About: Iraq Archives

A distinguished Arab diplomat remarked that EU politicians and think tank representatives did not make use of keywords such as “Iraq” or “Islam” while discussing the Union’s relations with its neighbours and the refugee crisis for several hours.

The global backlash against US President Donald Trump's immigration curbs gathered strength yesterday (29 January) as several countries including long-standing American allies criticised the measures as discriminatory and divisive.

With Slovakia handing over the EU presidency to Malta and agreement on a new EU asylum system out of sight, the Visegrád Group remains in opposed to compulsory refugee relocation. EURACTIV Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland, and Budapest's Political Capital, report.

The number of asylum seekers reaching the European Union by sea fell by two-thirds in 2016 due to a migration deal with Turkey but arrivals in Italy from North Africa hit an all-time high, the EU said on Friday (6 January).

The EU’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO) department today (12 December) flew in 40 tonnes of aid to Mosul, the Iraq city under attack by the Islamic State group.

The European Parliament's 2016 Sakharov Prize will be awarded tomorrow (12 December) to Iraqi Yazidi survivors and activists. On this occasion, 104 MEPs signed a letter to EU’s foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, asking the EU to recognise the ISIS genocide against the Yazidis.

The European institutions reached an agreement yesterday (30 November) on a directive that is aimed at better equipping the EU with instruments to counter terrorism. But civil rights groups warned that it risks undermining fundamental freedoms.

Evidence of genocide committed by ISIS terrorists is mounting, including eye-witness accounts and the group’s own propaganda. The ICC must prosecute foreign fighters to stop them returning to Europe, write Lars Adaktusson, Lord Alton of Liverpool and Pieter Omtzigt.

Spain's former foreign minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, told EURACTIV Spain that now is not the time for alarmist reactions to Donald Trump's US election victory and that Brexit could provide Spain with an opportunity to increase its international standing.

Yazidi activists Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar, victims of sexual slavery carried out by Islamic State, have won the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize. EURACTIV Spain reports.

German weapons dealers have seen their exports top €4 billion in the first six months of this year alone. While small weapon sales fell, exports of small arms ammunition reached record highs. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Security Commissioner Julian King told Die Welt (18 October) that the anti-ISIS offensive created an increased risk of attacks in Europe. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière quickly refuted King's claim, saying the threat was already high. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Libya is not the only North African country that is playing host to a large number of refugees: Egypt finds itself in a similar position. Cairo has indicated its interest in brokering some form of agreement akin to the EU's deal with Turkey. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Eighteen people were killed yesterday (9 October) when a van packed with five tonnes of explosives blew up in Turkey's restive southeast, the prime minister said, in an attack blamed on Kurdish militants.

French political philosopher Sami Naïr has proposed a "transit passport" for refugees and has warned that the EU stands at a juncture; one path leads to civilisation, the other towards "barbarism". EURACTIV Spain reports.

Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, has called for Hungary to be thrown out of the European Union. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Germany's lawmakers will once again be able to visit troops stationed at an airbase in Turkey, after Ankara softened its stance against Berlin. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The gruesome discovery of 71 dead migrants in a truck in Austria last August shocked Europe and led countries to open their borders to a massive influx of people fleeing war and poverty, mainly from the Middle East.

Germany has agreed to take in hundreds of migrants who are blocked in Italy in a move that might revive the European Union's failed relocation program, Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Tuesday (23 August).

Turkey was rocked by three deadly bombings against police and military forces as Kurdish guerrillas launched a new campaign of attacks targeting areas that are not predominantly Kurdish.

The war in Syria is raging on with no end in sight to the suffering or human rights violations it brings. We need to rethink how we protect the children displaced by this conflict, write Pierre Salignon and Gael Giraud.

Nadia Murad is a Yazidi woman that has been the victim of the brutal atrocities carried out by Daesh. Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea asks what better way to highlight her and her people’s plight, than awarding her the EU’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appeals to European leaders meeting in Brussels today (28 June) to contribute for a new Global Compact on Responsibility-sharing for Refugees, as well as a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

UNESCO’s Director General Irina Bokova yesterday (9 June) praised the new strategy to put culture at the heart of EU international relations adopted on Wednesday, saying it represented “an important message to the world”.