EU meeting in Spain – Justice ministers want telephone help for war victims

“Some countries already have these victim telephones, but we want these telephone lines to become mandatory in all EU member states,” said EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders in Logroño, Spain. In addition to the Russian aggressors, international traffickers also exploit refugees and especially women in the war in Ukraine, Spain’s Justice Minister Pilar Llop added.

In addition to the telephone service, ministers also proposed free psychological support programs in all EU countries at the meeting. It needs “support, information, justice and compensation” for the war victims. Linguistic and physical barriers should be removed, for example for people with disabilities. At the same time, it is important to find evidence of the crimes and hold those responsible accountable.

Fight organized crime
Another topic at the meeting was the fight against organized crime. This sparked a debate about which technology the police and investigative services could use to combat the financing of criminal gangs. Currently, they are increasingly conducting their business using cryptocurrencies. There were also questions about how countries on the external borders of the EU can be helped in crisis situations. One suggestion was that countries such as Germany and Austria should no longer be allowed to send migrants back to their first country of arrival, such as Spain, Italy or Greece, if many of them already have migrants of their own.

The governments of Poland and Hungary oppose such mechanisms and the compulsory admission of refugees. However, everyone agreed that cooperation with the countries of origin and transit of migrants had to be improved. No concrete decisions were made on Thursday and Friday. “Some steps still need to be taken to reach a common position,” said EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.