Bloody wars and instability in the Middle East are inducing immense migration flows into Syrian neighbouring countries (Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon) but also into Europe. Europe, where 26 countries pledged to abolish their common internal borders and agreed on one common external border, might be facing its limits
READ MOREThe European Commission recently presented a sustainable energy security package, which concludes that natural gas is the path to “energy security”. Unfortunately, this gas pivot will intensify tensions in an already wobbly union and extend the EU’s fossil fuel dependency. An efficient and effective Energy Union will require true solidarity – between Eastern and Western Europe and between present and future generations.
READ MOREAs a result of multiple crises, Euroscepticism, defined as criticism of the EU and opposition to the process of political European integration, has been on the rise in the EU. Where the youth of the EU stands on this issue, explains Karina Oborune, education expert from Latvia
READ MOREClimate and energy policy are no match made in heaven. For Poland the EU’s climate policy ambitions are particularly hard to swallow. The government’s reluctance to transform its coal-based electricity sector puts the EU climate policy and energy market integration to the test.
READ MOREThe EU-Turkey deal has set a bad precedent to other countries in the world especially those hosting large numbers of asylum seekers and refugees. The deal has the implication that asylum seeking is no longer a right (at least not in the EU) and neither are the provisions of the 1951 Refugee Convention nor the 1967 Protocol binding to state parties.
READ MOREImagine Rio de Janeiro. The dilapidated colorful shacks boom up majestically from the exotic beaches of Ipanema and Leblon. Recently pacified favelas like Rocinha and Vidigal are open for business. Yet, formalizing the informal via policies like community policing (UPP), has once again shown Rio’s obstinate urban exclusion and the persistence of its fragmented democracy.
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