The Jim Bakker Show

EU Officials Warn that 3 Million More Refugees Could Flee Syria

The European Union Council President Donald Tusk told European lawmakers on Tuesday that up to 3 million more refugees could flee the fighting in Syria.

The new wave of refugees could worsen the humanitarian crisis that has strained relations between European Union (EU) members and put additional pressure on European border facilities. Currently, 2 million Syrian refugees are in Turkey.

“Today millions of potential refugees and migrants are dreaming about Europe,” Tusk said. He then went on to slam countries that have not honored the EU’s asylum rules.

The EU has currently offered new incentives to Turkey in order to better handle the Syrian refugee crisis. This offer includes up to 1 billion euros, additional EU funding to build six reception centers for refugees in Turkey, better intelligence sharing, and easing of visa restrictions.

“I know that this is a very dramatic dilemma,” Tusk said. “We have to try to cooperate with Turkey because in fact we have no other options.”

Last month, the EU agreed on plans to relocate 120,000 refugees over the next two years.

The International Organization for Migration says it has no reports of more people leaving Syria at this time. They add that Tusk’s statements on the situation are “speculative.”

Russian Forces in Syria to Boost Bashar al-Assad’s Regime

The European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief reported to Al Jazeera that Russia is increasing its military force in Syria to prevent the “imminent” fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The report comes after the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policies, Federica Mogherini, had a conversation with Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. Lavrov told Mogherini that the military support Russia has provided Syria was to prevent the collapse of the Syrian state.

“His fear is of a complete collapse of the state structures in Syria,” Mogherini said. “This could be one of the reasons Russia is talking in this way, but it could also be willingness to show that Russia is an important, substantial player.”

Most analysts believe that Russia’s increase in military power will end any prospect of Assad being overthrown by rebel forces as well as consolidate the de facto partitioning of Syria. In the recent past, Assad’s military has nearly fallen to rebel advances.

Approximately two thirds of Syria is controlled by mostly Islamist rebels, including Syrian fighters backed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, or the Islamic State, and it doesn’t seem like Russia will be able to retake the territory unless it deploys ground troops.

Russia has stated many times that its military presence in Syria is to fight the Islamic State, but many world leaders, including the United States, are still uncertain. Former U.S. ambassador, Robert Ford, believes Russia’s main goal is to boost Assad.

“Why would you put the air units in Latakia instead of Damascus if you want to fight the Islamic State?” Ford said. “Why do you send anti-aircraft equipment when the Islamic State doesn’t have any air force?

“So it seems to me that this is designed to help Assad first,” Ford added.

EU Approves Plan to Relocate Refugees Across Europe

European Union (EU) ministers met on Tuesday and approved a plan for the relocation of the 120,000 mostly-Syrian refugees that have recently arrived in Europe.

The Washington Post reports that all but five EU ministers voted for the plan. Those that were against the plan were: Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania.

The plan includes spreading out the refugees who have already arrived, boosting border control so that fewer could sneak into nations undetected, and providing support to those in refugee camps in the nations surrounding Syria.

This plan to ease one of the worst humanitarian crises in years has divided European nations as richer nations like Germany and Sweden can handle more refugees while poorer nations reject the recent requirements because they feel they can’t handle any refugees. The poorer nations also point out that many refugees would more than likely move to other, richer nations. Currently, Germany has taken in the most refugees and expects to take in at least 800,000 this year.

Despite the EU’s plan, the United Nations has stated that their plans will not be enough, but despite their statement, many EU leaders are pushing for a compromise.

“We need solidarity and responsibility,” said German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, as he entered Tuesday’s negotiations. “This will be a hard session, a hard meeting. I’m not sure that we will have a result. We will work hard. I think it is unacceptable if Europe sends the message to Europeans and the world that there is no possible solution.”

An additional meeting between leaders of EU nations will take place on Wednesday in Brussels.

Photo of Drowned Migrant Boy Spurs Outrage

As tensions continue to swell in Europe over the mass influx of migrants from the Middle East, the photos of a young boy who drowned while attempting to make the journey is causing outrage across the continent.

At least 12 Syrians died when the boat they were using to reach Greece sank in the Mediterranean Sea. The bodies of the victims washed up on the beach including that of a young boy which a Turkish news agency then published and pushed into social media with the hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsnlik, which means “humanity washed ashore.”

Five of the 12 dead are children.

“When mothers are desperately trying to stop their babies from drowning when their boat has capsized […] Britain needs to act,” British Labour Party member Yvette Cooper told the BBC.

Meanwhile, migrants are still protesting outside the train station in Budapest, Hungary where officials are continuing to deny them access to trains to other parts of the EU.

Greece has reported an increase in migrants of 50% in just the last week and have already absorbed more migrants this year than all of last year.

The European Union has an emergency meeting scheduled for September 14th to address the crisis.

