Europe

Lines of people sleep rough on Petrou Ralli Street in Athens, Greece, hoping to get an interview date and a pink card in the morning.
UNHCR/K. Kehayioy

Greece must improve detention conditions for migrants – UN experts

31 January 2013
A group of United Nations independent experts today stressed that Greece must improve the conditions of detention for migrants and effectively implement recent legislation to enhance screening procedures for asylum-seekers.
Matthew Nimetz, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for the talks between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia briefs reporters.
UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

UN envoy convenes talks on former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia name issue

30 January 2013
The United Nations envoy tasked with mediating talks between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the dispute over the latter’s name held talks today in New York with representatives from both sides.
Special Rapporteur on racism Mutuma Ruteere.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Spain must make fighting racism and xenophobia a priority – UN expert

28 January 2013
Spanish authorities must show leadership in the fight against racism and xenophobia in the country, an independent United Nations expert said today, adding that, against a backdrop of pervasive unemployment, the Government must ensure vulnerable groups such as immigrants are not blamed for the nation’s economic woes.
UNFICYP peacekeepers patrolling in Sector 1 in Cyprus.
UNFICYP

Security Council extends UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus until July 2013

24 January 2013
The Security Council today extended the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 31 July 2013, while urging the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities to continue discussions aimed at reunifying the divided Mediterranean island nation.
Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

United Kingdom must review measures affecting right to peaceful assembly – UN expert

23 January 2013
A United Nations expert today urged the United Kingdom (UK) to revise a series of legal and policing measures that are having a negative impact on its citizens’ right of peaceful assembly and association.
Cranes loading freighters on the Danube River, Bulgaria.
World Bank/Scott Wallace

Euro zone’s debt crisis and austerity policies continue to tamp down growth – UN report

17 January 2013
The debt crisis of the Euro zone, slowing external demand and high oil process continued to depress Europe, while austerity policies throughout the industrialized world will not keep the world economy from slipping back into recession, according to an annual UN report published today.
The European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.
European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari

UN expert urges European Union to include development concerns in agricultural policy

17 January 2013
A United Nations independent expert today called on the European Parliament to take into account development concerns when they vote on amendments to the region’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) next week, stressing this is the last chance to ensure this legislation takes into account the human right to food.