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Observer
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Observer
How Europe got tough on migration
By Emma Bubola When Nicola Procaccini was elected to the European Parliament six years ago, colleagues seemed to avoid stepping into elevators with him at the towering glass Parliament building in Brussels, he said. He belonged to a tiny, fringe party on the right of Italian politics whose hard-line stances on immigration were scorned. 'My hand would hang midair because they don't shake hands with fascists,' Procaccini said in an interview, derisively characterising how he thought his opponents saw him. Meanwhile, migrant rights activists were invited into the Parliament chamber and cheered. Now those tables have turned, he said. 'Those who told us our approach was racist, xenophobic, are slowly starting to say, 'Well, maybe they're a bit right,'' Procaccini said, noting that mainstream politicians are now embracing more of his party's policies on migration. Procaccini's party, Brothers of Italy, is now very popular in Italy. Its leader, Giorgia Meloni, is the country's prime minister. And Procaccini is a chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, a big force in the European Parliament. Across the political spectrum in Europe, leaders, right and left, are pushing a tougher line on migrants lacking permanent legal status. The shift has not set off the same turmoil that President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown has stirred in the United States, but it is already being seen as entrenched and profound. In nations across the European Union, centrists are joining staunch conservatives to roll back protections in an effort to make it easier to deport migrants lacking permanent legal status. Denmark's 'zero' refugee policy has become a model other leaders want to replicate. European Union officials are working on new rules that would help to send asylum-seekers to third countries. The bloc struck a recent deal to deploy agents in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is not an EU member, to better police borders. Some of those ideas have previously met with criticism from European Union officials. The shift has steadily built with the voter backlash that helped fuel nationalist, far-right and populist parties after Europe took in more than 1 million Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others seeking asylum a decade ago. Migration picked up again, though less drastically, just after the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. But since then, the number of migrants arriving has fallen. They declined about 20 per cent in the first five months of 2025, after a sharp decline last year, according to preliminary data collected by Frontex, the European Union's border agency. At the same time, expulsions have slowly increased. But migration along some routes remains significant. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the bloc's executive arm, emphasised in a recent letter to political leaders that arrivals from Libya into Greece are surging, and said that Europe must 'insist on strengthening border management.' Hofmann said that because anti-immigrant sentiments are often a proxy for wider frustration with a perceived lack of opportunities, high costs of living and a loss of social status, a drop in migrant arrivals alone was unlikely to blunt the issue's potency. Not long ago, when the British government proposed sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights said the plan was another representation 'of an ongoing trend towards externalisation of asylum and migration policy in Europe,' which he said was 'a matter of concern for the global system of protection of the rights of refugees.' Now, the policy of offshoring asylum requests has become a signature of Meloni, who has tried to hold asylum-seekers in Albania while their cases are processed. Though Italian judges have blocked her effort for now, von der Leyen called it 'an example of out-of-the-box thinking.' Now the European Union is seeking to redirect applicants to third countries while it works to streamline the deportation process for asylum-seekers whose applications have been rejected. The depth of the change was on full display last month when Mette Frederiksen, the Social Democratic, left-leaning Danish prime minister, stood alongside the staunchly conservative Meloni in Rome to support tougher migration rules. Frederiksen, whose country has relatively few asylum requests, has for several years overseen one of Europe's most restrictive policies. Others are now seeking to adopt a similar approach. Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, the centre-right leader of Europe's largest economy, this month called Denmark a 'role model' on migration policy. Germany has now instituted checks on its land borders, a step that opponents, including some of its neighbours, have criticised as undermining the commitment of EU members to free movement within the bloc. Some worry that the shift in tone around migration could harm newcomers who remain in Europe. In recent Polish presidential elections, the nationalist candidate won by running in part on a 'Poland first, Poles" platform. The shift in tone is striking even to those who have long been proponents of tougher measures. A decade ago, when Australia barred migrants trying to enter the country by sea from resettlement and sent asylum-seekers to Papua New Guinea, rights groups said the policy provoked human rights violations. The European Union was also critical, said Alexander Downer, an Australian former foreign minister. 'They used to give me lectures all the time about how naughty we were,' Downer said. 'Von der Leyen has embraced it now.'
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Business Standard
26-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Venice hosts Jeff Bezos' grand wedding with stars, yachts and protests
Emma Bubola Private jets soared above Venice's archipelago, and towering superyachts slipped through its lagoon. Caterers baked buttery Venetian delicacies while protesters schemed. Bomb-sniffing dogs prowled the verdant island of San Giorgio Maggiore, in front of the Doge's Palace. Venice, the city built by merchants and tradesmen, girded itself this week for the nuptials of the doge of commerce of the digital age. Jeff Bezos, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, newspaper owner turned jacked tabloid fixture and A-list mingler, was set to celebrate his wedding to the energetic broadcaster Lauren Sánchez in a city that centuries ago set the standard for sumptuous, flashy ostentation. From Thursday and for three days, the frescoed ancient homes of bankers and tradesmen that made Venice rich, now emptied of their residents and brimming with scented orchids, were ready to be turned over to influencers, rappers, pop stars and Ivanka Trump — all among the expected guests. San Giorgio, where emperors once met with popes, would host the patron of City officials and business owners were proud, happy about the money and the prestige the event brings, and they welcomed the wedding, which was expected to stretch across several of the city's islands, as a confirmation of Venice's status as a world wonder. But for many of the people who have made the uncommon choice to stay in an impractical city rendered almost unlivable by tourism in the easyJet age, the event was a climax of the city's betrayal, an American-size display of its contradictions. It was the capitulation of Venice's identity, they said, reduced to a glittery backdrop for the family photos of the world's new oligarchy. Venice's left-leaning grass-roots groups, small but popular among its dwindling but determined residents, threatened to obstruct the wedding. The protesters, who have adopted the slogan 'No space for Bezos,' appear to have already met some of their goals. The party planned at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, which the protesters intended to block, was moved to another location. The booking for Bezos' superyacht to dock in Venice was cancelled. Venice's authorities were furious about the protests, which they called 'reputational damage' to the city. In many ways, Venice was a no-brainer wedding destination for the Bezos-Sánchez pair, who since their relationship became public six years ago have engaged in a global parade of affection and high-gloss good life. Venice, a city largely built as an unapologetic declaration of wealth and power, with gilded palaces in polychrome marbles, frescoes and canvases by Renaissance masters, designed to impress and entertain on a grand scale, seemed like a perfect fit.
New York Times
26-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Officials Share New Analysis of Iran Strike, and Zohran Mamdani Talks Next Steps
Hosted by Will Jarvis Produced by Will Jarvis and Ian Stewart Edited by Ian Stewart and Jessica Metzger Featuring Emma Bubola In New Assessment, C.I.A. Chief Says U.S. Strikes 'Severely Damaged' Iranian Program, by Julian E. Barnes, Mark Mazzetti and Maggie Haberman Supreme Leader's Absence Raises Alarm in Iran, by Farnaz Fassihi Mamdani Reflects on His Astonishing Rise and the Challenges Ahead, by Emma G. Fitzsimmons What to Know About the Antigovernment Protests in Kenya, by Pranav Baskar With Bezos Wedding, Venice Braces for Love in the Time of Tech Billionaires, by Emma Bubola Tune in, and tell us what you think at theheadlines@ For corrections, email nytnews@ For more audio journalism and storytelling, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.
