Refugee crisis

EU lawmakers have welcomed a court ruling rejecting an appeal by Hungary and Slovakia against the European Union's flagship refugee-sharing scheme.

Lead parliamentarian on the scheme Ska Keller said Wednesday that the ruling means "there is no excuse" for EU states not to share refugees from Greece and Italy as they have committed to do.

The European Union should use military means to defend its external borders from migrants entering illegally, Bulgaria’s defense minister, Krasimir Karakachano, has said.

A court in southern Germany on Friday convicted three Syrian men aged 24, 27 and 34 over the drowning of 13 migrants off the Aegean island of Leros in September 2015, when the European refugee crisis was at its peak.

The European Court of Justice, ECJ, on Wednesday announced its decision in two cases concerning Slovenia and Austria, which claimed Croatia allowed Syrian and Afghan refugees to enter their territory illegally in 2016.

The cases concern a Syrian refugee who entered Slovenia from Croatia and an Afghan pair who entered Austria via Slovenia and Croatia.

The refugee crisis in Europe, at least concerning people coming from Syria is making unexpected turn. After years of unprecedented flow of migrants from the Middle East to the old continent , the opposite is now beginning to happen. For now they are not coming from Europe, but from Turkey, however the facts are still there.

A left-wing consensus and changes made to the country's bailout program helped Portugal's economy to rebound, Secretary of State for Defense Marcos Perestrello has said.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley will make her first trip overseas this week as Washington's envoy to the United Nations, traveling to Jordan and Turkey to focus on the plight of Syrian refugees.     

Haley will meet with government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations and UN agencies during the visit from May 19 to 25.

At least 15 people, including a child, drowned when an inflatable boat carrying refugees and migrants sank off Greece's Lesbos island, officials said on April 24.

Eight bodies were recovered in Greek territory and another seven in Turkish waters, a Greek coastguard official said. The boat is believed to have set sail from Turkey late on April 23.

"The thing is, Megan, when it comes to ethics, the markets just don't really care."

BRUSSELS - The EU on Friday approved a further 30 million euros to help Western Balkan countries to deal with the aftermath of the refugee crisis.

The funds will go to Serbia, Macedonia and other Western Balkan countries to "help to further improve border and migration management capabilities."

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