The task of the European Union is to protect children who are fleeing the war that Russia unleashed against Ukraine and to keep them from becoming the object of human trafficking.
As Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Szuica said on Tuesday in Strasbourg, speaking at the plenary session of the European Parliament, about 2.5 million children in Ukraine were forced to leave their homes, about 2 million children crossed the border with the EU, many of them arrived without parents. “Our priority is to urgently respond to their needs … Legal guardians must be appointed as soon as possible, potential foster families confirmed, so that children do not end up in homes where violence is used,” she said.
Schuitz called education a key task. “Member States help children go to school to return to normal life, the integration system, together with social, psychological assistance, cultural and sports activities, will help overcome trauma, cultural and language barriers,” the Vice President of the European Commission detailed.
Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, also said that many of these children face a new danger – the danger of human trafficking. “Lithuanian authorities are investigating the possible trafficking of 43 children for adoption. There are no confirmed cases yet, but we know from bitter experience that the danger is real. Children are at the very top of our agenda. Our goal is to protect children from the war zone by providing them with safe homes,” the Commissioner said.
According to her, working on the prevention of human trafficking, starting with crossing the EU border, where 282 Frontex employees help identify people who are at risk of trafficking, and Europol collects data, coordinates police cooperation, monitors the online activities of potential traffickers. “Europol has set up a dedicated anti-trafficking unit, working with the police in Ukraine and the EU countries bordering Ukraine. Many Member States have been warned of the danger. Our priority right now is registration, registration, registration. We need to know where these children are – all 2 million. Not a single child can be lost,” Johansson stressed.
“Our main challenge is still before us – how long this war will continue, there will always be a risk for children. Imagine that you are a Ukrainian mother with three children and have to make a very difficult decision – stay here with the children in danger or send them with your friend who will soon go with his two children on a potentially also dangerous journey to the EU and know that there is a risk that this may be the last time you see your children. Many parents have been forced to make this difficult decision. And they want us to keep their children safe. They are counting on us. Let’s show that they can rely on us,” she concluded her speech.
On Tuesday, the EU will consider a new package of sanctions against Russia due to the situation around Ukraine, said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
“Today we intend to approve a new package of sanctions, but we are still discussing what to do with energy,” Borrell said on Tuesday in an interview with Spanish radio station COPE.
According to him, in particular, there is no unanimity in the EU on the problem of refusing Russian gas. “It is not possible to make a unanimous decision, because there is such a country – Hungary, which has announced that it will veto it,” Borrell said.
“It’s easy to give up what you don’t have, but it’s very difficult for countries that are seriously dependent on Russian gas supplies,” he added.
The state recommends that farmers sow crops with the maximum unit value, so that in the face of problems in the country with the export of agricultural products due to the military invasion of the terrorist country of the Russian Federation, they receive maximum revenue from the sale of relatively small batches of agricultural raw materials, according to the website of the department with reference to its head Nikolai Solsky.
At the same time, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food on the air of the “UA-marathon” on Monday advised agricultural producers to grow high-margin and relatively easy-to-logistics sunflower, rapeseed and soybeans. According to the agency, the biggest challenge for the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex remains the issue of exporting agricultural crops from the country.
“A significant limitation of export logistics opportunities directly affects how much grain farmers and agrarians can sell – respectively, how much money they need to get for wages, sowing, payments to tenants, and the like. This is the most difficult thing,” the minister said. According to Solsky, due to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy expects in 2022 a reduction in the sown area of spring crops by 20.5%, or 3.5 million hectares – to 13.44 million hectares from 16.92 million hectares in 2021 year.
The Minister also pointed to the presence of a certain forecasted shortage of fuel, but at the moment Ukrainian farmers have access to fuel for sowing. “It is clear that the sowing season is just beginning, and the amount of fuel needs to be increased, but in a market economy with such an enterprising conscious people as ours, especially with farmers, a solution will be found,” he stressed.
At the same time, it is clarified that the priorities of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy at present are the establishment of logistics, enabling farmers to continue working and earning income, keeping businesses from closing, providing shareholder the opportunity to receive rent, as well as employment of workers in the agro-industrial complex. Solsky emphasized in the message that today all states need to adequately and deeply understand the complexity of the situation and make every effort to stop the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. “After all, any continuation of the war is a rise in the cost of products for all countries, including even those who had not thought about it before,” the minister summed up.
As reported, as of April 1, Ukraine sowed 0.60 million hectares with basic agricultural crops, which is 4.4% of the 13.44 million hectares planned for the current season.
