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As he visited vastly different places — Berlin and the island of Samos, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea — the Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece made a consistent call for more definitive state action on the refugee crisis.

The people of Kosovo got some good news when the EU and Kosovo signed an agreement on 27 October to deepen ties, a move seen as a first step towards Kosovar membership in the European Union.

Representatives of major international ecumenical organizations visited Hungary 25-29 September to strengthen efforts in support of refugees in Europe and the Middle East.

Volunteers for the WCC Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel have urged the European Union to take more effective actions against the illegal settlements, demolitions and forced displacement in the occupied territory controlled by the Israeli authorities.

Erik Lysén, director of International Affairs at the Church of Sweden, a member church of the WCC, has called the recognition of Palestine an important step towards the peace process.

APRODEV and CIDSE, two church-related organizations, have condemned in a recent statement the forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, which they say is “uprooting any chance of a just peace”.

APRODEV, an association of European development agencies related to the World Council of Churches, has urged the European Union to develop a long-term strategy to reconnect Gaza to the West Bank.

Following the Swiss referendum with majority votes backing restrictions on immigration from European Union countries, WCC general secretary warns of “adverse effects”.

Jenny Derbyshire, a volunteer for the World Council of Churches programme for Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, previously based in Bethlehem, was part of a team that travelled to Brussels recently to bring to light stories of Palestinians living under siege. Derbyshire, from Ireland, used her eye witness accounts from the occupied territory to urge the European Union to support the two-state solution for peace and stability in the region.

Nine volunteers with the WCC's Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel have met with European Union officials, urging them to honour recently issued guidelines on grants and loans to Israeli settlements.

Churches and ecumenical groups urge European Union to raise questions with Pakistan government concerning religious intolerance and persecution of religious minorities there.

In Africa, trade, aid and investments from the European Union (EU), United States (US) and China have not fully addressed the roots of poverty, inequality and ecological degradation. Churches, therefore, need to engage in a “development dialogue” to support alternative economic agendas, which can help eradicate poverty, while safeguarding Africa’s natural riches.

How can Africa attain economic liberation, social welfare, as well as ecological protection in partnership with the European Union (EU), United States (US) and China? An ecumenical gathering in Tanzania will address this question by assessing investments in poverty eradication and development in the region.

[Joint release with the Conference of European Churches (CEC)]