German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on Turkey to step up its efforts to take back rejected asylum seekers. European Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen has announced that she will stand in the Finnish presidential election. The European Commission has asked its services to suspend all their advertising campaigns on X.
The Slovenian Interior Minister says security in Europe is being tested and called on Bosnia and Herzegovina to sign an agreement with Frontex. In other news: In the future, personal data may only be used for political advertising if citizens have given their explicit consent. The European Commission has reached a provisional agreement with SpaceX for the launch of four satellites next year.
A number of countries including Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia have announced new controls along their borders. They are trying to prevent people smugglers from using routes through the Balkans to bring migrants to Central and Western Europe. This puts pressure on the Schengen area of free movement and visa-free arrangements with third countries.
As large numbers of migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa this summer, social media users published video footage purporting to show the newcomers attacking Italian police. However the claim is false. The clip actually shows a fight from 2021 that took place outside of a nightcub in Marotta, central Italy.
Charles Michel and Josep Borrell have made contact with leaders in the Middle East following a flare-up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Commissioner Janez Lenarčič visited Armenia to assess the situation of displaced Armenians after their exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh. At an informal meeting of EU leaders in Granada, Hungary and Poland vetoed the agreement on new migration rules.