This week the EU Ministers gave the final green light for a new Regulation which will see checks of individuals entering the EU reinforced against relevant databases. The new Regulation amends the Schengen Borders Code and obliges EU Member States to carry out systematic checks against relevant databases on all individuals at the EU’s external…
Category: Europe
April 5 – Brussels Syria conference
The European Union will host a major international conference on Syria on April 5, entitled ‘Syria and the region: supporting the future of Syria and the region’, co-chairing the event with the United Nation, Germany, Kuwait, Norway, Qatar and the United Kingdom, High Representative Federica Mogherini announced this week. .@FedericaMog announces that EU will host…
Owen Bonnici: EU 'better-equipped' against terrorism
On 7 March 2017 EU ministers approved a set of new measures which will update and extend the tools available to Member States to respond to the evolving threat of terrorism. The new Directive will enable law enforcement and judicial authorities in the EU to be better-equipped to act to prevent and prosecute individuals planning…
EU-Azerbaijan: Mehman Huseynov sentence questioned
The two-year sentence handed down on 3 March by a court in Baku to Azerbaijani blogger Mehman Huseynov on a charge of slander, after he reported that he was tortured during a brief incarceration in January, raises serious questions both as regards respect for freedom of expression and due process of law, says the statement…
EU27 ‘Multi-speed’
On Monday, 6.03.2017, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Spain met at the palace of Versailles, in outskirts of Paris, to prepare for a March 25 EU summit in Rome devoted to the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which laid the foundation of the European project. The leaders of the euro zone’s…
Enda Kenny for EU Council president?
The otherwise dull formal procedure of the prolongation of the mandate to the EU Council president Donald Tusk turned into suspense when his own compatriots fiercely opposed his appointment. A week before the EU Summit Polish government declared MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski as a candidate for the post. “Jacek Saryusz-Wolski represents a high level of professionalism…
Shoukry: ‘no’ for refugee camps in Egypt
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Sameh Shoukry attended a number of meetings with high officials in Brussels, exchanging views on illegal immigration and security. Shoukry clearly rejected the set up of refugee/migrant camps in Egypt. @FedericaMog receiving Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry #EU Foreign Affairs Council pic.twitter.com/hjTn6SF3DG — Nabila Massrali (@NabilaEUspox) March 6,…
EU defence community
“EU foreign and defence ministers meeting jointly today all gave a very clear message: we are progressing steadily towards strengthened defence cooperation and we will continue to do more. This is about protecting our citizens. The European Union has unique tools to help Europeans to take more responsibility for their own security, and to do…
EPP Weber for anti-Trump candidate
Manfred Weber, the leader of the centre-right group European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament threatened to expel a Polish MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski who has been nominated by Warsaw to replace Donald Tusk (pictured) as president of the European Council. .@EPPGroup's deciding bodies will deliberate this week. If Mr Saryusz-Wolski should maintain his…
Austria suggests refugee camps in Georgia
“We need refugee centers outside the European Union, which would be managed jointly with the UNHCR, UN Refugee Agency. Their location is not so important. It is important that they will provide protection, and that people, trying to enter Europe illegally, will be returned there,” – said Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Foreign Minister to Bild am Sonntag newspaper. Kurz…
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