Overshadowed by the Brussels terrorist attacks, Europe may decide not to change what isn’t working in its faltering attempt to meet the refugee crisis born of the Syrian civil war. To make operational the recently signed migrant return deal between the European Union and Turkey, European governments will have to relieve the “burden” on Germany and Greece by taking more refugees. It is by no means certain that they will.
Shame of Cologne should not obscure the horrors of Syria
In the febrile arena of current German public debate, prudence should be the byword. But it isn’t. No one would want to appear an apologist for the molestation de masse in Cologne on New Year’s Eve – when a group of men descended on unsuspecting women in the half-light of the city’s central square. But some of those condemning it are also seeking to profit from it.
Marine Le Pen is far from finished
The French hair-trigger? Just another lurching crisis from the nation that gave us the modern revolution? The media frenzy that greeted the far-right National Front (NF) winning the first round of French regional elections on 6 December, will now as with previous surges, more-or-less quickly subside.