"The real significance of yesterday's decision lies outside Brussels?" stated Ms. Catherine Ashton in the Wall Street Journal on July 24. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy emphasised the value of the EEAS in facing "the many challenges that affect global security and prosperity".

for the Wall Street Journal's article: click here.

Introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, the European External Action Service (EEAS) is intended to give the Union a greater role in foreign policy. In addition, the EU should be able to act as a global actor within the current international system.

Following the European Parliament plenary sitting on Thursday 8 July, 549 votes were cast in favour of the EEAS. The new EU diplomatic should be officially set up after the summer recess, however incertitude and internal conflict still remain over its exact role in development policy.

Click here for the article.

The achievement of Isaias Afewerki’s regime in Asmara is to have used confrontation with its neighbours to entrench its survival. It is a political lesson that the international community still needs to learn, says Selam Kidane.

Click here for Selam Kidane's article.

The European Parliamentary Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on Tuesday 13th June held a debate on the case of Eritreans refugees deported to Libya.  The issue has been raised as a matter of urgency by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the Green party who were quite proactive during the debate. The new Director General for Home Affairs, Mr. Stefano Manservisi was present on behalf of Commissioner of Home Affairs, Ms. Cecilia Malmström.

Participants of the debate welcomed the public official announcement asserting that the Eritrean refugees will be set free. However, even with this positive news, it must be borne in mind that it is only a “temporary” solution which requires monitoring in the future. This is not a final solution for the refugees.

The current migration agreement between Italy and Libya has been contested by most MEPs who also raised strong criticism against the Eritrea and Libya regimes.

Following the article by Human Rights Watch on Eritrean refugees in Libya, the European Parliament will hold a meeting Tuesday 13th June on this issue.

Libya is far from a safe place.  Eritrean refugees have been imprisoned, abused, tortured and deported by force to Eritrea where they face extreme injustice. This include actions such as incarceration without a trial for a prolonged period of time or extra-judicial executions.

According to the latest reports, the Eritrean refugees are still in detention in Libya and only have the option to obtain delimited residency permits which last for a period of three months and limit the Eritreans to one district. After this period of time, they would have to ask for a passport to obtain a Libyan identity document, a process that requires them to act through the Eritrean Embassy. For this reason, most of the Eritrean refugees rightly fear for their families’ safety, as they are dependent on the Eritrean government which uses pressure and violence to oppress Eritreans both in Eritrea and abroad.