Migrants and asylum seekers on the Greek islands: committee debate

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. MEPs will discuss on Wednesday the situation on the Greek islands and the plans to establish a new reception and identification centre on Lesvos. In a debate with representatives of the European Commission and the NGO Greek Council for Refugees, the Civil Liberties Committee […]

Migration: Commission takes action to find solutions for unaccompanied migrant children on Greek islands

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Following President von der Leyen’s visit to Greece on Tuesday, together with the Presidents of the other EU institutions, the Commission presented its Action Plan for immediate measures to support Greece, which was welcomed by the Ministers at the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs […]

EU to Turkey: No other ties than €3+3bn to upkeep refugees

The EU-Turkey Summit in the Black Sea city of Varna last Monday was a chance for the Brussels dignitaries to throw a long list of severe European grievances in the face of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the Commission and Donald Tusk, President of the European Council , went to the […]

Turkey caught in a vicious Syrian circle bringing terror and war at home

The Turkish government, under the iron hand of the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, felt obliged to further challenge the Americans in the troubled region of the Middle East this past week. Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak and Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin questioned the presence of the US led coalition forces at the key air […]

A shortened EU Summit admits failures, makes risky promises

Last Thursday, 15 December, the cut down to one day European Summit, confirmed that Europe continues on the wrong path. The 27 + 1 leaders acknowledged the complete failure of key policies regarding Syria and Turkey and kept making promises to Ukraine and Georgia they cannot honor. Unfortunately, Brussels refuses to learn the lessons still […]

Another doomed EU attempt to interfere in Libya?

Last Monday, the Italian coastguard rescued a round number of 2,000 immigrants and refugees in the central Mediterranean off the Libyan waters. In those fifteen operations the Italian coastguard was aided by two ships of the country’s navy, another two ships operated by the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières – MSF) […]

EU readies for eventual annulment of the Turkish agreement on immigrants-refugees

The highly possible collapse of the EU-Turkey agreement about the management of the refugee and immigrant flows in the Aegean Sea, has rang alarms in Brussels. Alexander Winterstein, the Deputy Chief Spokesperson of the European Commission denied the existence of a plan B, in case the Turks repudiate the pact which the just dismissed Prime […]

Is Erdogan ready to tear down the bridges with Europe and the West?

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the 12th Turkish President cut short the spell of ‘rapprochement’, between his country and the European Union, by briefly dismissing Prime Minister Ahment Davutoglu. The latter was the architect of the relevant March agreement concluded in Brussels, meant to regulate the flows of refugees and immigrants in the Aegean Sea. By the […]

EU-Turkey deal on migrants kicked off but to who’s interest?

Last Monday, 4 April, Greece and Turkey kicked off the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement. For migrants and refugees alike it foresees deportation from the Greek islands to Turkey, just some dangerous miles eastwards, over rough sea straights at times. Ankara is to receive from Brussels € 3+3 billion for that. During the past twelve […]

The EU has to prove it can remain one piece

Today the European Union has to prove that it can solve its stalemate, which the immigrant and refugee flows from Asia and Africa have created. Some years ago nobody could imagine that an unseen before movement of people, could lead to the unraveling of the EU project. To deal with this problem, the 28 EU […]