Germany's Merz joins EU migration hawks meet
BRUSSELS: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took part in a meeting of EU immigration hawks in Brussels Thursday, participants confirmed, in a sign of Berlin's hardening stance on migration.
It marked the first time a German leader has attended the gathering, which has become a stable fixture on the sidelines of EU summits of the bloc's leaders over the past year.
'We're delighted that Germany is on board for the first time,' Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said ahead of the meeting he described as a 'pressure group' pushing to make the European Union's migration policy 'much stricter'.
Co-organised by Italy, Denmark and The Netherlands, the migration talks were attended by more than a dozen of the bloc's 27 leaders as well as European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Crystallising the growing influence of the hard right within the bloc, it has served as a platform for hardliners to push the commission to pass new rules to reduce arrivals and boost deportations.
Germany's conservative-led government, which took power in May, has pursued a crackdown on irregular immigration, seeking to combat the growing appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
As part of the new strategy, it emerged this week that Berlin plans to suspend funding for non-government groups that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.
The foreign ministry under the previous coalition, headed by the Greens party minister Annalena Baerbock, had provided substantial financial support for such groups.
New Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday defended the decision against criticism from migrant rescue groups, arguing that it was 'the right thing to do'.
Germany remains 'committed to humanity and will always work to help people wherever they are suffering', Wadephul said in Berlin.
'But I do not believe it is the task of the foreign ministry to fund this form of sea rescue at this time.'
Instead, he said Germany should focus on 'using diplomatic means to ensure that such waves of migration can be reduced'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
EU plans to add carbon credits to new climate goal, document shows
FILE PHOTO: A view shows wind turbines in front of a cow at Paradela's City Council, in Galicia, Spain September 27, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission is set to propose counting carbon credits bought from other countries towards the European Union's 2040 climate target, a Commission document seen by Reuters showed. The Commission is due to propose a legally binding EU climate target for 2040 on July 2. The EU executive had initially planned a 90% net emissions cut, against 1990 levels, but in recent months has sought to make this goal more flexible, in response to pushback from governments including Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic, concerned about the cost. An internal Commission summary of the upcoming proposal, seen by Reuters, said the EU would be able to use "high-quality international credits" from a U.N.-backed carbon credits market to meet 3% of the emissions cuts towards the 2040 goal. The document said the credits would be phased in from 2036, and that additional EU legislation would later set out the origin and quality criteria that the credits must meet, and details of how they would be purchased. The move would in effect ease the emissions cuts - and the investments required - from European industries needed to hit the 90% emissions-cutting target. For the share of the target met by credits, the EU would buy "credits" from projects that reduce CO2 emissions abroad - for example, forest restoration in Brazil - rather than reducing emissions in Europe. Proponents say these credits are a crucial way to raise funds for CO2-cutting projects in developing nations. But recent scandals have shown some credit-generating projects did not deliver the climate benefits they claimed. The document said the Commission will add other flexibilities to the 90% target, as Brussels attempts to contain resistance from governments struggling to fund the green transition alongside priorities including defence, and industries who say ambitious environmental regulations hurt their competitiveness. These include integrating credits from projects that remove CO2 from the atmosphere into the EU's carbon market so that European industries can buy these credits to offset some of their own emissions, the document said. The draft would also give countries more flexibility on which sectors in their economy do the heavy lifting to meet the 2040 goal, "to support the achievement of targets in a cost-effective way". A Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the upcoming proposal, which could still change before it is published next week. EU countries and the European Parliament must negotiate the final target and could amend what the Commission proposes. (Reporting by Kate Abnett, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Tens of thousands march against Hungary's government, for LGBT rights
BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Hungary's capital on Saturday as a banned LGBTQ+ rights rally swelled into a mass demonstration against the government. Crowds filled a square near Budapest's city hall before setting off across the city, some waving rainbow flags, others carrying signs mocking Prime Minister Viktor Orban. "This is about much more, not just about homosexuality, .... This is the last moment to stand up for our rights," Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the marchers, said. "None of us are free until everyone is free," one sign read. Small groups of far-right counter-protesters attempted to disrupt the parade, but police kept them away and diverted the route of the march to avoid any clashes. Orban's nationalist government has gradually curtailed the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in the past decade, and its lawmakers passed a law in March that allows for the ban of Pride marches, citing the need to protect children. Opponents see the move as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a national election next year when Orban will face a strong opposition challenger. Organisers said participants arrived from 30 different countries, including 70 members of the European Parliament. More than 30 embassies have expressed support for the march and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Hungarian authorities to let the parade go ahead. Seventy Hungarian civil society groups, including the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and the Hungarian Helsinki Commission, published an open letter on Friday in support of the march, saying the law that led to the police ban "serves to intimidate the entire society". 