Despite the harsh weather, the initiative Welcome and ‘Are You Syrious?’ attracted some 500 people to the “Closing of Borders Kills” protest in St. Mark’s Square in Zagreb against the closing of the so-called Balkan Route, which has left more than 40,000 people trapped at the Greek border.  

Platform 112, an association of 60 civil society organisations, on Thursday described as a "blitzkrieg against media pluralism" the proposal by the parliamentary committee on information, computerisation and the media that the parliament replace Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) director-general Goran Radman and appoint HRT editor Sinisa Kovacic as acting HRT director-general.

Motivated by the announcements made by the press that the Government of the Republic of Croatia will soon start the amendment procedure of the Law on State Border control, Centre for Peace, Non-Violence and Human Rights Osijek, Centre for Peace Studies, Welcome! Initiative, Miramida Centar and Regional Address for Non-Violent Action are wondering: Who is attacking us? Who are we defending ourselves from? Are we in war? Refugees are in search for safety, and it is our moral duty, as well responsibility deriving from the international humanitarian law, to do all we can in the sphere of humanitarian care.

Despite various attempts, the memory of persons who helped and rescued endangered persons “from the other side” during the breakup wars of Yugoslavia is rarely publicly acknowledged. There is, nevertheless, one exception: the case of Srđan Aleksić, a young Bosnian Serb who was killed while saving a Muslim acquaintance in Trebinje in January 1993. 

With regards to today’s meeting of the Chiefs of Police of Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia, who are in Zagreb discussing the humanitarian crisis, the Welcome! Initiative calls for these countries not to reach for measures of returning the refugees back to insecurity, by uplifting the internal border controls and playing ping- pong with human destinies. Countries whose representatives met today have the moral and political responsibility towards refugees knocking on our doors. 

With regards to announcement by the Minister of Internal Affairs Vlaho Orepić, introducing a new regime of transporting refugees by rail directly from Macedonia to Austria, the Welcome! Initiative reminds of the necessity to introduce secure and protected air, land and sea corridors for refugees wishing to reach their desired destinations, in order to reduce the violations of their human rights, as well as number of deaths occurring daily within the EU borders. 

By joining the European Union and the Euro-Atlantic community of NATO on 2004, Lithuania officially declared the aim „to continue to be an active member of the international community, effectively contributing to the response to crises, crisis management and peace keeping operations“ as one of the priority goals of its foreign policy. Although Lithuania has been participating in peace operations (PO) since 1994, mostly due to its integration into the EU and NATO, Lithuania has had the opportunity to be involved in various peace operations and missions, and to set up legal and institutional framework related to the deployment of both military and civilian personnel. Before focusing on the current state of deployments of Lithuanian civilians in PO, existing policies as well as the legal basis, it is important to begin with a description of the history of Lithuania‘s involvement in PO, primarily related to military participation.

During the conference held yesterday at the Human Rights House, the “Welcome” Initiative has warned of serious human rights violations and creation of legal insecurity, as a result of problematic practises of returning refugees from Slovenia to Croatia, and from Croatia to Serbia. They have also presented a report, created by the “Moving Europe” Activists, who were talking to individuals “stuck” in the border areas of Serbia and Croatia, in the vicinity of Adaševci and Šid, as well as those in Belgrade, from 11 to 25 January, which offers testimonies of police violence. 

Central European Refugee-assisting Organizations Criticize European Response to the Refugee Crisis today in Vienna. Amog organizations that sent this appeal “Overcome Division – Organize Joint Refugee Reception” is Centre for Peace Studies and Welcome Initiative.

Volunteering by providing assistance to the refugees passing through Croatia.