European Union

The Subcommittee held a Public Hearing on the Review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which is due in 2015, with experts from think tanks, NGOs and the EEAS.
Location : Brussels, room Altiero Spinelli 1G2
Programme
Draft programme
Poster
Poster
Background documents
Background documents
Presentations
Presentation by Rebecca Johnson, Director, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The public hearing "The crisis in Syria and the role of international and regional actors: security implications for Europe" was held on 16 March with researchers closely working on the issue and a representative from the EEAS. The hearing provided a better understanding of the situation on the ground, a vital requirement for bringing the conflict to an end.
Location : Altiero Spinelli 3G-2
Programme
Programme
Presentation
Presentation by Michael Benhamou
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Presentation of the study "The future of EU Defence Research"
Securing commercial shipping lanes against piracy - Presentation by Simon Church, EU NAVFOR Somalia
Securing commercial shipping lanes against piracy - Presentation by Giles Noakes, BIMCO
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Five people were killed and at least 36 injured in İstiklal Avenue, Taksim, central Instambul suicide bomb attack on March 19.

The suicide bomb attack took place in front of the local governor’s office of Beyoğlu, as Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin told reporters.

Official government announcement made by Turkish Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu, confirm 36 people were injured, including 12 foreign nationals and a child and seven of the victims are already hospitalized and are in critical condition. Doğan News Agency reported that three Israeli citizens were among the injured. This was confirmed by Israel’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon. Nahshon could not confirm at the time the number of Israelis in hospital.

A Turkish official suggested to Reuters, that initial findings point to Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or linked group. Germany’s embassy in Ankara kept being closed in the days of EU summit, on 17-18 of March, warning German citizens in Istanbul after the attack to stay in their hotels and follow the media for security updates. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is said to call national security meeting in Ankara.

“We condemn the terrorist bombings that occurred in Istiklal Street” announced Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). “This attack was an act of terror that directly targeted civilians, just like the last Ankara bombing”, HDP continues, as reports on Erdoğan’s struggle to delegitimize HDP, by nominating the party as a terrorist organization.

“Massive bomb blast outside our hotel, I’m ok, very shaken, people dead, awful scenes”, tweeted Skin, the lead singer of Skunk Anansie, being witness of the attack. 

This is the second attack in Turkish ground and comes six days after a suicide car bomb attack in Ankara centre, killing 37 people. Ankara attack’s responsibiity was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a terror group linked to PKK. Turkey had heightened security in Ankara and Istanbul in the run-up to a Kurdish spring festival of Newroz on March 21, which Kurds in Turkey traditionally use to assert their ethnic identity and demand greater rights.

Sources by (AP, Reuters, Doğan News Agency, Hürriyet).

The post 5 killed by suicide bomb attack in Taksim – Istanbul, at least 36 injured appeared first on New Europe.

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The Presidential election on 20 March will be an historic, free, fair and peaceful election.

 

As a country we have travelled a long way in a short period of time. The authorities have rebuilt the state on the ruins of the civil war. President Denis Sassou N’Guesso has worked over the past number of years to consolidate peace and democracy. Efforts by the state have allowed us to build infrastructure and lay the groundwork for a dynamic economy.

 

This path has not been easy, nor without its obstacles. One should not underestimate the challenges of establishing a viable democracy in a country without a democratic history and culture, with deep divisions created by civil war, and in a region of Africa characterised by instability and conflict.

 

The people and the Government of Congo together have responded very well to this challenge. Thanks to recentreforms of the electoral law and the constitution, as well as rules on access to state media, our democracy has never been stronger or more vibrant than it is today. The number of new voters on the rolls thanks to a strong mobilisation effort in January and February is truly historic. The Presidential election represents a significant step forward in terms of the democratisation of the Congo.

 

Nine candidates, including a woman, in the race

 
We have 9 candidates standing in the election, which is unprecedented. We are proud that this includes candidates from around the country and a female candidate. They all have free and equal access to state media – a cursory glance at the television news will confirm this – and despite some claims to the contrary, the opposition candidates have been free to conduct very active, vocal, and critical campaigns.

