Denmark to Push Tougher EU Immigration Rules During Presidency
Denmark will make stricter immigration a top priority for the European Union during its rotating presidency, seeking to use its hard-line stance on migration as a model for the bloc.
The Danish government aims for 'concrete proposals and innovative solutions' to curb irregular migration and reduce arrivals into the EU, Minister for European Affairs Marie Bjerre said Thursday. It will also move forward with talks to update rules on safe third countries and safe countries of origin, measures designed to make it easier for member states to reject asylum claims and return people more swiftly.
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Associated Press
35 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Orbán's anti-Ukraine campaign targets political rival as Hungary's elections loom
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — As Hungary heads toward national elections next spring and the populist government's popularity slumps, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has zeroed in on a central theme he hopes will sway voters: an alleged threat posed by neighboring Ukraine. While most European Union countries have offered political, financial, and military support to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Hungary under Orbán has charted a starkly different course — refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons or allow their transit through Hungarian territory, demanding sanctions relief and rapprochement with Russia, and adopting a combative stance toward both Kyiv and its EU backers. With his ruling Fidesz party slipping in the polls and a new opposition force gaining momentum, Orbán has escalated a sweeping anti-Ukraine campaign — presenting the upcoming election as a referendum on peace or war. Going further, he has accused his leading political opponent of entering into a treasonous pact with Kyiv to overthrow his government and install a pro-Western, pro-Ukraine administration. Orbán opposes Ukraine's accession to the EU Some of his ideas mirror the growing anti-Ukraine messaging coming from right-wing populists in the West, including from President Donald Trump. 'Let's be under no illusions: Brussels and Ukraine are jointly building up a puppet government (in Hungary),' Orbán said on June 6 in comments to state radio. 'They want to change Hungary's policy toward Ukraine after the next elections, or even sooner.' At the heart of Orbán's claims is Ukraine's ambition to join the EU, something Kyiv believes would place it firmly within the embrace of the West and provide a measure of security against potential Russian attacks in the future. While Orbán was a firm supporter of Ukraine's eventual EU accession shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he now argues that its membership — which will likely take many years — would flood Hungary with crime, cheap labor, and low-quality agricultural products, threatening national sovereignty and economic stability. He has also spuriously claimed that Brussels and Kyiv intend to force Hungarians to fight Russia on the front lines. On Monday, Orbán posted a video to his social media page depicting animated, artificial intelligence-generated scenes of bloodied, machine-gun wielding Hungarian soldiers engaged in armed conflict, and rows of caskets lined beneath Hungarian flags. 'We don't want our children, in the form of the Hungarian army, to be deployed to the Ukrainian front lines or to Ukrainian territory and to come back in coffins,' he said in the video. Campaign targets the main opposition leader Central to Orbán's life-or-death narrative of the Hungarian election is his growing campaign against his main political rival, Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider whose new Tisza party has surged in popularity. Once married to Hungary's former justice minister, Magyar has become the most formidable challenger to Orbán's rule since the EU's longest-serving leader took office in 2010. With Tisza leading Fidesz in most independent polls, some analysts and domestic critics believe Orbán may be laying the groundwork to discredit or even disqualify Magyar ahead of the 2026 election. Péter Krekó, director of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, said Orbán's attempt to link Magyar and Tisza to the image of a dangerous Ukraine is aimed at neutralizing his domestic opposition as popular sentiment appears to be turning against him. 'There is an ongoing campaign against any critical voices in Hungary saying that they are agents of Ukraine, and this can be used also against the Tisza party,' he told The Associated Press. 'If you can't win back public opinion anymore, then you can try to use a more authoritarian toolkit.' Beyond political rhetoric, such accusations have reached the highest levels of diplomacy. In May, Ukraine's main security agency said that it had arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary by gathering intelligence on Ukraine's military defenses in the west of the country. That set off a tit-for-tat series of diplomatic expulsions, and accusations from Hungary's government that the affair was part of a concerted Ukrainian campaign involving Magyar and his party to undermine Orbán. The prime minister accused Magyar and Tisza of being 'pro-Ukrainian' and supporting Ukraine's EU bid, and alleging that a prominent Tisza member, the former chief of staff of the Hungarian military, has 'deep ties with Ukrainian intelligence.' No evidence has been provided to support the claims, which Magyar has dismissed outright. 'It is outrageous and blood-boiling when a patriot who trained and prepared to be a soldier since the age of 14 and who took a military oath ... is accused of treason by people who would sell their country out,' Magyar told a news conference on June 5. Ukraine pushes back To reinforce its message, the Hungarian government launched a state-funded communication blitz in March, accompanied by a non-binding 'national consultation' on Ukraine's EU membership. Billboards, television ads, and social media posts have flooded the country, portraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the architects of a plot to undermine, or even destroy Hungary. 'They would bring Ukraine into the EU, but we would pay the price!' reads one poster. 'Let's vote no!' Ukrainian officials have been restrained in reacting to the Hungarian campaign. But in an interview published last week in Hungarian outlet Válasz Online, Zelenskyy criticized the government's use of his face as part of its media barrage, and accused Orbán of being 'anti-Ukrainian and anti-European.' 'He is using this in his domestic policy: he wants to turn the war in Ukraine to his own advantage in the elections. That is dishonest,' Zelenskyy said. In a post on X on Tuesday, Ukraine's foreign ministry also pushed back on Hungary's accusations. 'The Hungarian government's communication line, which demonizes Ukraine and President Zelenskyy, has gone off the rails,' the ministry's spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, wrote. 'We don't see Hungary demanding that Russia accept a ceasefire ... They remain silent when principled action is needed and make baseless accusations when diplomacy is required.'
