The Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking has released its final report, “Unlocking Potential: A Blueprint for Mobilizing Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking,” during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. With the release of the report, the Liechtenstein Initiative launches Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking, a project based at the United Nations…
Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on appointing Laura Codruţa Kövesi, MEPs’ preferred choice to be the first head of the new EU Public Prosecutor’s Office. The negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council on the new European Chief Prosecutor to lead the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) have been ongoing since last spring. Parliament’s…
Last week, the majority of EU countries’ ambassadors voted to support Romania’s former anti-corruption prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi to be the EU’s first public prosecutor but should she be the final choice of the EU Council and the European Parliament? asks Oliver Pahnecke. This question needs to be raised in light of information that shows…
Civil society organisations, decision-makers and other stakeholders are gathering in Helsinki, Finland today [16 September] to participate in Social Platform’s second annual ‘Building Social Europe’ Flagship Conference. The Flagship Conference, organised in cooperation with the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, focuses on two central themes: participatory democracy and civil society’s role in the…
The legal team representing the founders of JSC TBC Bank, Mamuka Khazarade and Badri Japaridze, held a press conference in Tbilisi stating that they already have enough evidence to bring a case at the European Court of Human Rights regarding the treatment of Khazaradze and Japaridze. One of the lawyers, Zviad Kordzadze, added that two…
While the newly elected Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is still busy with recruiting members for her college, the existing EU Commission outlined future priorities in the field of anti-money laundering (AML). The ne Communication ‘Towards a better implementation of the EU’s AML/CTF framework’ gives an overview of the four reports published this week…
On Tuesday (25 June), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) lifted sanctions against the Russian delegation, a decision correctly named by some media as a “moral victory of the Kremlin.” The Ukrainian delegation walked out in protest and slammed the decision as an “unacceptable concession to Russia”, write Aaron Rhodes and Willy…
I welcome today’s announcement by the Joint Investigation Team that four suspects will be prosecuted for crimes in relation to the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014. This is an important milestone in the efforts to uncover the full truth and ensure that justice is done for the killing of 298 people…
Taiwan has criticized Spain for extraditing Taiwanese nationals to China, saying the move puts them at risk of torture or the death penalty. On June 6, Spain took the decision to extradite 94 Taiwan nationals to the PRC but the case dates back to December 2016, when a huge telecom scam targeting Chinese citizens was…
“Terrorism is becoming a big problem in Togo, especially because of jihadists who arrive from Mali and Burkina Faso” warned the President of Parti des Togolais (Togolese Party) Nathaniel Olympio at the Press Club in Brussels on June 14th, writes Eli Hadzhieva. “Only last month, 2 French citizens were kidnapped in the neighbouring country of…
