Photo : EPP Group
By Ken B Varghese and Govind Anoop
AUSTRIA
Social Democrats to fund media for youth
On 18 June, the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) put forth a proposal to fund a newspaper subscription aimed at the age demographic of 16-30-year-olds in an attempt to combat fake news. The SPÖ stated, “Every day we are flooded with contradictory or unconfirmed news. We need high-quality and critical journalism that is available to all citizens free of charge.” This was followed by their placing as the third most popular party in the recent European Parliamentary elections and it came as Reporters without Borders (RSF) criticised the financial health of Austria’s quality media and called for funds to be allocated based on the quality of the media rather than circulation. The proposal put forth by SPÖ would require the state to subsidise up to EUR 150 per year on media subscriptions for 16-30-year-old Austrians. A report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and Oxford University suggests that currently, only 35 per cent of Austrians have trust in the news. Austria is set to conduct national elections in late September after the European polls where SPÖ placed third with 23.3 per cent support behind the Austrian People’s Party (24.5 per cent) and the Freedom Party of Austria (25.4 per cent). (“Austria’s social democrats want to fund media subscriptions for young voters,” Politico, 18 June 2024)
GREECE
Wildfires forces residents to evacuate from Athens
On 19 June, residents were evacuated from Athens due to the wildfire.13 planes and helicopters and over 70 firefighters worked to put the fire under control, and also closed the main highway that is connected to the airport. Greece has prepared itself for what is expected to be a long wildfire season and the country’s national meteorological services has also issued nationwide warning. Although there are no injuries so far, fire service spokes service said the fire is spreading quickly due to the strong winds. And also added that they have dealt with 41 wildfires in total between Monday and Tuesday. While Greece Civil Protection Minister Vassils Kiklas warned the people to be careful, a small fire would trigger a large wildfire, which can spread due to the strong winds. He also added that they have arrested a 30 year old farmer who caused a fire in the city of Nigrita, Kiklas stated: "even the smallest fire can rapidly turn into a fiery front." According to the European commission report it has recorded at least 20 deaths in Greece due to wildfire. (Tamsin Paternoster, Residents evacuated from Athens suburb as wildfire season hits Greece, Euro news, 19 June 2024)
ITALY
Shipwrecks off southern coast result in death of 11 migrants
On 19 June, at least 11 migrants died and 64 missing due to shipwrecks off the Italian coast, according to the UN agencies. In the first tragedy, a ship carrying migrants from Turkey was caught in fire and overturned approximately 200 kilometres away from the coast of Calabria. Some survivors have reported that the ship had been sailing for eight days before the fire struck. The Italian coastguard initiated a search and rescue operation, at least 12 were rescued and were taken to the port of Roccella Jonica for medical treatment. While most of the missing migrants are from Iran, Syria and Iraq. These incidents are reported as a part of ongoing efforts by the Italian authorities to manage the increase of illegal migrants. While the authorities have advised the migrants to use umbrellas, stay hydrated, and avoid direct sun exposure during the hottest parts of the day. But the major problem arises when unregistered migrants are often lacking in the basic facilities. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported, over 3,150 migrants died or went missing in the Mediterranean last year, making it the deadliest migration route in the world. Though the EU has introduced stricter immigration law, the Italian government has aimed to reduce the number of Sea crossings. This includes restriction on operation of charity ships, which is often accused of encouraging migration. (Daniel Harper, Shipwrecks off Italian coast leave at least 11 dead and dozens missing, Euronews, 19 June 2024)
REGIONAL
EPP reaches projection numbers with 14 new MEPs