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
US to Decide on Joining Conflict Within Two Weeks
Good morning. Donald Trump will decide in two weeks whether to strike Iran. The EU says it's making progress on trade talks. And a former analyst and his sister were found guilty of an insider trading ring in London. Listen to the day's top stories. Donald Trump will decide within two weeks whether to strike Iran, the White House said. American intelligence officials believe Tehran is undecided about building a nuclear weapon, but may do so if the US attacked a major enrichment site or if Israel killed its supreme leader, the NYT reported.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Faith leaders come together to defend immigrant communities amid federal raids
More than a dozen religious leaders from an array of faiths marched to the steps of the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday night, flowers in hand, calling for an end to the federal immigration raids they say have torn families apart and resulted in racial profiling. At the start of the procession in Plaza Olvera, the Rev. Tanya Lopez, senior pastor at Downey Memorial Christian Church, recounted how last week she watched as plainclothes federal agents swarmed a constituent in the parking lot of her church. Despite her attempts to intervene, she said, the man was detained, and she doesn't know where he is now. 'All of our faith traditions teach us to love our neighbor, to leave the world with less suffering than when we find it, and this is creating trauma that will be unable to be undone for generations,' Lopez said. Federal enforcement actions have played out across Southern California this week as the Trump administration carries out its vows to do mass deportations of immigrants in the country without documentation. Initially, President Trump focused his rhetoric on those who had committed violent crimes. But shortly after he took office, his administration made clear that it considers anyone in the country without authorization to be a criminal. The raids — which have spanned bus stops, Home Depot parking lots, swap meets, farms and factories — have prompted many immigrants to go into hiding, and in some cases, to self-deport. The religious leaders marching Wednesday called for a halt to the raids, saying immigrants are integral to the Los Angeles community and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of documentation status. Read more: PHOTOS: Faith leaders in Southland gather for family unity prayer walk They carried their message through downtown, marching from Plaza Olvera to the Federal Building, dressed in colorful garb reflecting Jewish, Sikh, Muslim and Catholic traditions, and uniting in song and prayer, in Spanish and English. They called out to God, Creator, the Holy One, and prayed for healing and justice. They prayed for the hundreds of people who have been detained or deported and the families they've left behind. In the crowd, Talia Guppy held purple flowers to her chest as she sang along. Guppy said she learned that members of her Episcopalian church, St. Stephen's Hollywood, had been detained during the raid of the Ambiance Apparel factory in downtown L.A. Her church has since moved its services online to accommodate people afraid to venture from their homes. 'We're out here for them," she said. 'We're going to keep the hope and keep the faith until we get justice for them.' At the end of the procession, the marchers approached the steps of the Federal Building. Officers from the Department of Homeland Security poured out of the building and guarded the entrance as clergy leaders lined the steps. Inside, behind semireflective doors, rows of U.S. Marines stood at the ready. The leaders called for peace and laid flowers on the steps in tribute to those who have been detained. 'We come with flowers, and we will keep coming with flowers as long as our loved ones are held in cages,' said Valarie Kaur, a Sikh leader. She turned her attention to the officers at the doors, who stood stoic, and questioned how they wanted to be remembered by history. Then she placed flowers by their feet. In the crowd, protesters held signs with images of the Virgin Mary and Mexican flags. The clergy asked them to be ready to defend their neighbors in the coming days. Father Brendan Busse, a Jesuit priest at the Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, said he has felt the impact of the raids within his church. Devoted members are no longer in the pews. Others call asking whether it is safe to come to church. The fear is palpable. 'We need to be a safe space for people, not just in our church, but in the whole neighborhood,' he said. 'I can't guarantee to anybody that we are a totally safe space, but to at least give them a sense that in the difficult moment we're at, that we stand together.' This article is part of The Times' equity reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address California's economic divide. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
