European Union

IOM works in Minsk, Belarus, to counter stigma and discrimination against migrants.
Photo: IOM

IOM concerned for migrants facing ‘dire conditions’ at EU-Belarus border

6 September 2021
Migrants and Refugees

Migrants are facing “dire conditions” at the European Union-Belarus border, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned on Monday. 

Air pollution from power plants contributes to global warming.
Unsplash/Maxim Tolchinskiy

EU urged to consider impact of new climate mechanism on developing countries

14 July 2021
Climate and Environment

Although a new European Union (EU) climate initiative unveiled on Wednesday could change global trade patterns to favour countries where production is relatively carbon efficient, its value in mitigating climate change will likely be limited, the UN trade and development agency, UNCTAD, has warned. 

The multilateral system must deliver common goods as defined by international law, norms and agreements.
Unsplash/Jeshoots

Security Council urged to bring multilateralism ‘alive’, to tackle serious global challenges 

10 June 2021
Peace and Security

Rules-based multilateralism is not a simple or appealing phrase, a top European Union (EU) official told the Security Council on Thursday, “but our job is to bring it alive”.

Homeless man sleeps in a tunnel in Budapest, Hungary.
Unsplash/Mihály Köles

Europe: COVID must spark rethink to prioritize ‘human lives’ over economic policies 

30 April 2021
Human Rights

The devastating impact of COVID-19 serves as a stark reminder that the European Union must “put human lives” above economic policy considerations, that privilege competition between EU Member States, an independent UN human rights expert said on Friday. 

Some 20 million children in the EU are at risk of poverty according to the Special Rapporteur's report.
World Bank/Mano Strauch

EU must place social justice ‘at its core’ to lift people out of poverty

29 January 2021
Human Rights

The European Union’s failure to lift 20 million people out of poverty by 2020, is “a defeat for social rights”, an independent UN human rights expert said on Friday, urging the bloc to boldly rethink its whole socio-economic approach.

A UNHCR staffer welcomes resettled refugees originally from Syria and South Sudan at Lisbon airport in Portugal. (file)
© UNHCR/José Ventura

UN refugee agency calls for ‘new chapter for refugee protection’ across Europe

12 January 2021
Migrants and Refugees

As Portugal assumes the presidency of the European Union (EU), to be followed by Slovenia later this year, the UN refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday called on them to lead the effort to forge a better protection system for those seeking refuge across the continent and beyond.

Josep Borrell, Euopean Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, addresses Security Council members in connection with the Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and sub-regional organizations.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Security Council: Paralysis and ‘political infighting’ must end, to boost COVID-19 fight: EU foreign affairs chief

28 May 2020
Peace and Security

 The global coronavirus pandemic is testing the multilateral system like never before and the Security Council must stop the “infighting”, and step up to the challenge, the European Union’s foreign policy chief told the 15-member body on Thursday.

A quick smile from one of the 183 refugees resettled, originating in Sudan and the Central African Republic, prepares for his new life in France.
IOM

Protecting refugees in Europe: UNHCR calls for a ‘year of change’

9 January 2020
Migrants and Refugees

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is calling on the European Union (EU) to make 2020 “the year of change for robust refugee protection”. On Thursday, the agency issued a set of new recommendations, as Croatia and German preside over the EU Council during the next 12 months.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres receives the Charlemagne Prize in Aachen, Germany on 30 May 2019.
UNFCCC/James Dowson

A ‘strong and united Europe’ has never been more needed, declares UN chief Guterres

30 May 2019
Peace and Security

With the post-world war international institutions eroded and under threat, a “strong and united Europe” standing alongside the United Nations, has never been more essential, said UN chief António Guterres in Germany on Thursday.

Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, speaking in the Security Council.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Europe and UN form bulwark against ‘might makes right’ worldview, EU foreign affairs chief tells Security Council

12 March 2019
Peace and Security

“The concept of global governance risks being replaced by the old law that ‘might makes right’”, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, told the Security Council on Tuesday, during a meeting looking at on-going cooperation between the UN and the 28-member body.