ATHENS: A Greek official on Tuesday criticized the outgoing European Commission for failing to forge a common policy to deport migrants, and she warned that war and climate change were increasing global displacement.
Sofia Voultepsi, a deputy minister for migration, said that a landmark European Union migration pact agreed upon earlier this year remained lacking in practical terms.
“We got the (agreement), but the basic piece is still missing: Returns,” Voultepsi told a conference near Athens. “We must have a common system for asylum, a common system for returns, and a common system for integration.”
Wars in the Middle East and Africa, combined with the effects of climate change, she said, would put Europe under continuous long-term pressure.
The new EU migration pact is due to take effect in mid-2026 following a new round of negotiations with the bloc’s 27 member states that are expected to last about a year.
Voultepsi expressed alarm at the growing number of refugees in Lebanon because of ongoing Israeli airstrikes targeting the militant group Hezbollah, and added: “Countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan ... are affected by both war and climate change, creating an ever-growing flow of migrants toward Europe.”
Greece is a major entry point for migrants into the European Union, with most crossing from Turkiye and Libya in unsafe boats.
The coast guard on Tuesday said that 81 migrants were rescued from a stranded vessel traveling from Turkiye to Italy.
The incident occurred on Sunday, and the rescue was carried out with the assistance of two merchant vessels. The rescued migrants, who were taken late Monday to the southern Greek port of Kalamata, told Greek authorities they had paid $8,500 each for the trip. Four of the passengers were arrested on smuggling charges.
Elsewhere in Europe, an Italian navy ship was expected to dock at an Albanian port with a first group of 16 migrants who were intercepted in international waters. Their asylum applications will be processed in Albania instead of in Italy, under a five-year agreement between the two countries.
In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk plans to temporarily suspend the right to asylum. The new migration policy was presented at Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. If adopted, it would require approval from the parliament, where Tusk’s coalition government has a majority, and from conservative President Andrzej Duda.
Greek official accuses EU of policy failure on migration as war and climate change fuel displacement
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Greek official accuses EU of policy failure on migration as war and climate change fuel displacement
- Sofia Voultepsi, a deputy minister for migration, said that a landmark European Union migration pact agreed upon earlier this year remained lacking in practical terms
- “We got the (agreement), but the basic piece is still missing: Returns”
US Senate candidates in Texas make final pitches to voters
- Democrats, hungry to win a Senate race for the first time since 1988, see an opening, but have their own knotty race to figure out
SAN ANTONIO: A heated US Senate race in Texas entered its final stretch on Sunday with candidates on both sides of the aisle making final pitches to voters ahead of Tuesday’s primary, the nation’s first big contest of the 2026 midterm elections.
Incumbent Republican US Sen. John Cornyn is trying to avoid being the first Republican senator from Texas to lose a primary, fighting challenges from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and US Rep. Wesley Hunt.
HIGHLIGHT
Despite his long career in Texas politics, Paxton has painted himself as a Washington outsider and a staunch supporter of Trump.
Democrats, hungry to win a Senate race for the first time since 1988, see an opening, but have their own knotty race to figure out.
US Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the rhetorical brawler and regular antagonist for President Donald Trump, is stressing her federal experience and is scheduled to meet voters in the Dallas area with Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland.
Crockett was endorsed on Friday by former Vice President Kamala Harris.
State Rep. James Talarico, a softspoken seminarian who emphasizes his crossover appeal to Republicans, was set to hold a rally in San Antonio as part of a final tour that he describes as a movement.
But Cornyn’s precarious stature as an incumbent vulnerable in his own party’s primary has been the focus of a majority of the massive sums spent by both sides in the run up to Mar. 3.
“Complacency is a killer,” Cornyn told voters on Saturday at a seafood restaurant in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb. “It kills relationships. It kills careers.”
Senate Republican leaders in Washington, working to hold their thin majority, have worried out loud for months that Democrats could have a shot at a long out-of-reach Texas seat, if Republicans nominate Paxton, who is popular with MAGA voters but has had years of legal problems.
