Press release on the EU interior ministers' meeting on asylum on 14 December 2020 At today's EU interior ministers' meeting, the European interior ministers will discuss, among other things, the proposal for a European migration and asylum pact. My comment: "The German Presidency's strategy has failed. It wanted to force a European solution by demanding that the suffering at the external borders be dealt with only by a European consensus;
20 questions and answers about flight
I receive many inquiries from citizens about my work and my topics of flight and migration. Most of them are guided by honest interest and I am also very happy to answer them. Unfortunately, there is also a loud minority that repeatedly tries to impose its racist and right-wing populist worldview on others. Of course, we must not allow that to happen. …
Question: Reception facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
In order to be able to exercise my parliamentary control function as an MEP, I have the opportunity to put questions to the European Commission. Together with other Members, I have put the following questions to the Commission: Subject: Adequate EU funding and long-term reception facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including for vulnerable groups The Commission has been funding measures since 2018 …
Interim assessment of the German Council Presidency
We MEPs from the Green Group on Europe have drawn up an interim balance sheet and are now providing an overview of the various topics. In asylum and migration issues, Germany has blocked a lot and achieved little during this period, and the crises at the external borders have worsened during the German Council Presidency. Here are the assessments of my areas of work at a glance: Mass camps for …
How the EU facilitates deportations to the most dangerous country in the world
In 2016, the EU and Afghanistan signed the Joint Way Forward Agreement during the Brussels Donor Conference. The aim is to facilitate deportations to Afghanistan. It is an informal, non-binding legal instrument and the European Parliament was not involved in the agreement. Because the agreement expired on 6 October this year, the EU would like to have a new agreement in place by the end of …
Berlin sues Seehofer
Things are finally moving forward: the state of Berlin is taking legal action against the Federal Ministry of the Interior so that Berlin can finally take in refugees. The lawsuit is promising, because Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wants to prevent the admission despite legal leeway. More information can be found in the press release of the Berlin state government. Who wants to deal more intensively with the legal framework: I have a …
Question: Human rights violations by Greek authorities
In order to be able to exercise my parliamentary control function as an MEP, I have the opportunity to put questions to the European Commission. Together with other Members, I have put the following questions to the Commission: Subject: Systematic and coordinated push-backs by the Greek authorities On 17 August 2020, the New York Times published an article with the …
Question: How is the EU tackling incitement on the net?
In order to be able to exercise my parliamentary control function as an MEP, I have the opportunity to put questions to the European Commission. Together with other Members, I have put the following questions to the Commission: Question with priority for written answer P-004488/2020 to the Commission Subject: Commission's efforts to combat the spread of racism, hatred …
RND: Human rights violations by Frontex
The European Border Agency Frontex is involved in illegal pushbacks. These cases must now be cleared up – „otherwise the EU Commission will make itself an accomplice to systematic human rights violations at the EU's external borders," as I told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.
25 EU successes that make our lives better
If you look at the EU today, the abuses often stand out: at the external borders, human rights are too often only valid on paper, there are Member States that completely refuse to show European solidarity and reports about strange laws that come from Brussels. One thing is clear: many things need to be improved, but no EU is …