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The European Commission First Vice President, Frans Timmermans, and European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos just finished a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister, Vasiliki Thanou, where they discussed the problems Greece is facing with the increase in refugee and migratory influx to the country.

On exiting the meeting, Avramopoulos stated that the migratory and refugee issues,  “have taken uncontrollable dimensions”, and described Greece as “one of the main points of entry.”

On his side, Timmermans expressed his agreement, and said that:

“Europe faces a crisis without precedent, it’s a terrible crisis, that will last for a along time, so we need structural solutions especially for those countries most affected by this crisis, and Greece is one of them.” … “I am overwhelmed by the attitude of the Greek population, very welcoming. The humanitarian element prevails in every discussion in Greece … people want to make the right moves, but they need assistance. And the European Commission is there, with the help of the Greek government, to offer that assistance.”

Timmermans reaffirmed that the Commission stands ready to help.

“That’s why we are here today, to discuss with the Greek government the best way that we can quickly implement the decisions that are necessary for us to be able to assist financially and with people an material so as the situation becomes better, because it is very difficult.”

The visit comes one day after Avramopoulos sent Thanou an official letter outline the steps that the Greek government needs to take in order to open the flow of funding from the European Commission.

Timmermans also stated that Europe is facing an “unprecedented humanitarian and political crisis” as it struggles with the huge influx of refugees and migrants.

The Commissioners will now head for a meeting with FRONTEX before departing later in the evening for the island of Kos, where the situation is thought of as one of the most difficult in the country.

 

Additional reporting by Irene Kostaki in Athens

The post European Commission: Migratory and refugee crisis have taken ‘uncontrollable’ dimensions appeared first on New Europe.

United Nations staff in the Central African Republic (CAR) learned on 30 August that a girl was allegedly sexually abused around a year ago by a member of the French military force there, known as Sangaris, according to the world body’s human rights chief.

Plenartagung : Technologische Entwicklungen und der Zugang zum Internet sind wichtig für das Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung, können jedoch instrumentalisiert werden, um gegen Menschenrechte zu verstoßen. Am Dienstag (8.9.) stimmt das Plenum über einen Bericht über die Auswirkungen von Ausspähungs- und Überwachungssystemen auf die Menschenrechte in Drittstaaten ab. Die Berichterstatterin und niederländische EU-Abgeordnete Marietje Schaake (ALDE) erklärt im Interview, wie die EU als Beispiel vorangehen soll.

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2015 - EP

Séance plénière : Si l'accès à Internet est un élément clé de la liberté d'expression, les nouvelles technologies peuvent parfois mettre à mal les droits de l'Homme. Le 8 septembre, les députés voteront un rapport sur l'incidence des systèmes d'intrusion et de surveillance sur les droits de l'homme dans les pays tiers. Nous avons rencontré la rapporteur Marietje Schaake (ALDE, Pays-Bas) avant le vote : selon elle, la technologie européenne ne devrait pas contribuer à des violations des droits de l'Homme.

Source : © Union européenne, 2015 - PE

Russia has yet to react to the military doctrine Ukraine approved Wednesday in which they are declared an opponent, according to AP. The doctrine comes after recent claims from Russia that they haven’t sent troops and equipment to Ukraine, and calls for Russia to seek NATO membership.

Russia’s denial is the result of accusations that they sent militia to the East of Ukraine, where separatist rebels oppose Ukraine joining NATO.

President Petro Poroshenko’s recent moves to change the constitution to transfer the power of regions including the east may have spurred the declaration.

On the doctrine, Poroshenko said it “not only officially establishes the Russian Federation as Ukraine’s military opponent, but states the task of relocating military units and creating the necessary military infrastructure in the eastern and southern regions.”

The doctrine will now go to Poroshenko for approval.

The doctrine comes seven days after Poroshenko met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Belgium.

The post Ukraine declares Russia ‘military opponent’ appeared first on New Europe.

Beverly Barrett

Last week we convened in Montreal, Canada for the 9th general conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), which took place from 26-29 August at University of Montreal.  This was the first general conference of the ECPR to take place outside of Europe, and the francophone region of Quebec welcomed participants from around the world. The conference program included 59 sections, 372 panels and 1430 papers.

