Since the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine, the EU has significantly increased its financial support to the country, mobilizing around EUR 4.2 billion. Through budget support, macro-financial assistance, emergency aid, crisis response and humanitarian aid, the overall economic, social and financial resilience of Ukraine is to be maintained. In addition, under the European Peace Facility, military …
Interview with RND: "EU governments are cynical".
Never before have there been more people on the run than at present. In this interview, I criticize the member states and also hold Chancellor Scholz responsible. You can read the interview here.
Afghanistan admission program must not be delayed any longer
June 20 is World Refugee Day. Since the United Nations established this day 21 years ago, the number of refugees worldwide has risen from 20 million to 100 million. To mark the occasion, I sent out the following press release: "There are more than 100 million people on the run around the world. As Europeans, we have a responsibility to help our …
EU states conceal disenfranchisement of protection seekers with mini-reception program
Press release by Erik Marquardt, 10.06.2022 Today, the interior ministers of the EU countries will meet in Luxembourg to discuss the reaction to the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine, Frontex, the Schengen reform and asylum and migration. A massive curtailment of the right of asylum is threatened. In the slipstream of the Ukraine crisis, the rights of those seeking protection at the external borders are to be further …
Info for refugees from Ukraine for arrival in Germany
I have summarized a lot of important information and contact persons for refugees and helpers and sorted them by federal states below.
African journalists visiting Brussels
As part of a taz Panter Foundation program, I invited 16 journalists from 15 African countries to Brussels for two days of programming to explore the city, ask questions about the EU, visit the European Parliament, and network with various NGOs. As part of the foundation's program, the journalists also …
Frontex – EU Parliament refuses budget discharge
The EU Parliament today refused to approve the 2020 budget discharge for the European border management agency Frontex and postponed the vote. Fabrice Leggeri resigned from his post as director of the agency after the revelation of various scandals, including the involvement of illegal pushbacks by Frontex. The agency still has not met the demands of the EU Parliament's previous discharge report and …
Commission ignores service directive for pushbacks in Croatia
The Croatian police have received official instructions for pushbacks. In the instruction, which has now become public, Croatian border guards are admonished not to allow themselves to be filmed during pushbacks in the future and to search the surroundings for hidden cameras before carrying out the pushbacks. The pushbacks themselves are to continue as usual. In their response, …
A step toward global vaccine equity or lazy compromise?
India, South Africa, the USA and the EU have agreed on a compromise proposal for the TRIPS waiver. In this article, you can find out exactly what the TRIPS agreement is and what the position of the Green Group in the European Parliament is. The TRIPS Agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) was signed in 1994 as part of the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations (General …
This is how the scheme by which the EU accepts refugees from Ukraine works
All 27 EU countries are ready to accept refugees from Ukraine. After a meeting of EU interior ministers on March 03, 2022, it was announced that the EU will activate a directive that guarantees war refugees from Ukraine protection in the EU - without costly asylum procedures. It's great that Europe is finally sticking together on taking in refugees. …