Ireland decides to reduce support for Ukrainian refugees

On Tuesday, the Irish government announced a reduction in support provided to Ukrainian refugees fleeing their country, in line with measures taken by other European countries.

The Irish government said in a statement: “These changes are required to ensure that Ireland is able to continue to fulfill its obligations aimed at assisting beneficiaries of temporary protection, given the accommodation available, and with the expectation that Ireland will continue to receive approximately 500 arrivals each week.”

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told Parliament: “With these measures, Ireland will be in line with other European Union countries in the context of strong pressure on the housing sector.”

Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman said during a press conference that the government expects a decrease in the number of new arrivals from Ukraine.

Under the changes announced on Tuesday, which will take effect early next year, the government will provide new arrivals from Ukraine with accommodation for a limited period of 90 days, during which they will be entitled to a weekly allowance of 38.80 euros per adult (compared to 220). Euros previously), and 29.80 euros per child.

Ireland, with a population of five million people, witnessed the arrival of 101,200 people to its territory from Ukraine, including 74,500 sponsored by the state, and more than 16,000 people working among them, according to the Irish government.

The Dutch Counter-Terrorism Service raises its alert level to confront terrorist threats to the second highest level

The Dutch counter-terrorism service raised the country's terrorist threat alert level to the second highest level on Tuesday, indicating that the possibility of an attack is now "high."

The announcement marks the first time that the threat level has reached this level since the end of 2019, as it came a week after Ylva Johansson, the European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs, warned that the continent faces a “huge risk of terrorist attacks” during the Christmas period due to “the consequences of the war.” Between Israel and Hamas.

The Netherlands Counter-Terrorism and Security Coordination Service also stated that its threat assessment was that “the violent conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the desecration of the Qur’an in several European countries and calls for attacks by terrorist organizations have increased the threat from the jihadist movement.”

The report issued by the agency pointed to recent attacks in neighboring European countries and arrests of terrorism-related suspects in the Netherlands and neighboring countries as a reason for raising the threat level.

He added, "The threat emanating from right-wing extremism and anti-establishment extremism is still in full force."

The agency pointed out that although raising the threat level does not include taking specific actions to escalate security, it “enables security partners (such as the police, municipalities, and ministries) to take measures in order to confront the threat.”

Attacks had occurred in neighboring France and Belgium.

For its part, Sweden also raised the terrorist threat level to its second highest level in August after a series of public desecrations of the Qur’an sparked angry demonstrations across Islamic countries and “threats from armed groups.”