 

Panel on Ideas in the Global Governance of Knowledge (Photo credit: Mari Elken)

The Global Governance of Knowledge Policies: Europe of Knowledge in Context was the title of the Section 54. This section was organized by the UACES’s European Research Area – Collaborative Research Network (ERA-CRN) and co-chaired by Meng-Hsuan Chou (Nanyang Technological University in Singapore) and Mitchell Young (Charles University in Prague) who facilitated the nine panels among research and higher education policy scholars.

 

Mitchel Young and Meng-Hsuan Chou (Photo credit: Mari Elken)

An overview of some of the panel topics includes Regionalism and multi-level governance of higher education and research.  This panel made comparisons between the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) of the Bologna Process and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) higher education policies on degree compatibility, quality assurance, and recognition of degrees.  Global collaboration and competition in science, technology and innovation addressed international initiatives for research policy across countries in Europe and beyond.

 

The panel Researching the governance of knowledge policies: methodological and conceptual challenges made further comparisons among countries engaging in research innovation and explored ways to avoid methodological nationalism.  The panel Trade agreements and the supranational shaping of knowledge policies discussed the progress of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations while explaining the relationship to the services sector of higher education. Themes on higher education governance, international cooperation in education, and research policies were dominant throughout the session over three days. All panels were well-attended and led to lively, high-quality discussions.

 

ERA CRN lunch meeting (Photo credit: Mari Elken)

Next year the 10th general conference of the ECPR will take place in Prague, Czech Republic at Charles University from September 7 to 10, 2016.  We welcome scholars at various stages in their careers to participate in the ECPR and the ERA-CRN workshops and activities in the future. At the moment the network is preparing an application for the ECPR Standing Group ‘Politics of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation’; if you would like to join, please sign up here.

 

The post Europe of Knowledge in Context (ECPR 2015) appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Múlt vasárnap lehetőségem volt csatlakozni ahhoz a delegáciohoz, amely elrepült Litvániába, hogy átvegye a jelképes kulcsokat  a balti légtér védelme céljából. A  siauliai-i légibázison a norvég légierő F-16osai települtek (egy másik, olasz kontingens Észtországban) tőlük vette át a Gripen  kontingens szeptember 1-vel a feladatot, egyben a Baltic Air Policing (BAP) vezető nemzeti feladatait. 
Ezt a poszt most csak a norvégokkal foglalkozik. Sikerült kint összeszedni a mérségkelten informativ PPT-t és persze közelről körbe lehetett járni a norvég F-16sokat is.

Ez itt a négy norvég F-16-os egyike, amelyik készülséget ad.

A hivatalos program előtt a két gép kapott egy gyakorló riasztást. Egy mikrobusz elszáguldott mellettünk.
 Aztán elgurultak a felszállópálya felé.
 Mind a ketten.
 Szépek voltak és zajosak. Hamarosan két Gripen is a levegőbe emelkedett.
 A harmadik kiállítási tárgyként várta, hogy a sajtósok lefotózzák és háttere legyen (egy Gripennel együtt) a hivatalos események utáni sajtótájékoztatónak.
Nem néztem még meg ilyen közelről eg F-16-ost. Bár a legutóbbi Roskilde-i Airshown megtehettem volna. Most, hogy a dán légierő modernizációba beleolvastam egy kicsit, elmondhatom, hogy a dán, norvég, holland és belga F-16-sok hasonlítanak egymásra. 1975-ben az European Partner Air Forces csoport keretében együtt rendeltek talán 2xx db F-16 A/B, és amikor azidő úgy hozta, akkor együtt is modernizálták F-16AM/BM Block 15 MLU-ra.

 Ha jól értem ez a Sniper célzó pod
A norvég és a magyar parancsnok egyeztet a hivatalos program végén. Háttérben az egyik régi hangár. A BAP gépeit nem ezekben tárolják.
 Ott pihen a negyedik F-16-os.


