Eight EU countries have asked Brussels to tighten the bloc’s borders to “prevent another large-scale migration crisis,” according to a letter seen by AFP ahead of the main summit.
The overall tone in migration has hardened in Europe since 2015-2016, when it took over a million asylum-seekers, mostly Syrians fleeing the war in their country.
The migration crisis
Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia sent a letter on Monday to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel.
He said it was “high time” for a “European … comprehensive approach to all relevant migration routes” to tackle irregular migration.
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The letter calls for “additional financial support” in the existing budget to increase “relevant operational and technical measures for effective border control”.
It also called for the “rapid return of third-country nationals” and the completion of new partnerships and secure third-country arrangements.
Some member states are facing “arrival and application rates similar to, or higher than, those seen during the migration crisis in 2015 and 2016,” the letter added.
At the end of January, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said that she is confident that the asylum reform – discussed since September 2020 – will be adopted before the European elections in 2024.
Building a wall ‘not the right solution’
The EU has allocated six billion euros to protect its borders for the period 2021-2027.
Several countries, including Austria, have asked for EU funding to strengthen fences along the bloc’s external borders to slow the flow of asylum seekers.
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But the commission has so far been reluctant, saying “building walls and barbed wire” is not the right solution.
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said last month that member states could sign a pilot scheme in the first half of this year to speed up screening and asylum procedures for eligible migrants – and “immediate return” for those not deemed qualified.
Von der Leyen said she wanted the EU to create a list of “safe countries of origin”, and for the bloc to strengthen border monitoring on the Mediterranean and Western Balkans routes used by migrants to Europe.
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