⊂ EUROPE ⊃
Warnings of terrorist attacks on New Year’s Eve: Warnings by the Turkish secret service prevented “Islamic State” (IS) suicide attacks in Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, and Great Britain, according to media reports. Munich police in Germany also issued a terror alert late on December 31st 2015 after the shared intelligence, evacuating two main train stations and advising revellers to avoid large crowds. German security authorities however said that an Iraqi national tipped off Munich officials.
express.co.uk
Cameron courts CSU with call for welfare limits: British Prime Minister David Cameron is a guest at a meeting of CSU leadership in Bavaria. He is using the trip to drum up support for his EU reforms, calling for an end to excessive bureaucracy and trade hurdles that inhibited growth in all European countries. Another key point is a four-year waiting period on receiving social benefits for EU citizens who move within the EU from their native country. CSU party leader Horst Seehofer said Cameron’s take on restricting welfare was „pure CSU“ after the two met Wednesday evening.
dw.com
EU debates rule of law in Poland: The European Union is unlikely to punish Poland over two widely criticized laws passed by the new Polish government. The EU Commission, led by Jean-Claude Juncker, will debate the rule of law in Poland next week, with one official having called for a supervision procedure that could lead to Warsaw’s voting rights in the bloc being suspended. But Juncker said on Thursday that option was unlikely. Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a temporary new law Thursday that’s a step toward giving the government full control of state radio and television.
reuters.com, washingtonpost.com
Merkel to restrict benefits for EU foreigners: German Chancellor Angela Merkel supports plans by her Employment Minister to restrict welfare claims for EU foreigners. It is important to think about whether someone without work in Germany has a right to social welfare, Merkel said after a meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos. German CSU MEPs want to adopt a paper according to which there will be no welfare for at least 12 months for EU citizens in Germany.
derstandard.at
ECHR approves subsequent preventive detention: The European Court of Human Rights has approved transitional rules for the subsequent preventive detention of mentally ill violent offenders in Germany. According to the verdict announced on Thursday, preventive detention may persist longer than ten years, as long as this serves the therapeutic treatment of the offender.
tagesspiegel.de
Unemployment falls in Europe: Eurozone economic sentiment unexpectedly improved in December as unemployment continued its decline in the previous month. The eurozone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.5 percent in November 2015, down from 10.6 percent in October 2015, according to Eurostat. This is the lowest rate recorded in the eurozone since October 2011. The EU unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in November 2015. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since July 2009.
europa.eu
Meeting: Poland’s new government finds a model in Orban’s Hungary ft.com
Schengen: Denmark and Sweden support free movement despite border controls euractiv.de
Lancinskas: EU appoints new head of Ukraine mission consilium.europa.eu
Refugee crisis: EU to invest one billion euros in regions along its external borders europa.eu
⊂ QUOTES ⊃
„All energy now is focused on getting the deal with Turkey working, on building the hot spot and reception capacity in Greece and Italy, so that will be all of the focus over the next two months.“
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks about the challenges that lie as the Netherlands takes over the rotating EU presidency.
euronews.com
⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃
Debate about consequences after Cologne attacks: An internal police report reveals German officers could not cope with the volume of attacks in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, German media say. Women were „forced to run the gauntlet“ through gangs of drunken and aggressive men outside the station. Police say the number of reported crimes from the incident has risen to 121, about three-quarters of which involve sexual assault. City authorities identified at least some of the perpetrators at Cologne as asylum seekers from Syria.
bbc.com, dw.com
Attacker shot at Paris police station: Police shot dead a man they say tried to attack a Paris police station while brandishing a meat cleaver and wearing a fake explosive device Thursday, on the anniversary of the deadly assault on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris one year ago. The man shouted “Allahu akbar” before being killed by police at the station’s entrance. He was discovered to be carrying papers showing an IS flag and a handwritten note in Arabic that was unequivocal about his intentions, the office said.
wsj.com
One year after Charlie Hebdo: One year ago, on January 7th 2015, two Islamic terrorist stormed into the office of Paris magazine “Charlie Hebdo” and killed the editor Charb (Stephane Charbonnier) and eleven other employees. Another attack took place against a Jewish supermarket. One day ahead of the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Charlie Hebdo released a special edition. The front cover features a bearded man, apparently representative of God, splattered in blood and carrying an assault rifle over his shoulder.
cnn.com
Socialists want to form government in Spain: The leader of Spain’s opposition Socialist party, Pedro Sanchez, has ruled out a pact with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s ruling People’s Party during a visit to Portugal on Thursday. The centre-right People’s Party failed to win a majority of seats in last month’s indecisive general election and its return to government is dependent on forming a grand coalition with the second-placed Socialists to break the political deadlock.
reuters.com
Further violence in Turkey: The wave of purges against critical minds in politics and society in Turkey has hit former Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis. He was recently referred to the ruling Justice and Development Party’s disciplinary board for dismissal. The Turkish army and PKK supporters have been fighting for weeks. A mortar attack was the cause of a deadly incident on December 23th at an airport in Istanbul that left one person dead and damaged several planes, Turkish prosecutors said on Thursday.
yahoonews.com
Great Britain: 2015 record year in wind generation euractiv.de
Hungary: 797 proceedings against refugees for illegal border crossings n-tv.de
Slovenia: Prime Minister Fico vows to refuse entry to Muslim migrants dw.com
⊂ DATA ⊃
26,000 unaccompanied children were among asylum-seekers arriving in Sweden over the last four months, according to Morgan Johannson, Swedish Minister for Justice and Migration.
euractiv.com
⊂ JOB-BOARD ⊃
politjobs.eu: 350.org seeks campaigner *** Steltemeier & Rawe seeks Senior Associate (m/f) *** 1&1 sucht EU Public Affairs Manager VKU sucht Referentin/en *** Afore Consulting seeks Junior Consultants in European Public Affairs
politjobs.eu, politjobs.eu/submit (Inserat schalten)
⊂ MALFUNCTION ⊃
Handbook for dictators is UN Library’s most borrowed book of 2015: The United Nations are often criticised for giving a stage to authoritarian and dictatorial states. It is no surprise that social media users say it is disconcerting that the UN Library’s most borrowed book of 2015 is about immunity from international crimes. The Dag Hammarskjold Library in New York tweeted that its most popular book of 2015 was Immunity of Heads of State and State Officials for International Crimes — a doctoral thesis by Ramona Pedretti.
welt.de