Latest news with #EuropeanConservativesandReformists
Euronews
a day ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Greece and Poland demand reparations from Germany for World War II
The opening of the photographic exhibition "Legacy of War—The losses of Poland and Greece: A March Towards Memory and Justice" opened on Tuesday at the European Parliament in Brussels. The event was hosted by Greek MEP Emmanouil Fragkos and Polish MEP Arkadiusz Murlancik, both members of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) political group. The exhibition, with photographs depicting the invasion, occupation and the resistance, aims to recall the extent of the devastation suffered by Poland and Greece at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War II, pointing out the evidence that the two states must use in their legal fight for reparations. A debate on "War Crimes and Reparation - Safeguarding the Rule of Law by Addressing Past Injustice" was held with the participation of experts from Greece, Poland, and Italy and members of the European Parliament. In his statement, Fragkos spoke about Greece's long-standing identification with just demands, noting the importance of justice in order to close the wounds of World War II. He referred to the crimes committed by the Nazis against the Greeks and the country's infrastructure, which condemned Greece to poverty, noting that the claim for reparations is a legally active demand. His Polish counterpart spoke about transitional justice, the rule of law and the importance of international responsibility in addressing historical crimes and ensuring accountability. Unfortunately, German MEPs did not attend the event, despite being invited. Only the first step in renewed efforts to achieve compensation On the Polish side, the organiser was ECR MEP Arkadiusz Mularczyk. Previously, as deputy foreign minister and Polish MP, he supervised the preparation of a special report on war reparations: "We spent long months on the work, trying to estimate something that is almost impossible to value. How to value the long and short-term losses caused by the destruction of Poland, of its infrastructure, its monuments, its economy, its potential? Losses in people, those murdered, but also those maimed physically and psychologically, the destruction of the Polish elite?" So far, the topic is ignored by Germany, which even claims that it is a closed issue. However, there are countries where compensation processes are still going on even now, although it is done in an unusual way. In Italy, for example, where Italian lawyers file lawsuits on behalf of victims, victims' families and win compensation, the Italian state pays. MEPs reiterate that the conference and exhibition are only the first step on a long road. The next ones will be the establishment of a special intergroup on war reparations from Germany and, within this framework, cooperation between the affected countries and legislative acts - such as resolutions of the European Parliament, for example.
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Across the political spectrum, leaders are pushing a harder line on people lacking permanent legal status
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. EU 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 EU officials. 'There is now this really broad consensus among almost all political camps,' said Martin Hofmann, an adviser at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development. 'We will be tougher, we will be stricter.' The shift has steadily built with the voter backlash that helped fuel nationalist, far-right and populist parties after Europe took in more than a 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. Since then, the number of migrants arriving has fallen. They declined about 20% in the first five months of 2025, after a sharp decline last year, according to preliminary data collected by Frontex, the EU's border agency. At the same time, expulsions have slowly increased. 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. In his view, policies that seem to be working to stem immigration are likely to retain their appeal and continue to gain momentum. That includes offshoring asylum requests, which the European Commission is exploring. 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'. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Photo / Getty Images 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 EU 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. Meloni and Frederiksen presented an open letter in which they argued that the European Convention on Human Rights — the 75-year-old cornerstone for the protection of human rights in Europe — 'posed too many limitations on the states' ability to decide whom to expel from their territories'. It was also signed by leaders from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Meloni said at a news conference that the fact that the signatories belonged to different 'political families' showed 'how the topic is of great interest across different sensitivities'. The underpinnings of the convention have already eroded with the shift on migration. Deals with countries like Libya and Tunisia have helped slow the influx of migrants, said Camille Le Coz, the director of Migration Policy Institute Europe. But they have done so 'at a huge human rights cost,' she said, such as when, in 2023, the Tunisian authorities dumped African migrants in a desert. 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. European countries have taken in Ukrainian people since the Russian invasion, and waves of refugees from previous wars in Syria and Iraq. Photo / Tyler Hicks, the New York Times The Polish Government suspended asylum rights as migrants have massed at the border with Belarus, which is outside the European Union. Poland argued that Russian and Belarusian officials were deliberately encouraging migration in a bid to destabilise Europe. 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 first' tagline. Magdalena Czarzynska-Jachim, the Mayor of Sopot, Poland, a town on the Baltic seashore, said Sopot had long welcomed Ukrainian workers and, more recently, families who had fled the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is not an EU member. She agrees that borders must be protected, but she also worries that recent messaging risks going too far, broadly characterising immigrants as criminals. 'Legal migrants are our neighbours,' she said. 'They are not bandits.' 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.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Emma Bubola and Jeanna Smialek ©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
How Europe got tough on migration
