European Union leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday for a one-day summit devoted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Middle East crisis and new (and controversial) ideas to outsource parts of the bloc’s migration policy, such as deportations.
The discussion on Ukraine, held in the morning, was joined by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who presented heads of EU state and government his “victory plan.” During his speech, Zelenskyy called on member states to ramp up their military provisions and lift all restrictions on their use to allow the Ukrainian army to strike military targets deep into Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader then met European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
After closing the chapter on Ukraine, EU leaders turned to the crisis in the Middle East, where Israel’s incursion into southern Lebanon and Iran’s retaliatory attacks have increased fears the region could soon plunge into an all-out war.
However, the summit’s energy was consumed by migration policy as political calls for setting “return hubs” outside of the EU continue to grow louder. Spain and Belgium have already said no to the offshoring project, arguing human rights would be violated and high costs would not pay off. But a larger coalition of countries, including Italy, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland and Hungary, dominates the conversation around “innovative solutions” to curb irregular migration .
Follow the debate in real-time in the live blog below.
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Publish date : 2024-10-18 14:02:00
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The post EU leaders open the door for outsourcing migration as they call for ‘new ways’ to curb arrivals first appeared on Love Europe.
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Author : love-europe
Publish date : 2024-10-18 21:26:24
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