Be among the first to know what's going on! ESI offers you the possibility of receiving first hand information and our latest reports free of charge. Simply subscribe to our newsletter by entering your name and email address here.
The legitimacy of the Council of Europe matters. Its destruction would be a harbinger of much worse to come. What is needed are bold measures, both in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
This is the right moment for European democracies to send a strong signal that certain red lines should not be crossed and that certain types of behaviour are intolerable and unacceptable.
They have called for "cleaning our cities, street by street" and "mass expulsions". With so little to distinguish their views they are in fact ideological twins: Viktor and Matteo, defenders of a darker, illiberal Europe.
France, the Netherlands, Germany and others need to do more than put things on hold. They need to propose a constructive policy which is tougher, more transparent, and more credible than the current accession process.
For Athens and Skopje to succeed in 2018 where their predecessors failed both governments need a mutually beneficial breakthrough they can defend in front of their domestic audiences. They need to help each other to deliver.
The current policy debate on migration and asylum in the key European capitals remains deeply confused over both values and instruments. Without clarity of thought no effective and humane policy will ever emerge.
Bosnian leaders and international officials in Sarajevo have warned that unless there is an urgent change in the state election law Bosnian democracy might come to an end in October 2018.
For the ECtHR to protect its reputation PACE, the institution which chooses its judges, must itself be transparent and committed to the highest standards. If nobody pays attention, if PACE is run by networks indifferent to democracy, then the prestige and credibility of the Court risks suffering as well.
The dominant clichés are that Bosnia is riven by ethnic hatred; that therefore political stability can only ever be fragile; that the constitutional arrangement which ended the war in 1995 reinforces communal tensions; and that the country remains perpetually on the verge of violent collapse.
There are no partnerships with migrants' home countries that make sense or have an impact; there is no coherent system for legal migration to replace irregular migration; efforts to fight smugglers appear helpless, even pathetic at times.
Eine schnelle Verbesserung der Lage ist möglich – und bedarf gleichzeitig großer Anstrengungen. Dafür werben wir: eine Politik, die Menschen die Möglichkeit eines sicheren, legalen Weges öffnet, Abschiebungen einschränkt, Leben rettet, und die Qualität von Asylverfahren an der europäischen Außengrenze erhöht.
We were convinced from the outset that Europe needs a credible guardian of red lines on basic human rights. It matters hugely, therefore, when such a human rights organisation can be corrupted.
We suggest how to reform a dysfunctional accession process; and when to bring it to an end. We seek to dispel illusions, restore clarity and propose ways how the European Union and the Council of Europe might better protect fundamental human rights.
The choice – and thus the future legitimacy of the Council of Europe – is now in the hands of 33 men and women and, if they fail to act, in the hands of those of the whole of PACE or even other institutions of the Council of Europe.
The European Union urgently needs a credible policy on asylum and border management. It must combine effective control of external land and sea borders with respect for existing international and EU refugee law.
