EU leaders meet to address migration crisis; China warns of North Korea's growing nuclear capability; Kim Jong-un will visit Moscow in first state visit since coming to power; Nigerian forces lead assault on Boko Haram stronghold; Pentagon to unveil new cybersecurity strategy; and more
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TOP OF THE AGENDA
EU Leaders Meet to Address Migration Crisis
Leaders of the European Union will meet in Brussels on Thursday for an emergency summit to revise measures for addressing the Mediterranean migration crisis. Over 1,700 migrants have died (Amnesty International) while crossing the Mediterranean since January. Officials are expected to restore (EurActiv) search-and-rescue operations and to double funds and equipment for Mediterranean Sea patrol missions. EU heads will also consider (Telegraph) the possibility of a military response to capture and destroy vessels that could be used by human traffickers. Meanwhile, Libya's Tripoli–based rival government urged (Reuters) the EU to consult it on plans for addressing the migration crisis, warning that it would confront any EU military action that attacks sites used by human smugglers.
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ANALYSIS
"The flow of migrants seeking to reach Europe from Africa and the Middle East is not a phenomenon likely to last a few more summers only to disappear.
This is a long-term population flow that requires a profound response. At their summit on Thursday, Europe’s leaders need to demonstrate a degree of political energy on migration that has thus far been painfully lacking. On a critical matter, this is once again 'the hour of Europe,'" writes the Financial Times.
"In order to solve the biggest flaw in the current EU framework, any new system also needs to address the distribution of migrants as well as their processing. An index which ranks member states according to their ability to absorb migrants, and applies a quota based on this ranking, would be a significant step forward," writes Sarah Bedenbaugh in EU Observer.
"Ideally, a shift in policy would also include equitable burden sharing within the EU itself, so that Italy, Malta, and other border states wouldn't bear a disproportionate burden. In the longer term, an effective policy would involve capacity building in transit countries, not simply to enforce borders, but to provide real protection and decent living conditions," writes Bill Frelick at CNN.
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PACIFIC RIM
China Warns of Growing North Korean Nuclear Capability
Meeting with U.S. officials, Chinese nuclear experts estimated (WSJ) that North Korea has an arsenal of twenty nuclear warheads and the capacity to enrich enough weapons-grade uranium to double that arsenal in the coming year.
NORTH KOREA: Leader Kim Jong-un will visit (Yonhap) Moscow in May to commemorate the anniversary of the end World War II, according to a Russian diplomat. It would be Kim’s first state visit abroad since coming to power in 2011.
ELSEWHERE:
Nigerian forces lead assault on Boko Haram stronghold
Pentagon to unveil new cybersecurity strategy
This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org