 

An electorate studied by major European polling institutes

 

The main issue that the opposition faces is not any perceived lack of democracy, but rather its division in the face of a President who has won the support of his fellow citizens for bringing peace, stability and economic development to the country. Indeed, the trust of the Congolese people in the President and the absence of support for the opposition’s proposals has been shown in recent polls carried out by independent institutes Opinion Way and TNS Sofres. These polls were not directly or indirectly carried out by Congolese interests but rather international, independent media outlets whose credibility has never been challenged.

 

With President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Congo has succeeded in making major advances in creating solid institutions, economic infrastructure and better public services, especially in the fields of health and education. In recent years our country has contributed significantly to peace and stability in the region, with President Sassou Nguesso working actively to resolve conflicts in the area and notably in the Central African Republic.

 

We regret that the opposition, instead of proposing concrete proposals for the future and constructive criticism of the President’s record (bearing in mind that most candidates are former ministers or advisors of President Sassou Nguesso), has preferred taking an aggressive stance based on unfounded accusations. I truly hope that the opposition will respect the electoral process and the law and will not hide behind untruths around imagined or fabricated electoral irregularities if it does not win the election. It is the opposition’s responsibility to support free, fair and peaceful elections instead of endangering our democracy for their own gain.

 

These elections are historic. They will have a substantial impact on the future, the stability and the economic development of Congo. The country has begun to enjoy the fruits of work carried out by President Sassou Nguesso, but much remains to do.

 

To go further, the experience and wisdom of President Sassou Nguesso are objectively the best advantages Congo enjoys. I am convinced the Congolese people know this.
 

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Salah Abdelslam was arrested on Friday evening in Brussels, Belgium.  “We got him” tweeted Belgium’s Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Theo Francken. The arrest of Abdeslam, who was not killed during the operation, shows the perception and practice of justice in Europe shows the ethos with which the security services and political leadership operate.

The Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, urgently left the EU-Turkey summit in Brussels. A little later, he was joined by Francois Hollande in a triumphant press conference.

Hollande told the press that France will seek the speedy extradition of Abdeslam to France.

Barack Obama called to congratulate the Belgian PM. On May 2, 2011, Obama, made the choice to give the green light for 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden to be killed in an operation by US special forces in Pakistan.

Catching Abdeslam

At least two people were wounded in the operation, one of whom, Abdelslam, who was shot in the leg. An accomplice, Soufiane Kayal, was reportedly arrested with Abdeslam. A third suspect was arrested but not identified.

 

The suspect was surrounded in the suburb of Molenbeek where shots were heard earlier this afternoon. Early in the evening it became clear authorities were after Europe’s no.1 fugitive when it was confirmed that fingerprints and DNA of Salah Abdeslam were found in the flat raided by police in the Forest suburb of Brussels on Tuesday.

The Tuesday operation

Six Belgian and French Police Officers raided an apartment on Tuesday, March 15. The officers believed it would be vacant, as both water and electricity supply had been cut off. During the raid, they found three men: one was killed on site, two escaped.

Three officers were wounded on the spot. Throughout Tuesday afternoon a shootout continued in the Forest quarter and two suspects managed to escape. One more police officer was wounded during the shootout.

Evidence suggests that Frenchman Abdeslam, 26, was one of the two people who evaded arrest. The information has yet to be confirmed by the police.

A third suspect was killed by snipers in the Forest apartment during the raid on Tuesday. He was later identified as the 35 year old Algerian illegal immigrant, Mohamed Belkaid. He was only known to the police for one case of robbery.

Paris

Abdelslam is thought to be one of the leading figures of the November 13, 2015 attack in Paris that had a toll of over 130 civilian casualties. His brother Brahim also participated as a suicide bomber.

Abdeslam was driven to Brussels by friends Mohammed Amri and Hamza Attou. They were stopped by the police, who let them go as the suspects had not been at the time identified.