'LEGAL CONSEQUENCES' "The right to assembly is a basic human right, and I don't think it should be banned. Just because someone does not like the reason why you go to the street, or they do not agree with it, you still have the right to do so," Krisztina Aranyi, another marcher, said. Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony tried to circumvent the law by organising the march as a municipal event, which he said does not need a permit. Police however banned the event, arguing that it fell under the scope of the child protection law. Orban, whose government promotes a Christian-conservative agenda, provided some clues on Friday about what participants can expect when he warned of "legal consequences" for organising and attending the march. Earlier this week Justice Minister Bence Tuzson warned in a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest that organising a prohibited event is punishable by one year in jail, while attending counts as a misdemeanour. The law that allows for the ban of Pride lets police impose fines and use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend. When asked about the threat of a one-year jail term, Karacsony said at a press briefing on Friday that such a sentence would only boost his popularity. "But I cannot take it seriously," he said. Making the march a key topic of political discourse has allowed the Orban government to take the initiative back from the opposition and mobilise its voter base, said Zoltan Novak, an analyst at the Centre for Fair Political Analysis think tank. "In the past 15 years, Fidesz decided what topics dominated the political world," he said, noting that this has become more difficult as Orban's party has faced an increasing challenge from centre-right opposition leader Peter Magyar's Tisza party, which has a 15-point lead over Orban's Fidesz in a recent poll. Tisza, which has been avoiding taking a strong position on gay rights issues, did not specify in response to Reuters questions whether it believed the Pride march was lawful, but said those attending deserved the state's protection. "Peter Magyar has called on the Hungarian authorities and police to protect the Hungarian people this Saturday, and on other days as well, even if it means standing up against the arbitrariness of power," its press office said. Magyar himself would not attend. (Reporting by Anita Komuves; Additional reporting by Krisztina Fenyo and Krisztina Than; Editing by Peter Graff and Andrew Heavens)
New Straits Times
5 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Global tensions rattle COP30 build-up but 'failure not an option'
THIS year's UN COP30 summit in Brazil was hotly anticipated as a pivotal moment for the planet, as the world fast approaches a key global warming threshold. But the hosts are yet to propose a headline ambition for the marathon November talks, raising concerns they could fall flat. The build-up has been overshadowed by devastating conflicts on three continents and the United States' withdrawal from global cooperation on climate, trade and health. Expectations have dimmed since Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's pitch three years ago to host climate talks in the Amazon. A warm-up UN climate event in Germany that concluded on Thursday saw disputes flare over a range of issues, including finance, adding to anxiety about how much headway COP30 can make. Brazil is a deft climate negotiator, but the "international context has never been so bad", said Claudio Angelo, of the Brazilian organisation Climate Observatory. Given the stakes, former UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa said Brazil may have to make do with "baby steps". "One of the main messages that should be coming out of COP30 is the unity of everyone behind multilateralism and international cooperation. Not achieving that means everybody will suffer," she said. "Failure is not an option in this case." Previous COPs have been judged on the deals clinched between the nearly 200 nations that haggle over two weeks to advance global climate policy. Recent summits have produced landmark outcomes, from a global pledge to transition away from fossil fuels, to the creation of a specialised fund to help countries hit by climate disaster. COP30 chief executive officer Ana Toni said that "most of the big flashy topics" born out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change had been dealt with. That leaves Brazil with an arguably harder challenge — trying to ensure what has been agreed is put into practice. Much of the action is set for the COP30 sidelines or before nations arrive in the Amazonian city of Belem. National climate plans due before COP30 from all countries — but most importantly major emitters China, the European Union and India — will be more consequential than this year's negotiations, experts say. It is expected this latest round of national commitments will fall well short of containing global warming at 1.5° Celsius, and possibly even 2°C, the less ambitious of the Paris accord's climate goals. "I expect that the COP will need to react to that," said Ana Toni, although what form that reaction would take was "under question". Uncertainty about how COP30 will help steer nations towards 1.5°C has left the Alliance of Small Island States bloc "concerned", said lead negotiator Anne Rasmussen. "Our survival depends on that," she said. How countries will make good on their promise to transition away from fossil fuels may also become a point of contention. Angelo said he hoped Brazil would champion the idea, included in the country's climate plan, of working towards "schedules" for that transition. But he likened Brazil's auctioning of oil and gas extraction rights near the mouth of the Amazon river this month — just as climate negotiators got down to business in Bonn — to an act of "sabotage". Another key priority for Brazil is forest protection, but otherwise COP30 leaders have mostly focused on unfinished business from previous meetings, including fleshing out a goal to build resilience to climate impacts. According to the hosts of last year's hard-fought climate talks, global tensions might not leave room for much else. "We need to focus more on preserving the legacy that we have established, rather than increasing ambition," said Yalchin Rafiyev, top climate negotiator for COP29 host Azerbaijan. He fears that trying and failing to do more could risk undermining the whole UN process. Those close to the climate talks concede they can move frustratingly slowly, but insist the annual negotiations remain crucial.
