in Brussels.
“Sometimes there are end users agreements and other things so they need to consult with other allies. But at the end of the day, it (the decision) has to be taken by the national governments,” he added.
Stoltenberg’s comments came after German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht on Thursday said sharing Germany’s Patriot units outside NATO territory would require prior discussions with NATO and the allies.
Patriots are produced by the U.S. company Raytheon (RTX.N).
On Friday, the Polish president said it was Germany’s decision where its Patriot air defence units are stationed, adding that it would be better for Poland’s security if they were on Ukrainian territory near the border.
“From a military point of view, it would be best if they were located in Ukraine to also protect Polish territory, then they would protect both Ukraine and Poland most effectively,” Andrzej Duda told a news conference in Kaunas, Lithuania. “But the decision rests with the German side.”
Duda later said that Germany could send the Patriot units to Ukraine without NATO troops to operate them, something he says Kyiv has been asking for for a while.
“But if there is no consent to this, let them be here (in Poland) and protect us,” Duda wrote on Twitter.
On the sidelines of NATO drills in northeastern Poland, Blaszczak took a swipe at Berlin by saying he was surprised by the idea that the German Patriots might be too advanced to be transferred to Ukraine.
“These are the old patriots, the Polish version is the newest … the claim that the old German Patriots are very advanced is not true,” he said.
Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Bart Meijer and Miranda Murray; Additional reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw; editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Philippa Fletcher, William Maclean
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.