Sowing of spring crops has already started in 21 regions of Ukraine, whereas last year 15 regions started sowing on the same date. The total area sown with spring barley as of April 1 amounted to 327.3 thousand hectares, spring wheat – 81.0 thousand hectares, peas – 62.3 thousand hectares, oats – 50.1 thousand hectares, sunflower – 33.7 thousand hectares ha, sugar beet – 30.6 thousand ha, soybean – 10.4 thousand ha, spring rapeseed – 7.6 thousand ha. Due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, a decrease in the sown areas of high-margin crops (sunflower and corn) is expected this season, while increasing the sown areas of crops that are easier to produce, but important in terms of food security – peas, barley and oats.
Almost all inhabitants of the Earth breathe air, the level of pollution of which poses a threat to their health, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Almost all the inhabitants of the planet (99%) breathe air that is polluted in excess of acceptable quality standards established by WHO and therefore poses a threat to health,” the organization said in a press release to the air quality report. It notes that people everywhere breathe “air with high concentrations of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, with the highest levels of exposure in low- and middle-income countries.”
According to the report, air pollution can lead to serious health problems. For example, particulate matter enters the human lungs and enters the circulatory system, which can lead to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, in particular asthma.
WHO is calling on authorities around the world to step up action to improve air quality, including switching to clean household energy and stricter vehicle emissions standards.
The WHO Air Quality Report and Database 2022 has been released ahead of World Health Day, which is observed annually on 7 April.
German authorities are looking for private buyers for Gazprom’s assets in the country, offering government loans from KfW IPEX-Bank as support, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Last week, Gazprom reportedly announced that it had ceased control of the Gazprom Germania group and all of its assets. This is the WINGAS/WIEE distributor, the astora storage operator. The Gazprom Marketing & Trading group also includes the retail operator Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd. (Gazprom Energy brand) and the global LNG trader Gazprom Global LNG. In 2019, the consolidated turnover of Gazprom Germania amounted to 24 billion euros, in 2020 – 13 billion euros.
The source of the agency also notes that Germany does not rule out the nationalization of parts of Gazprom Germania as a last resort, although Berlin wants to find another solution. Germany has made “mixed progress” in its efforts to bail out Gazprom Germania, but the government wants to avoid nationalizing or even expropriating the group’s assets, Bloomberg said. Officials are currently still studying the economic impact of a possible shutdown of Gazprom Germania’s companies. The final decision has not yet been made.
Finding a buyer for the assets will not be easy, the publication notes, as the companies’ businesses are closely linked: Gazprom Marketing & Trading is engaged in hedging and supply for Wingas and Gazprom Energy. And without these links, consumers will be forced to buy resources at much higher prices.
During the war in Ukraine, 18 journalists were killed, 3 went missing, 8 were kidnapped, 13 media representatives were injured, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy reports.
“The work of journalists during the war is a front line. Media representatives are often not only physically at the front and cover the course of military events, but are also warriors of the information front. Today they are debunking the Kremlin’s endless absurd lies. We deeply appreciate everyone’s contribution to our common struggle on the information front against a bloodthirsty enemy,” the ministry said in a statement.
It is noted that according to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, Russia committed 74 crimes against media representatives, including 19 against citizens of other states: Great Britain – 5, the Czech Republic – 2, the United States -2, Denmark – 2, the UAE – 2, Russia – 2, Ireland – 1, Switzerland – 1, France – 1, Lithuania – 1.
In particular, among journalists 18 people were killed (15 men and 3 women), 8 people (4 men and 4 women) were kidnapped, 13 people were injured, 3 people disappeared without a trace, 15 journalists were intimidated.
In addition, at least 7 facts of shelling, which led to damage or destruction of TV towers, TV and radio stations, as well as 22 blockages and cyberattacks on the media, were recorded.
Thus, 31 journalists were injured in Kyiv region, 15 in Zaporizhia, 7 in Kyiv, 5 in Kherson, 5 in Donetsk, 2 in Crimea, 2 in Sumy, 2 in Odesa, and 1 in Chernihiv, in Mykolaiv – 1, in Luhansk – 1, in Kirovohrad – 1, in central Ukraine – 1.
“Ukraine cooperates with a number of international human rights organizations and daily informs them about the crimes of the Russian occupation forces against journalists who, in superhuman conditions, cover events on the front line,” the report says.
The Ministry of Culture emphasizes that every death and every crime against representatives of the media will be investigated without fail, and those responsible will be prosecuted.
Among other things, the ministry expressed deep condolences to the families and loved ones of all the wounded, captured, missing and killed journalists.