 

The post “We got him!” Salah Abdelslam arrested, alive, to be extradited to France appeared first on New Europe.

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As the European Council drew to a close on Friday evening, a wave of optimism swept through the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels. “Today we have finally reached an agreement between EU and Turkey”, rejoiced European Council president Donald Tusk, after the common statement of the EU Heads of State at the conclusion European Council meeting of 17 and 18 March 2016 in Brussels.

 

The EU has agreed with Turkey on 9 points, further to the member states commitment to the implementation of the joint action plan that is already active since 29 November 2015. Member states agreed that progress has been made on many issues, including Turkey’s opening of its labour market to Syrians under temporary protection, the introduction of new visa requirements for Syrians and other nationalities, stepped up security efforts by the Turkish coast guard and police and enhanced information sharing.

 

On behalf of the EU, €3 billion of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey are already in the process of being disbursed to finance projects of infrastructure and education projects of Syrian refugees. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu underlined that EU’s financing has allowed Turkey to achieve good conditions for the refugees in the country’s ground. “We are proud of this policy, whoever wants to come see our camps”, stressed Davutoğlu.

 

Turkey has already agreed on a new scheme of rapid return of migrants not in need of international protection crossing from Turkey into Greece from land and water and to take back all irregular migrants intercepted in Turkish waters. One of the main goals of the agreement reached on this EU Council with Turkey’s participation, was “to break the business model of the smugglers and to offer migrants an alternative to putting their lives at risk”.

 

In order to do so, the EU and Turkey decided to end the irregular migration route by implementing the following additional action points:

 

• As of 20 March 2016, all irregular crossing migrants are to be returned to Turkey, “in full accordance with EU and international law, thus excluding any kind of collective expulsion”  and in respect of the principle of non-refoulement. This means that all migrants arriving from this Sunday and on, will be duly registered and any application for asylum will be processed individually by the Greek authorities in accordance with the Asylum Procedures Directive, in cooperation with UNHCR. Those that don’t wish to apply for asylum or migrants whose application has been found unfounded or inadmissible, will be returned to Turkey. In terms of financing, the costs of the return operations of irregular migrants will be covered by the EU.

 

• If Turkey is accepted by Greece as a secure country, for every Syrian being returned to Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled from Turkey to the EU taking into account the UN Vulnerability Criteria. In order to implement this, Greece must legislate on the issue immediately, and is expected to conclude legislation by March 28. This mechanism that will be established under the European Commission, EU agencies and other Member States, as well as the UNHCR, will ensure that this principle will be implemented from the same day the returns start. Honouring the commitments taken by member states on 22 July 2015, 18,000 places for resettlement remain and any further need for resettlement will be carried out through a similar voluntary arrangement up to a limit of an additional 54,000 persons. This means that the ceiling is set at 72,000 persons. As EU sources previously underlined: “if the number of migrant returns comes close to, but does not exceed 72,000, the mechanism will have to be reviewed. If it exceeds 72,000, then the mechanism will be discontinued”.
  
• The European Commission intends to propose an amendment to the relocation decision of 22 September 2015, so as to allow for any resettlement commitment undertaken in the framework of this arrangement to be offset from the 54,000 non-allocated places. Turkey also agreed to take any necessary measures to prevent new illegal migration flows from sea and land and will cooperate with neighbouring states as well as the EU to this effect.
• A Voluntary Humanitarian Admission Scheme will be activated. This means that member states will contribute on a voluntary basis, once irregular crossings between Turkey and the EU have been substantially reduced or come to an end.
• On Turkey’s biggest struggle to accelerate the visa liberalisation process, all participating member states will assist. Provided that all benchmarks have been met, this will allow the European Commission to make an appropriate proposal by the end of April on the basis of which the European Parliament and the Council can make a final decision on the issue with a view to lifting the visa requirements for Turkish citizens at the latest by the end of June 2016.

