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With German voters clearly demanding comprehensive change, the far right has been capitalizing on the public's discontent and benefiting from broader global political trends. If the country's democratic parties cannot deliver, they may soon find that they are no longer the mainstream.
explains why the outcome may decide whether the political “firewall” against the far right can hold.
The Russian and (now) American vision of "peace" in Ukraine would be no peace at all. The immediate task for Europe is not only to navigate Donald’s Trump unilateral pursuit of a settlement, but also to ensure that any deal does not increase the likelihood of an even wider war.
sees a Korea-style armistice with security guarantees as the only viable option in Ukraine.
Rather than engage in lengthy discussions to pry concessions from Russia, US President Donald Trump seems committed to giving the Kremlin whatever it wants to end the Ukraine war. But rewarding the aggressor and punishing the victim would amount to setting the stage for the next war.
warns that by punishing the victim, the US is setting up Europe for another war.
Within his first month back in the White House, Donald Trump has upended US foreign policy and launched an all-out assault on the country’s constitutional order. With US institutions bowing or buckling as the administration takes executive power to unprecedented extremes, the establishment of an authoritarian regime cannot be ruled out.
The rapid advance of AI might create the illusion that we have created a form of algorithmic intelligence capable of understanding us as deeply as we understand one another. But these systems will always lack the essential qualities of human intelligence.
explains why even cutting-edge innovations are not immune to the world’s inherent unpredictability.
马德里——过去七年来,欧洲一直处在危机状态,几乎就没有间断过。从乌克兰到希腊的一系列事件让欧洲大陆从受尽煎熬到面对熊熊战火,期间伴随着连绵不断的首脑会议、正式宣言和边缘政策。现在需要欧盟关注的移民危机已经爆发——上述危机不太可能在可以预见的未来顺利解决。但如果欧洲想要采取有效对策,就必须超越危机状态理解自身的目标和现实局势。
移民应该引起欧盟的关注已经是不争的事实。欧洲移民人数不仅月月打破记录;移民的主要进入点也在不断变化之中。此外,寻求庇护者、难民、流离失所者和单纯经济移民之间本已模糊的界限变得愈加难以区分。
移民之路的危险状况构成了严重的人道主义危机。今年年初以来,约有2,500人死于试图穿越地中海,更不用说最近像奥地利一辆废弃卡车中发现71具腐烂尸体那样的可怕场景。成千上万人滞留在临时搭建的帐篷中几乎得不到任何支持。
更糟的是,从德国有人策划纵火袭击难民收容所到马其顿和匈牙利警方针对移民的暴力事件,欧洲一直就存在着针对移民的暴力行为。加来港已经成为危机的瓶颈,移民在那里拼命试图强行登上开往英国的卡车和火车。
目前局势时时处处昭示着“紧急”——欧盟也因此采取了措施。最引人注目的是,欧盟已将海卫行动的预算增加了三倍,目的是加强边境安全;在地中海启动了欧洲范围内针对 走私贩运人口的海军行动(EUNAVFOR Med);并为不堪重负的一线会员国划拨了额外的资金。
某些成员国也采取了行动。其中以德国最为显著,该国在今年面临 800,000名庇护寻求者入境的情况下已暂停执行可能导致数千名叙利亚难民被驱逐的欧盟都柏林公约。
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但上述措施虽然不无帮助,但却远远解决不了问题。事实上,它们是危机模式决策活生生的例子,相比于真正的解决办法,更倾向于采取看似令人印象深刻的权宜性措施(更不用说称得上空洞或夸张的豪言壮语)。这种方法允许欧盟领导人避免承认移民挑战的长期性,并因此削弱了他们采取集体行动的动机。事实上,上月召开的欧盟司法和内政事务委员会已经表现出不愿合作的姿态,会议代表未能就如何分配欧洲理事会在6月协议安排的区区40,000名难民达成一致。
事实上,移民压力仍将持续下去。毕竟,驱动成千上万人甘冒一切风险奔赴欧洲的因素根本没有消除。伊拉克和叙利亚依然陷于暴力和混乱;厄立特里亚处于专制政权的掌控之中;利比亚则成了崩溃国家的典型。再加上非洲大部分地区脆弱或几乎感觉不到的治理(以及由此造成的安全威胁和黯淡的经济前景),很难想象移民潮能够得到遏制。
美好生活的机会——或者任何生的机会——在这些地区的民众看来都无法抗拒。无论欧盟的对外边界多么强大——尽管改善监管和巡逻措施确有必要——移民人数仍将继续超过他们的防御能力,从而对自申根协议始的开放这一欧洲统一的基础构成威胁,申根协议确保欧盟26个成员国民众在没有边界控制的情况下能够自由迁徙。
欧盟要想应对移民挑战,设计出欧盟委员会主席让-克劳德·容克称之为“集体勇气”的现实有效的解决办法,就必须对当前移民潮的根源和促成因素发起攻击。具体而言,欧盟必须支持治理改革和经济发展,并在移民逃离的国家保障最基本的人权。
同时,需要通过与主要来源国和过境国建立伙伴关系,强化前往欧盟边境途中和靠近欧盟边境的威慑力。应当为那些按国际法规定理应得到保护或掌握可能有利于欧洲社会技能的人开辟合法的移民途径。必须为没有资格享受国际法保护、也不具备上述重要技能的移民设立遣返机制。所有这一切都需要更新移民的法律分类并实现欧盟内部责任共担,这在现在看来都是极其缺乏的机制。
欧盟不能简单通过零零星星地实施恐慌性措施,等待当前的移民危机自己过去。现在需要认真思考如何平衡人道主义原则与安全问题、国际法律义务与国内社会福利、各成员国间的相互义务以及对国内民众的责任问题。只有这样,领导人才能设计出深思熟虑、全面的前瞻性战略,解决移民危机和欧盟自身的生存问题。
翻译:Xu Binbin