布鲁塞尔 – 联合国难民署警告欧盟，不要对国际援助实施“短视”削减，因为德国正牵头推动削减该集团下一份联合预算的规模。
BRUSSELS – The UN’s refugee agency has warned the European Union against “short-sighted” cuts to international aid, as Germany spearheads a push to slash the size of the bloc’s next joint budget.
“这是一个容易的目标。向纳税人解释我们将在海外花费更少的钱要容易得多，”联合国难民署（UNHCR）驻欧盟代表让-尼古拉斯·博兹（Jean-Nicolas Beuze）在10月13日的一次采访中告诉法新社。
“It’s an easy target. It’s much more easy to explain to the taxpayers that we are going to spend less money abroad,” Jean-Nicolas Beuze, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) representative to the EU, told AFP in an interview on Oct 13.
“存在一种短视的观点，认为我们可以通过在海外花费更少来节省开支，但当然这将对我们的繁荣、稳定和安全产生负面影响。”欧盟领导人将于10月15日在布鲁塞尔的峰会上就2028-2034年预算展开争论，他们希望在圣诞节前达成协议。
“There is a short-sighted view of saying we are going to make savings by spending less abroad, but of course this will have negative consequences on our prosperity and our stability and security.”EU leaders will wrangle over the 2028-2034 budget at a summit in Brussels from Oct 15 as they push to reach a deal by Christmas.
爱尔兰，作为欧盟轮值主席国，上周建议从之前的2万亿欧元整体预算提案中削减约1400亿欧元（2009亿新元）。
Ireland, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, last week suggested shaving some €140 billion (S$200.9 billion) off an earlier €2 trillion proposal for the overall budget.
但这未能满足由德国领导的一群所谓“节俭”国家的要求，他们正在主张更深的削减，因为各国预算正面临压力。对外援助已经看起来可能成为削减的对象。
But that failed to satisfy a group of so-called “frugal” countries led by Germany who are arguing for deeper cuts at a time that national budgets are under strain. Foreign aid already looks like it could be on the chopping block.
爱尔兰提出将覆盖国际援助的部分削减17%——同时基本不触及像欧盟农民资金这样的敏感领域。与此同时，都柏林推动划拨250亿欧元用于人道主义援助。
Ireland has put forward cutting the part that covers international aid by 17% – while largely leaving sensitive areas like funding for EU farmers untouched. At the same time, Dublin pushed to ringfence €25 billion for humanitarian assistance.
欧盟官员指出，桌面上的金额将代表相比该集团2020年通过的上一份预算的增加。“但这种增加是被过去十年爆发的危机数量所抵消的，”博兹说。“错失机遇”联合国难民署代表警告不要削减人道主义援助和更广泛的发展资金。
EU officials point out that the amounts on the table would represent an increase on the bloc’s last budget agreed in 2020. “But it’s an increase which is compensated with the number of crises that have erupted over the last 10 years,” Beuze said. ‘Missing an opportunity’The UNHCR representative warned against cutting both humanitarian aid and broader development funding.
“削减人道主义援助将产生立竿见影的影响。这意味着父母无法把食物放在餐桌上，孩子们也无法上学，”他说，并指出这可能导致前往欧洲的难民人数增加。
“Cutting the humanitarian aid would have an immediate and visible impact. It means that parents won’t be able to put food on the table, and children won’t go to school,” he said, pointing to a potential increase in refugees heading to Europe as a consequence.
“但如果我们想摆脱制造依赖的恶性循环，我们同样需要在发展方面付出同样的努力和关注。”随着众多成员国削减自身预算，美国也大幅削减其作用，欧盟中央资金的命运变得更加紧迫。欧盟及其27个成员国是全球最大的国际援助提供者。
“But we need the same efforts and focus on development if we want to get out of this vicious circle of creating dependency.”The fate of the EU’s central funding has become even more pressing as numerous member states have cut back their own budgets and the United States has slashed its role. The EU and its 27 member countries are the world’s biggest providers of international aid.
“作为人道主义发展援助的最大提供者，这伴随着责任，但这也是以非常积极的方式扩大影响力范围的机会，”博兹说。
“Being the largest provider of humanitarian development aid comes with responsibilities, but it’s also an opportunity to expand your sphere of influence in a very positive manner,” Beuze said.
“不利用这一领导角色将意味着错失塑造人类未来、世界未来的机会。”与之前的预算不同，欧盟在此次预算中拿出了一项专门基金来支持饱受战争摧残的乌克兰，价值约900亿欧元。“乌克兰至关重要，”博兹说。
“Not using this leadership role will mean missing an opportunity to shape the future of humanity, the future of the world.”Unlike in its previous budget the EU has put on the table a separate fund to support war-torn Ukraine, worth some €90 billion. “Ukraine is critically important,” Beuze said.
但他也指出，加沙、苏丹、阿富汗和萨赫勒地区的其他危机同样需要欧盟的关注——以及资金。
But he pointed to other crises including in Gaza, Sudan, Afghanistan and the Sahel as also requiring the EU’s attention – and funding.
“所有这些危机在地理上，如果你看一张地图，实际上是在环绕着欧盟。”法新社
“All those crises are geographically, if you look at a map, really encircling the European Union.”AFP