Minsk–Benghazi flights raise EU alarm on migration
'The frequency and nature of these flights raise questions about potential facilitation of irregular migration flows,' the EU official said.
Between January and June 2025, more than 27,000 migrants arrived in Italy from Libya, while over 7,000 reached the Greek island of Crete – triple the number from the same period last year.
Europe has faced a similar situation before. In the summer of 2021, Belarus was at the centre of a migration crisis on its borders with Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
Russia was believed to have been indirectly involved in that crisis, with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko playing a central role – facilitating the issuance of visas, organising flights, and transporting migrants from the Middle East and Africa to Minsk. Brussels now fears Moscow may be attempting a similar strategy via Libya, weaponising migration to sow division within the bloc. Ankara's shadow But Greece believes the EU is overlooking another player in the current crisis: Turkey.
Athens is alarmed by Ankara's recent diplomatic overtures to both Libya and Italy. Last Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted a trilateral meeting in Ankara with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Libyan representatives to discuss migration and energy cooperation – a meeting from which Greece was pointedly excluded. Greek officials fear that the meeting marks a pivot in regional alignments, particularly given Turkey's recent rapprochement with pro-Kremlin Haftar and plans to reopen its consulate in Benghazi.
Athens is also concerned by Ankara's efforts to implement a controversial maritime border agreement with Libya, which ignores the existence of the Greek island of Crete.
The EU does not recognise the maritime deal, the EU official reiterated, noting that the issue was raised by the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, during her visit to Turkey last January.
Meanwhile, the Greek opposition criticised the government for being diplomatically sidelined in the region and accused Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of backstabbing her once-close EU ally, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, by not inviting him to the meeting.
Left-wing MEP Nicolas Farantouris told Euractiv that the country risks becoming geopolitically encircled by its neighbours and warned EU partners that Turkey is playing a destabilising role in both the Middle East and Libya.
He urged the Greek government to organise a meeting with Cyprus, Libya and Egypt – the latter being aligned with Greece on maritime borders and opposed to Turkey's ambitions.
However, the two countries are currently engaged in a diplomatic spat over Cairo's intention to confiscate an ancient Greek Orthodox monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. (cs)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euractiv
3 hours ago
- Euractiv
EU says $1.4 trillion spending pledge to US ‘in no way binding'
The European Union's promise to invest over a trillion dollars in US energy and infrastructure is 'in no way binding', Brussels said on Thursday, marking the latest flare-up of tensions with the White House over key aspects of the recent EU-US trade deal. 'The commitments… we have transmitted to the US administration [are] aggregate intentions as regards energy spending and as regards investment in the US economy by EU companies,' Commission spokesperson Olof Gill told reporters on Thursday, adding that they are "in no way binding." "The Commission does not have the power and would never seek the power to try to enforce something like that, but they are faithfully transmitted intentions,' he added. His remarks came two days after US President Donald Trump threatened to hit the EU with a 35% tariff if the bloc failed to deliver on its commitment to invest $600 billion in US infrastructure over the next three and a half years of Trump's presidential term. The investment pledge is a central pillar of the EU-US deal clinched two weeks ago between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The agreement also includes a separate EU commitment to purchase $750 billion worth of US energy until 2028. 'They gave us $600 billion that we can invest in anything we want,' he said on Tuesday. 'I can do anything I want with it. And the purpose was, they've been, you know, ripping us for so many years that it's time that they pay up, and they have to pay up.' Gill's comments came on the same day that the 15% blanket levy agreed by the EU and the US in the so-called 'framework agreement' came into force. Most EU exports to the US were previously subject to a 10% minimum duty, on top of an average 4.8% levy agreed before Trump's return to the White House in January. The new 15% levy – which EU officials describe as a 'ceiling' – includes the 4.8% rate. However, US tariffs on EU cars and car parts remain subject to a special tariff totalling 27.5%, despite both sides indicating those products would be covered by the 15% levy. Gill said he was unable to give a 'timeline' for when that higher car tariff would be lowered. 'We have a clear commitment from the US that our 15% across the board tariff ceiling will also capture EU exports of cars and car parts, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors, and we look forward to that being implemented ASAP,' he said. Eddy Wax and Nikolaus J. Kurmayer contributed reporting. (de)
Euractiv
3 hours ago
- Euractiv
EXCLUSIVE: Far fewer aid trucks entering Gaza than EU demands, document states