On 18 June, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) saw fourteen MPs submit their candidacy to sit with their grouping in the EU parliament. Politico reports that seven of the fourteen applicants are from the Tisza party led by Peter Magar, Hungary’s newly emerged opposition leader. The rest include 2 from the Dutch Farm-Citizen Movement (BBB), 2 from the Czech Mayors & Independents Party (STAN) and one each from the Danish Liberal Alliance, Germany Family Party and the Dutch New Social Contract Party (NSC). EPP leader Manfred Weber has stated that politicians wishing to join the group are to be pro-EU, in favour of the rule of law and pro-Ukraine. If the 14 members are taken in, the EPP will manage to achieve its targeted seat number of 190 MEPS. Magyar has requested his supporters to vote on whether he is to take the MEP seat in Brussels. If not, Csaba Bogdán takes the seat instead. As per EEP rules, those who wish to join the group must follow its political program and internal rules.(“14 MEPs vie to join European People’s Party in European Parliament,” Politico, 18 June 2024)
EU to increase the safety policy in the nuclear power market
On 19 June, EU countries agreed to have newer nuclear safeguards, despite many environmentalists calls to stop financing atomic power. The EU legally recognised nuclear energy as a low carbon energy which fits for energy transition. As discussion mainly revolves under the inspections of nuclear installations, the Europe Commission as a watchdog uses nuclear material solely for the power generation across the bloc. This nuclear power would further gain more energy following the pledge by the world leaders including Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, France, Hungary the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden — at COP28 in November to increase the nuclear capacity by 2050. While Kadri Simson, Energy Commissioner praised the potential of renewable power, including atomic energy, which would cover 90 per cent of the EU’s electricity consumption by 2040. He also added that an industrial alliance of small modular reactors is developing nuclear based technology which is deemed to fit the EU efforts for decarbonisation by 2030. Meanwhile Greenpeace environmental NGO approached the European investment banks regarding the role of finance in Nuclear power activities and has asked the bank “ to oppose any funding for nuclear energy, including small modular reactors,” because of the safety risk and radioactive waste concerns. (Marta Pacheco, EU Policy. Member states beef up safety rules amid growing nuclear power market, Euro news, 19 June 2024)
Rutte’s bid to become NATO chief backed by Hungary and Slovakia
On 18 June, Politico reported on Mark Rutte, outgoing Prime Minister of the Netherlands, being close to becoming the next secretary-general of NATO after having obtained the support of Hungary and Slovakia. Rutte managed to gain the support of both countries after agreeing to allow Hungary and Slovakia to opt out of efforts to help Ukraine on the promise of Hungary not opposing efforts from the rest of the alliance to do so. Both Peter Pellegrini, Sloakia’s President and Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister publicly endorsed Rutte’s bid for the position. Pellegrini also added that discussions on NATO supporting Slovakia’s air space until it is capable of independence occurred. This leaves Romania, whose president Klaus Iohannis is Rutte’s opposition, as the sole NATO ally not backing. A new alliance chief requires the support of all 32 members. (“Hungary and Slovakia back Dutch PM Rutte as NATO’s next chief”, Politico, 18 June 2024)
Meta to expand its AI translation to 200 more languages
On 19 June, Meta project No Language Left Behind (NLLB) announced that they have scaled up their technology. Which will make it easier for 200 languages lesser spoken around the world. Experts have recommended that Meta should talk with the Native speaker and language specialist in order to improve it as the tool still needs work. Contributors to the dataset are experts in natural language processing (NLP): the subset of AI research that gives computers the ability to translate and understand human language. Meta also stated that it used minded data sources like Wikipedia in their databases. Meta calls a multilingual language model, where the AI can translate “between any pair … of languages without relying on English data.” According to the 2020 report, the NLLB team has improved the accuracy of 44 per cent from the first model. When the technology is at its full potential it is expected to translate more than 25 billion languages every day on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. Alberto Burgain- Diz professor of AI at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, believes that linguistic groups should work with big tech companies in order to refine their data sets available to them. He also suggested that Meta and other AI companies should take time and look for good data and then go through the legal requirement without breaking intellectual property law. (Anna Desimaries, Meta expands AI translation to 200 languages but experts suggest talking to native speakers, Euronews, 19 June 2024)