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"Irish Finance Minister Simon Harris condemned the recent nights of unrest in Northern Ireland on Thursday, describing the violence as 'racist thuggery' and insisting it had nothing to do with a legitimate debate about migration policy. "The violent scenes we've seen in Northern Ireland over the last two nights really represent a horrific form of racist thuggery and intimidation and it needs to stop," Harris told reporters as he arrived for a Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg. "Migration policy is always something legitimate to debate. That's not what we're seeing in Northern Ireland. What we're seeing is downright racist thuggery and an attempt to bring fear back into communities and it needs to stop," he added. The comments came after 30-year-old Sudanese national Hadi Alodid was charged with attempted murder following an attack that onlookers described as an 'attempted beheading'. Police said the suspect travelled from Sudan to Paris before arriving in Dublin and taking a bus to Belfast in February 2023. He later claimed asylum in the UK and was granted the right to remain. Since Brexit, the island of Ireland has maintained a soft border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Critics argue it creates a 'back door' or 'loophole route' for migrants and asylum seekers seeking entry to the UK. Turning to the Middle East, European finance ministers offered differing assessments of the euro area's economic outlook as tensions with Iran continue to weigh on global markets. "We are in a geopolitical recession. The pressures and uncertainty on our economies, they stress the importance of carefully balanced economic policies," said Finnish Finance Minister Riikka Purra, who called on EU member states to reduce dependence on conventional energy sources through 'reprioritisations within the national budgets'. Greek Minister for National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis struck a more optimistic note, describing Europe's economy as 'resilient'. "The euro area has proven that it's quite resilient," he said, "There is a tendency, a stagflationary tendency, but we're certainly not in a stagflationary environment." "The IMF in its recent presentation of the Eurogroup also showcased that we're experiencing the crisis 12 percent less deeply [...] This also plays a part in the proposal of the European Commission to allow for extra fiscal flexibility to invest in energy infrastructure," he continued. Eurozone finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg are expected to discuss the economic and fiscal outlook, the Savings and Investment Union, the international role of the euro, and follow-up measures linked to the EU's economic governance and investment framework. The talks took place against a backdrop of renewed instability in the Middle East and disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which has impacted oil shipments and increased uncertainty in global energy markets. At the same time, US President Donald Trump has continued to press NATO's European members to strengthen their defence capabilities, while the European Commission has allowed member states to invoke a national exemption enabling higher defence spending without it counting towards budget deficits."
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