Advertisement 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 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. Advertisement Some of those ideas have previously met with criticism from European Union officials. 'There is now this really broad consensus among almost all political camps ," said Martin Hofmann, an adviser at the International Center for Migration Policy Development. 'We will be tougher, we will be stricter. " 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 percent 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, emphasized 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. In his view, policies that seem to be working to stem immigration are likely to retain their appeal and continue to gain momentum. That includes offshoring asylum requests, which the European Commission is exploring. Advertisement 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 externalization 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 center-right leader of Europe's largest economy, this month called Denmark a 'role model' on migration policy. Meloni and Frederiksen presented an open letter in which they argued that the European Convention on Human Rights, the 75-year-old cornerstone for the protection of human rights in Europe, 'posed too many limitations on the states' ability to decide whom to expel from their territories.' Advertisement It was also signed by leaders from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Germany has now instituted checks on its land borders, a step that opponents, including some of its neighbors, have criticized as undermining the commitment of EU members to free movement within the bloc. The Polish government suspended asylum rights as migrants have massed at the border with Belarus, which is outside the European Union. Poland argued that Russian and Belarusian officials were deliberately encouraging migration in a bid to destabilize Europe. 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 first' tagline. 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.' This article originally appeared in
Euronews
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Morawiecki: "No word that comes from the Kremlin should be trusted by definition"
Mateusz Morawiecki is convinced that in talks with Moscow, Kyiv needs the support of the West. "No word that comes from the Kremlin should be trusted by definition. The Russians, previously the Soviets, were able to break all the treaties they concluded. (Therefore) the treaties must be supported by real force. The Ukrainians have such real force, but in order to be able to oppose Russia, it must be a force supported by the West" - emphasizes the head of the European Conservatives and Reformists. The former Polish Prime Minister became the head of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, which brings together conservative groups in the European Parliament, a few months ago. Morawiecki replaced Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who recommended him for this position. When taking up the position, the Pole emphasized that among the goals he sets for himself is maintaining and developing transatlantic relations. Now he says on The Europe Conversation that these relations are necessary to end the war in Ukraine. "Without the Americans, it is hard to imagine lasting peace, and yet we all strive for it. So I hope that it is not only these words of Minister Lavrov or President Putin, or other officials, the highest state officials of Russia that will set the directions of changes in the near future. But above all, hard power, hard commitments and guarantees on the European side, but also, above all, on the American side," emphasizes Mateusz Morawiecki in an interview. According to the former prime minister, good transatlantic relations are crucial for peace in Europe and Trump's expectations towards European partners are natural. Trump, says Morawiecki, "must demand from his European partners that all of us in Europe, European NATO countries in particular, rise to the occasion. Without American support, we in Europe would not be able to be calm for decades." The politician believes that if transatlantic relations were not to survive, "our European world will be endangered, it will be very seriously endangered. Russia will enter into a very lasting agreement with China, and such a Russian-Chinese tandem is a powerful force that is able to dominate not only Central Europe, but simply the whole of Europe." The former prime minister recalls that it was his government (Morawiecki headed the Polish government in 2017-2023) that committed to greater defense spending. Currently, Poland allocates over 4 percent of its GDP to this. "Today, we are the country among the 32 NATO countries that spends the highest percentage on defense policy," emphasizes the former head of the Polish government. In 2026, Poland will spend at least 5 percent of its GDP on defense, which means over PLN 200 billion. The politician believes that Donald Trump's actions are more important than the changing narratives of his country: "I don't get used to what he says at a given moment, I just look at what he does, and his actions lead primarily to this. Let's look at this moment from an American perspective, in order for American forces and American resources to be transferred, to be "switched" partly to the Pacific, to the Chinese section (Trump) must demand from his European partners that all of us in Europe, the European Union, NATO countries in particular, rise to the occasion". According to Morawiecki, Poland, since he was prime minister, has been fulfilling its obligations as a member state of the North Atlantic Alliance by paying high contributions to the NATO budget. "Today, we are the country among the 32 NATO countries that allocates the largest percentage of its budget to defense policy. Our words were followed by actions. It is different in Europe. These words, which I have been hearing for a year, two, three, are not followed by actions," emphasizes the former Polish Prime Minister in The Europe Conversation. Morawiecki believes that Europe has a very powerful instrument in its hands that would allow it to quickly end the war, but it still does not reach for it: frozen Russian assets. "Let's take these assets and Russia will immediately sit down at the table, because it will be afraid that it will lose 300-350 billion dollars forever," argues the head of the European Conservatives and Reformists group. The entire interview with Mateusz Morawiecki on Euronews in the program "The Europe Conversation". A series of video clips have been circulating on social media, claiming to show Ukrainians putting makeup on and pretending to go to war. One account named "Liberal Tear Creator" shared a series of three videos, alleging that soldiers were "faking combat", in order to appear "war torn" and get funds from the US. Although the clips have not been manipulated, they have been misleading taken out of context. A search of the TikTok handle "vitsikkkk" which appears in the clip took Euroverify to the account of a Ukrainian combat medic named Vitsyk, who has nearly 300k followers. He also has a YouTube channel with almost 15k subscribers. Further investigating revealed that the clips had been taken out of context, from the behind the scenes of a music video called "Brothers", which Vitsyk posted on his channel in February 2025 to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the music clip, the same woman who online users claimed was putting fake make-up on, can be spotted. Her name is Mariana Chechelyuk and she was captured by Russian forces while defending the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in April 2022. Chechelyuk was released in May 2024, after spending 25 months in Russian captivity. On Instagram, Chechelyuk addressed the misleading posts with disbelief, stating "what is there to say." "The purpose of the video was to show the pain of Ukrainian soldiers who lose their loved ones every day, for their brothers who have become their family during the war", Chechelyuk told Euronews. The music video, which Vitsyk produced the song for, also features three other Ukrainian soldiers who were captured while defending the Azovstal steel plant. Speaking to Euronews, Vitsyk said "I am a creative soldier, for me music and songs are medicine that dull my pain from the loss of my best friends." Defending the video, Vitsyk said "every word in our creative reality is written in blood. Every pixel and costume in our music video, as well as bulletproof vest and helmet have been through so much more in real life." "We are not actors" he added, calling on those who suspect the war in Ukraine to "be a film, to come and visit the country."