 A sajtóhírekben is (talán) megjelent kulcsátadás. A hivatalos ceremónia és ünnepi beszédek után a norvég és olasz parancsokok átadták a balti légtér "kulcsát". Az olaszokat Németország eurofighterek váltják az Ämari légibázison. A program folytatódott, de erről majd egy másik posztban.
 Nem sokkal később megérkezett az olasz légierő szállítógépe, hogy hazavigye az olasz kontingenst (legalábbis gondolom azt a részét, akik az ünnepségre átjöttek a bázisra)
 A KC-767-es légiutántöltésre és képes.
  A mikrobusz fölött, a gép szárnyán (és a másikon is) látható egy légiutántöltő konténer. A kép közepén egy merev léguitántöltő cső is látható a gép farka alatt, így bármely NATO-gépet tudja utántölteni (még utána kell nézzek, miért is létezik ez a két verzió)

Itt már mi is a kifutópályán vagyunk, hogy megkezdjük a felszállásunkat.

(köszönet a HM-nek, hogy csatlakozhattam a delegációhoz)

Le discours anticapitaliste d'un pape venu du Sud ; une lettre de l'ancienne ministre de la culture du Mali Aminata D. Traoré à propos des migrants perdus en mer ; l'industrie des « prêteurs rapaces » aux Etats-Unis ; la géopolitique de l'Arctique au prisme de l'ours polaire : voici une sélection (...) / États-Unis, Animal, Capitalisme, Inégalités, Migrations, Pauvreté, Religion, Arctique, Frontières - La valise diplomatique

Magyarország 2014 és 2020 közötti időszakra vonatkozó, 1300 milliárd forintos vidékfejlesztési programja nemcsak agrárfejlesztésről szól, hanem a források biztosításáról is az önkormányzatok és a gazdálkodók számára, illetve a környezetvédelemre - jelentette ki a Miniszterelnökség agár-vidékfejlesztésért felelős államtitkára.

Le 1er septembre 2015, le général Thierry Caspar-Fille-Lambie a fait ses adieux aux armes sur la base aérienne 123 d’Orléans, après 35 années consacrées au service de la France. La cérémonie d’adieu était présidée par le chef d’état-major de l’armée de l’air (CEMAA), le général Denis Mercier.

La ligne de front entre Daech et les forces de sécurité intérieures reste stable en Irak.

Les 1er et 2 septembre 2015, les bases aériennes 123 d’Orléans, 942 de Lyon Mont-Verdun et 126 de Solenzara ont accueilli leur nouveau commandant.  

Angesichts der dramatischen Zuspitzung der Flüchtlingskrise hat der Präsident des Europäischen Rates, Donald Tusk, die Mitgliedsstaaten zu mehr…

Le 1er septembre 2015, le CEAM est officiellement devenu le centre d’expertise aérienne militaire (anciennement appelé le centre d’expériences aériennes militaires), sous la présidence du général Denis Mercier, chef d’état-major de l’armée de l’air (CEMAA).

Depuis plusieurs années les routes migratoires des Balkans sont réactivées par des migrants originaires du Proche et Moyen-Orient, d'Asie et d'Afrique. En 2015, le phénomène s'accentue : sur le premier semestre de l'année, on estime par exemple à un millier le nombre de migrants qui transitent chaque jour par la Serbie. À la même période, 80 000 demandes d'asile sont enregistrées en Hongrie, contre 43 000 sur l'ensemble de l'année 2014.
Dans le même temps, plusieurs dispositifs de renvois gouvernementaux (...)

Un double attentat a fait plusieurs dizaines de morts et une centaine de blessés, jeudi matin, près d'un camp de l'armée camerounaise à Kerawa, dans le nord du pays.

Egy kiszivárogtatás szerint Görögország és Olaszország mellett Magyarországról is máshová helyezhetnek át menekülteket. Összesen 160 ezret osztanának szét.

More than 13 million children across the Middle East and North Africa cannot attend schools as a result of armed conflicts, says a new UNICEF report, that includes countries such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya.

The study also looked at Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, countries neighboring Syria where large numbers of refugees live, as well as Sudan and Palestine.

