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EU Observer (21 September 2026)

Nikolaj NIELSEN

Europe’s human rights framework is on a cliff edge and risks unravelling everything achieved since World War Two, following fresh Polish and EU efforts to restrict asylum, according to Europe’s top rights defender.

“Political leaders really have to become much more sensitive to how fragile the moment is, or to put it another way, the extent to which we’re on a cliff edge,” said Michael O’Flaherty, who is the human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe, a rights watchdog based in Strasbourg.

Speaking to EUobserver on Monday (21 September), O’Flaherty was responding to recent initiatives by Poland to loosen UN rules on pushbacks, which are illegal.

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