Despite years of evidence and verified reports by a senior official within the EU’s border agency Frontex, the European Commission still won’t acknowledge that Greece pushes back migrants, which is illegal under EU law.
Influential. Investigative. Independent. EUobserver is a online non-profit news outlet reporting on the European Union.
Influential. Investigative. Independent. EUobserver is a online non-profit news outlet reporting on the European Union.
Before being detained by Belgian police in Brussels earlier this week on suspicion of fraud, Stefano Sannino, the European Commission’s top envoy for Middle Eastern affairs, was busy extolling what he called shared “values, principles, and partnerships.”
The EPP could team up with the far right, including Germany’s AfD, in a vote that might redefine EU politics.
The European Commission says it has never been more committed to expanding the 27-nation family — but two decades of well-meaning promises and an endless waiting room for would-be members have created a process that is easy to hijack politically, and puts the EU’s credibility and political goals at risk
The European Commission doesn’t use the word “deportation” to describe kicking out failed asylum seekers and rejected migrants from the European Union. It prefers the euphemisms “forced returns” and “voluntary returns.”
From EU nerds to EU nerds, with love.
Just months after Romania’s Constitutional Court barred the controversial “TikTok candidate” Călin Georgescu from the presidential race, the country prepares to return to the polls amid rising tensions, legal confusion, and deep political polarisation, plus a far-right surge on the horizon.
Lifting some sanctions here and there every few months is not what Syria needs. It is necessary to lift all economic sanctions and invest massively in the country for strategic reasons — the fall of Assad has been a major blow for the Iranian regime.
A planned meeting between Kaja Kallas and Marco Rubio on Wednesday was cancelled at the last minute. This latest snub comes amid a drastic shift in US policy in dealing with Moscow and Kyiv, which has left Europeans running around like headless chickens.
There are two takeaways from Sunday’s election in Germany — it was the highest turnout in two generations, and four-in-five Germans refused to vote for the racist far-right.
I walked the streets of Damascus last week and could read the joy on people’s faces. The many Syrians with whom I sipped tea or shared a meal were in a kind of intoxication, a combination of deep joy, pride and immense relief that Bashar al-Assad’s barbaric regime of terror is over.
While Ursula von der Leyen pitched free trade to counter Donald Trump in Davos, much of her vision hinges on member states’ ability to agree on policies, some of which have been stalled for over a decade.
Two weeks ago, when the parliamentary hearings for the new EU commissioners began, few could have expected that the new commission — and the inauguration of its president Ursula von der Leyen — would end up being so dependent on domestic Spanish politics (and climate change).
How did the EU commissioner grillings go so far?
Croatian commissioner Dubravka Šuica made numerous trips over the past five years to Zagreb and her hometown of Dubrovnik to participate in events — now the frequency and nature of these ‘official missions’ have drawn criticism, ahead of her new post as inaugural commissioner for the Mediterranean.
The European Parliament approved a €35bn financial assistance package for Ukraine, though voting data reveals MEPs sympathetic to Russia.
The narrative framing of migration talks during this week’s European Council summit make the discussions a waste of time for all those gathered.
Leaders should ask themselves – is X really what I want my brand to be associated with?
