EU looks forward to Biden resetting trans-Atlantic relations
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. But the EU also acknowledges that future relations will have to adapt to a multi-polar world where China is an ever bigger player. During the four years of unraveling trans-Atlantic relations, China and Russia have gained influence, and the EU is looking for the strongest partner possible. The EU has already invited President-elect Joe Biden to visit Brussels at the earliest opportunity next year. Trump also pulled Washington from the Paris climate agreement, and the EU is seeking for Biden to bring the U.S. back into that fold again, too.
Venezuela migrant help promised as region struggles to cope
The European Union says a "solidarity conference" has raised around 120 million euros ($133 million) for Venezuelans fleeing their crisis-wracked country and to help countries who are hosting them. The South American nation of roughly 30 million people is gripped by a deepening political and economic crisis under President Nicols Maduro. Colombia hosts the greatest number of refugees and migrants an estimated 1.4 million Venezuelans while Peru is sheltering some 860,000. "This humanitarian crisis has a name: Nicols Maduro," Peruvian Foreign Minister Gustavo Meza-Cuadra said during the conference, which involved around 120 delegations. Guaid's deputy foreign minister, Isadora Zubillaga, welcomed the "solidarity conference," but said that such efforts alone are not enough.