Schools have become places no longer safe for children. In 2014 alone, there were 214 attacks on the schools in these regions. Many schools were completely destroyed, damaged or have become occupied by a militant group. Even the routes to and from school are now considered extremely unsafe for children in these countries.

“I heard the noise, everyone was running. I saw my mother waiting at the corner. We ran together. I was happy to be home. This is all what I can remember,” described Rasha, fourth grade student from Syria, to UNICEF.

In Iraq, 700 children were killed and another 500 injured last year. In the Gaza Strip, 551 Palestinian children were killed only during 51 days of last summer’s conflict.

In Syria, more than 2 million children are out of school and almost half a million are at risk of dropping out. Many of them have to work instead and can be easily recruited into armed groups. 20% of those still attending school risk their life by crossing active lines of conflict to take their school examinations. They often have to learn in overcrowded classrooms, because of many internally displaced pupils from other schools. A similar situation is also found in countries neighboring Syria, where Syrians have sought refuge, especially in Turkey and Lebanon. These school are often very far from children’s homes, which means their parents cannot afford to pay for the transportation and they are forced to quit. Children attending school in Turkey need to also cope with the Turkish language as the institutional language.

“I had one ten year-old Syrian student who kept skipping Turkish class. It took a long time until he was convinced that he needed to learn the language,” Ra’ed, a teacher in a refugee camp in Turkey told UNICEF.

In times of conflict, the role of teachers requires added dedication and even physical courage. Many of them has left their job and fled the country as many of their colleagues were killed or injured.  In Syria almost one quarter of the country’s teaching personnel, some 52,000 teachers, have left their posts. That means that it is up to the remaining staff to cope with the limited number of teachers and provide children with at least a little education.

 

 

The post War deprives 13 million children from Middle East and North Africa of education appeared first on New Europe.

The Commission has approved, under the EU merger regulation, the sale of BG Group to Royal Dutch Shell, and in the process made Royal Dutch Shell one of the strongest oil and gas companies in the world. The Commissions investigation centered around analyzing both groups areas of operation, whether the sale would allow for competitive prices, and to ensure that after the sale the market would still be ruled by strong competition. In a statement on the merger Commission stated:

The Commission concluded that the takeover would not lead to Shell benefiting from market power in a number of markets, namely oil and gas exploration, the liquefaction of gas and the wholesale supply of liquefied natural gas.

Complex approval process 

Due to the size and nature of the acquisition, the approval by the European Commission is only the third hurdle out of five that Shell must get through, having already gained approval from the United States and Brazil Shell now awaits the final hurdles.  Per Shell CEO Ben van Beurden suggested the merger will make Shell more competitive and allow for durability in a low priced oil market right now, he said:

Receiving clearance from the European Commission underlines the good progress we are making on the deal. The transaction is on track for completion in early 2016. The recommended combination with BG is a springboard to change Shell into a simpler and more profitable company, making Shell more resilient in a world where oil prices could remain low for some time.

Now, Beurden must guide the merging companies through China and Austrialia’s anti-trust departments, which should be done by early 2016.

Reasons for Merger

The primary motivation for this merger is for Shell to get involved in the natural gas industry, in which BG has been able to carve out a significant market niche. With global oil prices so low, Shell felt that an acquisition of a natural gas company would allow them to boost production of energy in another sector, allowing them to wait out the low oil profits until the market went back up. Now, Shell has identified two new focuses, deep water oil and integrated gas, and the work done at BG makes this expansion possible. The hope for Shell is that they can eventually challenge petrol giant Exxon Mobil for supremacy in the energy market, but at a 150 billion dollar value they are still only half of what Exxon is worth.

Energy sector changes

Historically Shell has stayed away from large mergers and acquisitions, and there was some skepticism about whether or not they could handle such a high profile, 70 billion dollar merger. However, the details of the merger have been smooth thus far, and points to the future of the use of fossil fuel for energy. With anticipated high regulations against carbon emissions, the current low price of oil, and the lack of future viability for the resource, companies are beginning to opt for liquified natural gas which is likely the future of fossil fuels. The energy landscape is changing, and acquisitions like Shell and the BG Group will only become more common.

The post Commission approves Shell takeover of BG Group appeared first on New Europe.