Four times fewer aid trucks are entering Gaza from Israel than the EU demands, according to a document the European Commission shared on Wednesday with national capitals. The document, written by the EU executive and its diplomatic wing, is a fortnightly update on the state of aid flowing into the strip, where humanitarian agencies and international organisations warn a famine is now taking place. This is amid Israel's war against Hamas. Israel denies that its military offensive is causing a famine and blames the UN for not distributing the aid it says Hamas regularly steals. Brussels has already slammed Israel for mass killings at four aid sites established by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). "Between 31 July and 4 August, the UN, and our partners report that 188 trucks were offloaded at crossing points to Gaza," states the document seen by Euractiv. However, that is far lower than the roughly 800 trucks per five days that an EU official said should be entering Gaza under the terms of a deal the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, recently struck with Israel. Under the deal, details about which are scant, around 160 trucks of aid per day should enter Gaza. The UN says at least 500 to 600 trucks per day are needed to prevent further starvation. The document states that Israel argues a much higher number of trucks – 737 – entered Gaza via the two main crossing points at Kerem Shalom and Zikim between 31 July and 4 August. The document says: "Israel includes commercial and GHF operations in its daily counting of trucks." It also says that: "Israel continues to make the point that many trucks [...] are waiting to be collected by partners for distribution, something that according to the UN is still attributable to poor security environment and other major impediments." According to the document, fuel deliveries into Gaza have 'increased' and are 'enough to sustain critical life-saving operations but [are] not sufficient to allow all humanitarian operations to run." In total, 874,000 litres of fuel entered the enclave between 28 July and 4 August, while no fuel was allowed in for three months before July, it notes. "Increase of those quantities is needed urgently," it adds. It also notes that COGAT, the Israeli authority responsible for overseeing civilian life in Gaza, has pledged to boost fuel deliveries from 23 to 30 tankers per week. 'If implemented, this would mark significant progress,' the document states. The UN said on Tuesday that "much more fuel is needed daily to run life-saving and emergency operations" in Gaza. "Current levels of fuel are only allowing the UN and its humanitarian partners to function at the bare minimum," it added. Three fuel tankers entered Gaza City on Monday, the UN said, which will be "used to power the most critical health, water and sanitation and emergency telecommunication facilities." The numbers that the EU shared with diplomats in the document come from the UN, and the Commission says that the EU cannot independently verify the data. "What we can say is that despite this partial progress, we are not where we would want to be in terms of the number of trucks being able to make their way to the destination," said Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday. "We do not have presence there, we rely on information from our partners, notably the UN," Itkonen said. EU humanitarian aid Commissioner Hadja Lahbib has said she is prepared to visit Gaza herself. Israel barred top aid civil servant Maciej Popowski from entering last week. This is a developing story. (jp, mm)
Euractiv
6 hours ago
- Euractiv
EU stocks rise, euro strengthens as Trump's tariffs kick in
The euro strengthened and European stocks surged in early trading on Thursday, as Trump's sweeping 'reciprocal' tariffs – including a blanket 15% levy on EU exports – entered into force. The STOXX Europe 600, a broad measure of European equities, was up 0.9% as of noon CEST. The DAX, a stock index comprising major German blue chip companies, rose by 1.9%, while the Paris-based CAC 40 gained 1.3%. EU equities are now up nearly 7% since January. The euro, meanwhile, gained 0.1% to trade around €1.17 against the dollar. The single currency has surged 13% against the greenback since the start of the year, as investors have sought to diversify from dollar-denominated assets to hedge against continuing US policy uncertainty. EU government borrowing costs remained broadly stable, with yields on German 10-year bonds – the eurozone benchmark – down 1 basis point (0.01 percentage point) to 2.63%. 'IT'S MIDNIGHT!!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!' US President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, earlier this morning. Trump's punishing levies, which purport to match the trade barriers imposed by US trading partners, are on average slightly lower than those introduced on 'Liberation Day' in early April, which upended the global economy before being suspended one week later. The strengthening euro and rising EU stocks come despite the fact that the new US duties on EU goods – agreed following a meeting between Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen two weeks ago – are on average slightly higher than before. Trump had previously imposed a 50% tariff on steel and aluminium, a 25% duty on cars and car parts, and a 10% blanket levy on most other EU exports. The duties came on top of the 4.8% average rate on EU goods before Trump returned to the White House in January. Trump's 50% levies on steel and aluminium remain in force, although Brussels is still pushing for a 'quota system' in which some metal exports will be hit with a lower rate. The blanket 15% tariff does not currently apply to EU car exports, despite the fact that Washington and Brussels both say autos are covered by the flat levy. EU officials expect Trump to sign an executive duty lowering the auto tariff over the coming days. Products that are subject to a special 'Section 232' investigation, including pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, will continue to face the current 0% US import tax until the probes are completed. Trump suggested yesterday that semiconductor exports to the US would soon face a 100% duty. He also said earlier this week that pharma exports could eventually face tariffs as high as 250%. Washington and Brussels both say EU pharma and chip exports are covered by the 15% levy.
