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NL Does EU enlargement mean a new wave of brain drain?
Photo: Wikimedia Commons With the prospect of several eastern and south-eastern European countries joining the European Union, the question arises as to what this means for internal migration within the EU. The idea is that joining the EU would boost national economies by making them part of the single market. [...]
10 years after Lampedusa: a history that need not be repeated
Ten years ago, two terrible shipwrecks occurred off the island of Lampedusa. At least 368 refugees died during the first shipwreck on 3 October. Just eight days later, during a second disaster, at least 268 more refugees, including 60 children, drowned. The high death toll is not only explained by the [...]
Watch back now: Q&A on Polish Elections
Aleksandra Iwanowska was a guest at the FMS for a Q&A on next Sunday's Polish elections. Aleksandra is international secretary of the Polish social democratic youth party Federacji Młodych Socjaldemokratów. Which parties are running in the elections and what are their plans for Poland? Will the elections affect Poland's relationship with [...]
New Pact on Migration and Asylum - mere wishful thinking by the EU?
Photo: Refugees at a detention centre in Edirne, Greece - Wikimedia Commons The European Council has reached an agreement on the final part of 'The New Pact on Migration and Asylum', which was proposed by the European Commission in 2020 to finally come up with clear rules on migration applicable to all [...]
"We cannot compromise on Slovak foreign policy" - post-election interview with Peter Kmec (Hlas)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons Early general elections were held in Slovakia on 30 September. The populist pro-Russian Smer-SD party led by former prime minister Robert Fico won with 24% of the votes. The international community watched the elections with fear as Fico took a pro-Russian stance and promised to stop supporting Ukraine [...]
Netherlands still pushes stick for Schengen membership Bulgaria
Photo: Border crossing between Romania and Bulgaria near Lom - Wikimedia Commons Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia were all set to join the Schengen zone, which allows free movement of people and goods between members, on 1 January 2023. However, in November 2022, the Netherlands and Austria vetoed the accession of Bulgaria, Austria as [...]
Tunisia continues deadly mass expulsion of Black immigrants as EU deal is implemented
Photo: European Commission On 16 July 2023, the EU signed a migration deal with Tunisia, as announced a month earlier. The deal includes an aid package worth more than €1 billion, designed to support the Tunisian economy and strengthen Tunisian border control, with the aim of reducing the number of refugees entering Europe [...]
New European publication on the way forward in Ukraine
Russia's aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 shocked the world and brought great devastation and trauma. The war continues in 2023, characterised by an unruly Ukraine, fighting courageously and energetically for its sovereignty, rule of law and self-determination. Western forces, with the European Union at the forefront, play an important role in [...]
How do we do deal with migration?
The shipwreck off the Greek coast that killed hundreds of people last week is the deadliest accident in the Mediterranean in years. This is yet another maritime disaster as a result of European migration policies. For instance, many illegal pushbacks of migrants take place by the European border agency FRONTEX and by southern European countries themselves. [...]
EU milestones in Bosnia and Kosovo underline importance of European engagement
Photo: The European Parliament in Strasbourg, France (Flickr) After a long period of limbo, the war in Ukraine brought a turnaround in European efforts to integrate the Western Balkans into the EU. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the next country to take a step towards EU membership. At the same time, Kosovo is also trying to make a [...]