Greek PM Trying To Rally Party Before Key Vote

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is attempting to rally his party to gain enough support to pass the second round of key reforms to guarantee a bailout from the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The rebellion in Parliament is coming from Tsipras’ own Syriza party, who were elected on a platform of not giving in to European demands for more austerity measures. Tsipras fought the austerity measures for a significant amount of time before admitting some measures needed to be taken to help Greece turn around their economy.

“We are making an effort to have fewer dissenters,” Health Minister Panagiotis Kouroumplis told Greek TV.

The first vote took place on austerity measures while this second vote is more about procedural operations such as a code of civil protection aimed at speeding up court cases; the adoption of an EU directive to bolster banks and protect savers’ deposits of less than €100,000 and the introduction of rules that would see bank shareholders and creditors – not taxpayers – cover costs of a failed bank.

The issues that caused most division such as phasing out early retirement were removed from the second round of voting and move to an August vote.

The vote is expected to pass thanks to support from the opposition parties in the Parliament.

Greece Given Until End of the Week For Economic Proposal

Greece has until the end of the week.

That’s the message being sent by European leaders who are meeting to discuss the nation’s rejection of austerity measures and bailout terms to help the country out of their default to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The deadline comes after a heated meeting Tuesday among members of the European Union. If there is not an acceptable proposal on Sunday, Greece could be ejected from the Eurozone.

“The stark reality is that we only have five days to find the ultimate agreement,” said a visibly irritated Donald Tusk, the European Council president. “Until now I have avoided talking about deadlines. But tonight I have to say it loud and clear — the final deadline ends this week.”

“I’m strongly against Grexit (the nickname for a Greece exit from the Eurozone),” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said. “But I can’t prevent it if the Greek government is not doing what we expect the Greek government to do.”

Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had told Greek voters if they rejected the referendum he could make a deal with Europe “within 48 hours.” That time limit passed without a formal proposal and only some comments from the nation’s new finance minister reading off handwritten notes.

French President Francois Hollande said that the European Central Bank (ECB) would likely provide money Wednesday to keep Greek banks afloat through Sunday.

Major Rallies Scheduled Before Confusing Greek Vote

Major rallies are being scheduled in Greece today ahead of a referendum Sunday on a proposal for the country’s debt that is not even on the table.

The country has already defaulted on a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU) officials are warning that a no vote from the Greek citizens on Sunday could mean the country’s exit from the Euro. Economists say such a result would cause ripple effects throughout the world economy.

Greek voters, however, are very confused by the referendum.

“No one is really telling us what it means,” said Erika Papamichalopoulou, 27, a resident of Athens, told the New York Times. “No one is saying what will happen to us if we say yes, or what will happen to us if we say no.”

Banks in the nation remain closed ahead of the Sunday vote.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appeared to take steps Wednesday to accept many of the demands of the nation’s creditors but has also been telling citizens to vote down the referendum on the deal.

European leaders are pointing out that Sunday’s vote is revolving around a deal that is no longer on the table because the framework was built around a bailout package that was revoked on Tuesday.

The IMF surprised many on Thursday when it called for more aid and debt relief for Greece. The IMF says the Greek situation has significantly deteriorated because of conflict with creditors and calls for European leaders to be more generous financially toward Greece.

Greece Makes New Proposal to Creditors

Greece has submitted an 11th hour proposal for debt restructuring that includes a two-year aid proposal.

The statement came hours before Greece’s default on a loan to the International Monetary Fund. The proposal would require another bailout for Greece from the Eurozone’s European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a $560 million dollar rescue fund.

Athens has until 5 p.m. Tuesday to make a $1.8 billion dollar repayment to the European Central Bank before they are in default.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel seemed to be very cool toward Greece’s new proposal. Germany is Greece’s biggest creditor.

“This evening at exactly midnight Central European Time the program expires. And I am not aware of any real indications of anything else,” she told a news conference.

Several european leaders began to express concern that Greece may be forced out of the Euro by their default and the impact it could have on the Euro, the EU and the region.

“What would happen if Greece came out of the euro? There would be a negative message that euro membership is reversible,” said Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to Reuters.

“People may think that if one country can leave the euro, others could do so in the future.”

Greece No Vote Would Mean Euro Exit

European Union financial experts say that if Greece’s voters reject a referendum on the nation’s debt this Sunday it would mean the nation leaves the Euro.

Greece shut down the nation’s banks on Monday after a weekend run on ATMs caused many to run out of cash. A strict limit on ATM transactions has been put in place by the government through Thursday.

The shut down of banks and the stock markets in the nation will last at least through the Sunday vote.

Greek leadership was defiant in the fact of default and the EU no longer providing bailout funds to the nation.

“The decision not to prolong financial aid to Greece is offensive, and it’s a disgrace for Europe in general,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a national address.

The country’s poorer neighbors, however, are showing little sympathy for Greece’s plight.

“We are much poorer than the Greeks but we have performed reforms,” Rosen Plevneliev, the president of Bulgaria said. “When you have a problem, you have to address it and not shift it to Brussels or onto somebody else.”

The country’s actions have carried negative impact on world financial markets. World stock markets all took sharp dives at their openings which carried throughout the day; the euro tumbled on world currency markets.

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