The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has highlighted what it says is the need for a common European framework for migration management that is effective, focusses on both external borders and legal migration pathways and is in line with EU’s values. The EESC welcomes the existing monitoring done by the Commission as this provides the…
Day: October 1, 2021
People Power-Why We Need More Migrants
European nations may well be on the threshold of a new migrant crisis that will dwarf even that of 2015–16. That’s one of several stark messages to emerge from an exhaustive new book on migration – “People Power – why we need more migrants” – by the highly respected commentator on EU affairs, Giles Merritt. The…
International community warned of Taliban “danger” to security and peace
The re-emergence of the Taliban threatens the peace and security of the “whole world”, an event in Brussels was told. The stark warning came at a conference which discussed the rise of extremism in South Asia, particularly in the context of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. Junaid Qureshi, the Executive Director of European Foundation for South Asian…
EUMETSAT Helps Weather Forecasts In Africa
African nations’ capacity to significantly improve weather and climate forecasting through access to data from Europe’s next-generation meteorological satellites will be the key focus of a two-week online forum this week. Covid travel restrictions have forced Europe’s meteorological satellite agency, EUMETSAT, to move its two-yearly Africa User Forum online, but also have made it possible…
Artificial Intelligence and “Social Scoring”
In two reports on draft EU legislation on artificial intelligence, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls for an all-out ban on social scoring in the EU and for a complaint and redress mechanism for people who have suffered harm from an AI system. At its September plenary, the EESC welcomed the proposed Artificial…
Does a “Right to Abortion” Take Priority over the Freedom of Conscience?
In June 2020, members of the European Parliament endorsed, by a vote of 378-255, a report on women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights prepared by Croatian MEP Predrag Fred Matić. The “Matić Report” called for the universal access to safe and legal abortion throughout the European Union. The Forum for Religious Freedom Europe (FOREF) takes no position regarding…
The Karabakh War and Energy Security
Exactly one year has passed since the beginning of the second Nagorno-Karabakh war. The frozen conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan lasted almost 30 years, writes Nargiz Gambarova. The Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding regions are internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan. As a result of two flare-ups in April 2016 and July 2020, the tensions broke…