No ‘Sea of Death’: Pope Calls for Pan-European Action on Migration

French President Emmanuel Macron (2ndL) and his wife Brigitte (L) greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at the Palais du Pharo in the southern port city of Marseille on September 23, 2023. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron (2ndL) and his wife Brigitte (L) greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at the Palais du Pharo in the southern port city of Marseille on September 23, 2023. (AFP)
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No ‘Sea of Death’: Pope Calls for Pan-European Action on Migration

French President Emmanuel Macron (2ndL) and his wife Brigitte (L) greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at the Palais du Pharo in the southern port city of Marseille on September 23, 2023. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron (2ndL) and his wife Brigitte (L) greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at the Palais du Pharo in the southern port city of Marseille on September 23, 2023. (AFP)

Pope Francis on Saturday condemned "belligerent nationalisms" and called for a pan-European response to migration to stop the Mediterranean, where thousands have drowned, from becoming "the graveyard of dignity".

Francis spoke out in favor of welcoming migrants, in a long speech that concluded a Church conference on Mediterranean issues in Marseille, a French port that for centuries has been a crossroads of cultures and religions.

"There is a cry of pain that resonates most of all, and it is turning the Mediterranean, the 'mare nostrum', from the cradle of civilization into the 'mare mortuum', the graveyard of dignity: it is the stifled cry of migrant brothers and sisters," he said, using Latin terms meaning "our sea" and "sea of death".

Francis was welcomed at the windy portside where the conference center is located by President Emmanuel Macron, with whom he was due to have a private meeting later on Saturday before returning to Rome.

The pope began the day by visiting a center for the needy in Marseilles' Saint Mauront district, one of France's poorest, run by the order of nuns founded by Saint Mother Teresa.

Later at the conference, he called for "an ample number of legal and regular entrances" of migrants, with emphasis on accepting those fleeing war, hunger and poverty, rather than on "preservation of one's own wellbeing".

According to UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, about 178,500 migrants have come to Europe via the Mediterranean this year, while about 2,500 died or went missing.

Governments in several European countries, including Italy, Hungary, and Poland, are led by outspoken opponents of immigration.

Francis called on people to "hear the cries of pain" rising from North Africa and the Middle East.

"How greatly we need this at the present juncture, when antiquated and belligerent nationalisms want to make the dream of the community of nations fade!" he said. He did not name any countries.

While Francis has said often that migrants should be shared among the 27 EU countries, his overall openness towards migrants, including once calling their exclusion "scandalous, disgusting and sinful," has riled conservative politicians.

His 27-hour trip has been dominated by migration issues. On Friday, he said migrants who risk drowning at sea "must be rescued" because doing so was "a duty of humanity" and that those who impede rescues commit "a gesture of hate".



Russia’s Top Diplomat Praises Trump’s Views on Ukraine Conflict

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
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Russia’s Top Diplomat Praises Trump’s Views on Ukraine Conflict

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)

Russia’s top diplomat said Tuesday that Moscow is open for talks with President-elect Donald Trump and praised him for pointing to NATO's plan to embrace Ukraine as a root cause of the nearly 3-year-old conflict.

Any prospective peace talks should involve broader arrangements for security in Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at his annual news conference, while adding that Moscow is open to discussing security guarantees for Kyiv.

Lavrov specifically praised Trump's comments earlier this month in which he said that NATO’s plans to open its doors to Ukraine had led to the hostilities.

Trump said Russia had it "written in stone" that Ukraine's membership in NATO should never be allowed, but the Biden administration had sought to expand the military alliance to Russia's doorstep. Trump added that, "I could understand their feelings about that."

Trump's comments echoed Moscow’s rhetoric which has described its "special military operation" in Ukraine launched in February 2022 as a response to planned NATO membership for Kyiv and an effort to protect Russian speakers. Ukraine and its allies have denounced Russia's action as an unprovoked act of aggression.

"NATO did exactly what it had promised not to do, and Trump said that," Lavrov said. "It marked the first such candid acknowledgement not only from a US but any Western leader that NATO had lied when they signed numerous documents. They were used as a cover while NATO has expanded to our borders in violation of the agreements."

The West has dismissed that assessment. Before the conflict, Russia had demanded a legal guarantee that Ukraine be denied NATO entry, knowing the alliance has never excluded potential membership for any European country but had no immediate plan to start Ukraine down that road. Russia said NATO expansion would undermine its security, but Washington and its allies argued the alliance didn’t threaten Moscow

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his Western allies to invite Kyiv to join NATO, or, at the very least, offer comprehensive security guarantees that would prevent any future Russian attacks. The alliance’s 32 member countries say Ukraine will join one day, but not until the fighting ends.

Trump has reaffirmed his intention to broker peace in Ukraine, declaring earlier this month that "Putin wants to meet" and that such a meeting is being set up. In the past, he has criticized US military aid for Ukraine and even vowed to end the conflict in a single day if elected.

Lavrov emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly declared his openness for talks with Trump, adding that Moscow looks forward to hearing Trump’s view on Ukraine after he takes office.

Lavrov also praised comments by Trump's pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who said Sunday it's unrealistic to expect that Ukraine could drive Russian forces "from every inch of Ukrainian soil."

"The very fact that people have increasingly started to mention the realities on the ground deserves welcome," Lavrov said during his annual news conference un Moscow.

In its final days, the Biden administration is providing Kyiv with as much military support as it can, aiming to put Ukraine in the strongest position possible for any future negotiations. The US also introduced new sanctions on Russia's oil industry.

Lavrov described those efforts as an attempt by the Biden administration to "slam the door" and leave a difficult legacy for Trump. "The Democrats have a way of screwing things up for the incoming administration," he said.

He emphasized that any prospective peace talks must address Russia's security concerns and reflect a broad European security environment.

"Threats on the western flank, on our western borders, must be eliminated as one of the main reasons (of the conflict)," he said. "They can probably be eliminated only in the context of some broader agreements."

He added that Moscow is also open to discuss security guarantees for Kyiv, "for the country, which is now called Ukraine."

Lavrov was asked about Trump's comments in which he wouldn't rule out using force or economic pressure to make Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of Denmark — a part of the United States.

Lavrov emphasized that the people of Greenland must be asked what they want.

"For a start, it's necessary to listen to the Greenlanders," Lavrov said, noting that they have the right for self-determination if they believe that their interests aren't duly represented by Denmark.