Over 4,000 migrants are currently on the Italian island of Lampedusa. In other news: Five EU member states jointly push for the extension of the import ban for Ukrainian grain until the end of this year. The President of the European Council Charles Michel visits flooded areas in Slovenia.
The commitment of Denmark and the Netherlands to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets as soon as the conditions are met is the hottest topic in Europe in recent days. In other news: Bulgaria’s Mariya Gabriel advocates the country’s Schengen accession – and Germany’s Chancellor Scholz defends border controls with Austria due to the migrant crisis.
Germany has welcomed more than a million refugees from Ukraine since the start of the war, according to European Union figures. The newcomers have had to register and apply for temporary protection status, which replaces the need to apply for asylum, as agreed by the EU Council following Russia’s invasion. An old claim, which has recently resurfaced on social media, alleges that Germany has also imposed another requirement: that Ukrainian refugees must report all of their assets and sell their car if its value exceeds 7,500 euros. This is false.
Leaders from the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean made progress during a two-day summit on trade deals and global investment between the regions. Discussions on technology, human rights and climate change took place. However, the 60 countries failed to unanimously condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kiev, backed by NATO allies in Eastern Europe, has demanded a commitment at next week’s NATO summit in Vilnius that Ukraine will join the military alliance once the war with Russia is over. The military alliance is still considering an appropriate response to Kiev’s demands.