 

• On the faster disbursement of €3 billion under the Facility for Refugees, a first list of concrete projects will be jointly identified within a week and once these resources are about to be depleted, “the EU will mobilise additional funding for the Facility of an additional 3 billion euro up to the end of 2018” as Davutoğlu mentioned.
• The EU and Turkey welcomed the ongoing work on the upgrading of the Customs Union and have also reaffirmed their commitment to re-energise the accession process, by opening Chapter 33, on “financial and budgetary provisions”. Preparatory work for the opening of other Chapters will continue “at an accelerated pace, without prejudice to member states’ positions”, the two sides agreed, overcoming Cyprus and Greece’s objections.

 

• Last but not least, the member states are to work with Turkey in order to improve humanitarian conditions inside Syria, in particular in certain areas near the Turkish border, to ensure the safety of local population and refugees to the area.

 

For the implementation of the European Commission’s operational implementation in Greece, President  Jean-Claude Juncker has appointed Maarten Verwey, to act as the EU Coordinator to implement the EU-Turkey statement on the ground. Maarten Verwey, is the Director-General of the Structural Reforms Support Service who has been in Greece since October 2015, and will organize the 4,000 people that will be needed; 1500 from Greece, and 2500 from EU member states, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and FRONTEX. The plan will include mobilization of case workers, interpreters, judges, return officers and security officers, with the Greek side focusing on utilisation of police forces and judicial actors.

 

“The outcome of the EU-Turkey Summit is a very positive one. We have done everything that was possible. We have overcome national egoisms and presented a common and very clear offer to Turkey,” said Manfred Weber, Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, as a reaction to the deal reached by the 28 member states and Turkey. “Now the time has come for all of us to start delivering, including those countries that have so far contributed little to manage the crisis”, Weber concluded.

S&D Group leader, Gianni Pittella, suggested that “the agreement with Turkey is a positive step that must be welcomed. The current version of the deal has been improved, thanks to the pressure put on the Council by the European Parliament and the S&D Group”. Pittella still raises doubts and concerns regarding the complicated practical implementation involved but also regarding its legality under international human rights conventions.

The post Meeting of minds as EU and Turkey strike agreement on migration appeared first on New Europe.

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The Former German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, 54, died on Friday at Cologne’s University Hospital of complications relating to leukemia treatment.

He came to office in 2009 as the leader of Chancellor Markel’s junior coalition partner, the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP). That was a comeback for a liberal party that although considered post-war Germany’s traditional kingmaker – having formed governments with Christian Democrats and Social Democrats – it remained out of office for 11 years.

As a foreign minister he is remember for taking a stand against the military intervention in Libya in 2011, taking a stand against French President Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron. He also abstained from the UN Security Council vote that authorized the mission. In doing so, Westerwelle was affirming a post-War German tradition against military ventures abroad.

Westerwelle proved more skillful in opposition than in government. His party’s rating slumped as he was personally blamed for frequent coalition infighting. He was literally forced to resign from the party’s leadership in 2011, remaining a foreign minister until 2013. It was perhaps too late for FDP to recover. The liberal Free Democrats did not make the 5% threshold in the legislative elections of 2013, for the first time since 1949.

The liberal politician was 100% behind Chancellor Merkel’s austerity-drive in dealing with the European periphery’s debt crisis, although he was worried that Europe’s unity was being undermined. He urged Britain and France to remain committed to the project of European Integration, which he described as the answer to Germany’s darkest chapter in history, but also the sole credible answer to globalization.

Westerwelle was a libertarian politician, both as regards to human rights and on his socioeconomic agenda.

As an individual he was respected as one of Europe’s most high profile gay politicians that publically appeared with his partner.

He was generally known for being outspoken and had once triggered the rage of Belarussian President, Lukashenko, whom he called “the last dictator in Europe.”  Lukashenko famously responded “It’s better to be a dictator than gay.”

Lukashenko was not his only enemy, as he famously took on the German left, Social Democrats, the Greens, and Die Linke. True to a libertarian tradition he called for tax cuts, trimming unemployment benefits, and welfare.

(DW, ABC, The Guardian)

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