BRUSSELS: European Union lawmakers voted on Thursday to require member countries to host some of the refugees and migrants coming to the bloc at times of high arrivals, part of a fiercely contested reform due ahead of a 2024 pan-European election.
The European Parliament adopted its position on the looming reform of the bloc’s migration and asylum rules ahead of negotiating its final form with the 27 EU member states that have long been split over the so-called obligatory relocations.
Countries including Poland and Hungary refuse to host any of the new arrivals while others including Italy and France — where people from the Middle East and Africa arrive on smugglers’ boats across the Mediterranean Sea — say they cannot cope alone.
Warsaw, Budapest and their allies say they can help by providing money, staff or equipment instead of being legally obliged to take in people. The Mediterranean countries of arrival and the rich destination states like Germany say that falls short.
The bloc’s migration and asylum system collapsed in 2015 when more than one million people — mostly fleeing the war in Syria — reached Europe’s southern shores.
That caught the EU by surprise, stretching its reception and security capacities, and triggering a wave of anti-immigration sentiment across the bloc.
The EU has since tightened external borders and asylum laws to keep people away, and the sensitive issue of migration faded from the top of the bloc’s political agenda as the COVID-19 pandemic cut global mobility.
But Mediterranean arrivals rose last year, with the bloc’s border agency Frontex reporting some 330,000 unauthorized arrivals.
With irregular immigration on the rise, those including Italy’s far-right government are leading growing calls for the EU to do more to reduce sea arrivals.
Previously seen as hard-line, ideas to build border fences and assess people’s asylum claims outside of Europe — including in Rwanda, as proposed by Denmark — are back on the agenda and part of the EU’s political discussions on managing migration.
While the EU wants to overhaul its defunct system before a bloc-wide election in 2024, the issue of obligatory relocations seems as stuck as ever, according to diplomats.
EU lawmakers demand obligatory hosting of migrants under looming overhaul
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EU lawmakers demand obligatory hosting of migrants under looming overhaul
- The European Parliament adopted its position on the looming reform of the bloc's migration and asylum rules ahead of negotiating its final form with the 27 EU member states
- Countries including Poland and Hungary refuse to host any of the new arrivals
EU sends emergency generators to Ukraine as France plans to coordinate aid
- The European Commission will send 447 emergency generators worth $4.3m to restore power
- “Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ... are designed to break Ukrainian spirit,” Lahbib said
PARIS: The European Union is deploying emergency generators to Ukraine, saying Russian bombings have left a million people without power and heating, while France plans to hold a call to rally international help for Ukrainians exposed to extreme cold.
Electrical engineers have been working around the clock in hazardous conditions for weeks since Russia escalated attacks on Ukraine’s grid during a cold snap that has reached temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 F).
The European Commission will send 447 emergency generators worth 3.7 million euros ($4.3 million) to restore power to hospitals, shelters and critical services affected by “relentless Russian strikes,” it said in a statement on Friday.
It added the generators will be mobilized from strategic reserves hosted in Poland and distributed in cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross to the most affected communities.
“Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ... are designed to break Ukrainian spirit,” European crisis chief Hadja Lahbib said in the statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared an energy emergency after the strikes over winter knocked out power generation and distribution facilities.
“We won’t let Russia freeze Ukraine. We bring light and warmth where Russia sends darkness,” Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova told a daily news briefing.
FRANCE TO HOLD CALL WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
Earlier on Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told BFM television that France would
hold a call
with G7 countries as well as Nordic and Baltic states later in the day to coordinate support for Ukraine’s energy grid.
“He continues to shell Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. We will continue to support Ukraine,” Barrot said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He said France would supply Ukraine with the equivalent of 13 extra megawatts of electricity and around 100 generators to replace destroyed infrastructure. Other countries would also pledge assistance during the virtual meeting, he said.
