The Swiss government hopes to negotiate for a right to cap immigration from the European Union so as to keep its access to EU markets when it writes into law a popular vote requiring strict limits on migration.
One week after the attack on Charlie Hebdo, the new issue of the satirical weekly came out today, Wednesday, with a record run of three million copies. Some commentators praise the editors for defending freedom while sending a message of reconciliation. Others feel the magazine again failed to show due respect.
The organised far right in Britain is weaker than ever before, though potentially more violent.
The European Union has pledged closer cooperation in the fight against terrorism following the killing at Charlie Hebdo, building on measures already taken in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, and subsequent bombings in Madrid and London. EurActiv gives a round-up of existing and upcoming initiatives.
The massacre in Paris spreads fear and reinforces the retreat from free expression in Europe. It also sharpens an unavoidable choice over legal and political order.
The dominant reaction in European media to the horrific massacre at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was solidarity with the victims, defence of freedom of expression, and defiance against the terrorists. “Today, the entire Republic has been attacked,” declared France’s president, François Hollande. “The Republic is the freedom of expression,” he added. Many commentators echoed this sentiment, insisting that freedom of expression was a basic tenet of the rule of law. The literal, and best, illustration of this view is that numerous cartoons were published in the aftermath of the attack showing the pen (or pencil) challenging the Kalashnikov.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls presented new security measures to the French National Assembly on Tuesday, after a series of attacks in Paris last week in which suspected Islamist radicals murdered 17 victims
If reelected, British Prime Minister David Cameron would consider banning messaging apps like Snapchat and WhatsApp, if they don’t make their data available to intelligence agencies, he said Monday.
Prompted by fears of new Islamist terrorism President François Hollande is mobilising 10,000 soldiers in France. The Ministry of the Interior has meanwhile registered an increase in anti-Muslim attacks. The country must now recognise to what extent France itself is responsible for the rise of terrorism, commentators urge, and criticise the double standards of Western politicians who fuel conflicts in the Arab world.
On all sides the debate since the Charlie Hebdo massacre has presupposed a ‘Muslim community’ as a social fact. It isn’t.
Je suis individu. Getty Images / Jean-Philippe Ksiazek. All rights reserved.
With the exception of Martin Schulz, European leaders missed their opportunity to be heard by citizens following the Paris attacks, Piotr M. Kaczyński told EurActiv Czech Republic in an exclusive interview.
Today, it is necessary to bravely ask the question about how to increase security in Europe, even if certain issues look controversial, writes Michał Boni.
Michał Boni, MEP (EPP), is a former Polish minister of Administration and Digitization
Freedoms are not unlimited but who, when and how can we limit them? Two colleagues agree to disagree. Content warning: graphic and potentially offensive imagery, including torture.
Umut – This time it was different. I could not put a finger on how I felt on the morning of January 7, as I was refreshing my Twitter feed every ten seconds, hypnotized by the cold-blooded execution of Ahmed Merabet at the scene of the massacre. I was horrified of course, and angry like everybody else, at the perpetrators, at the structural conditions that have produced them, at the way in which religion had become a cloak for what was essentially a politically motivated act of barbarism. But there was more to it. I was also numbed by disbelief, a profound sense of desperation, even defeatism.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls presented new security measures to the French National Assembly on Tuesday, after a series of attacks in Paris last week in which suspected Islamist radicals murdered 17 victims
Once again, thousands have marched in the city of Bilbao to protest the “policy of dispersal” against Basque prisoners and call for their repatriation.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Bilbao. (Photo: Dani Blanco/Argia)
Kolinda Grabar Kitarović: “Hahaha, everybody is saying that we don’t get along, and in the meantime, we’re treating ourselves.”
The European Central Bank may purchase government bonds under certain conditions, according to an opinion published Wednesday by the attorney general of the ECJ. The ruling backs ECB chief Mario Draghi’s plans for financially supporting the crisis-ridden euro states, some commentators write in praise. Others fear this signal will undermine any will to reform.
For months we searched for the Norwegian terrorist’s most prominent supporter. Our hunt ended in a suburb in South Carolina, USA.
EU funds spent on Serbia’s reforms were managed efficiently by the European Commission, the European Court of Auditors’ special report published today (13 January), concludes. But future projects could be better planned and executed, said the auditors.
While Pegida followers in Germany claim to be protesting against the supposed threat of “Islamisation”, a recent survey shows this issue hardly plays a role for many participants. EurActiv Germany reports.
France and Germany are both outspoken in their criticisms of the inclusion of the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism in the ongoing trade talks with the US. The two countries are discussing throwing their combined weight behind a common position onthe matter. EurActiv France reports.
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