The dispute over anti-illegal immigration measures has ignited tensions within the European Union (EU) at a time when U.S. President Joe Biden unexpectedly reversed his decision to build a wall on the Mexican border to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants from Latin American countries.
During an unplanned closed-door meeting on the sidelines of the European Political Group summit on Thursday, leaders of France, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Albania, and the President of the European Commission decided to take a series of joint measures to prevent the flow of immigrants across the EU’s external borders. These measures include pursuing boats used by criminal organizations trafficking immigrants, seizing them, and pursuing those responsible. Despite the complexities surrounding this sensitive issue in terms of international law, agreements, and European human rights conventions, it has become a mandatory agenda item at European summits due to deep disagreements and strong political wrangling among member states.
Hungary and Poland have not stopped threatening to prevent any joint statement from being issued at the summit if the rest of the member states insist on addressing the immigration issue. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized the European Migration Pact before entering the meeting on Friday, stating that the recent agreement, which Hungary and Poland reluctantly accepted, is a “legal violation” of their sovereignty. He stated that they were “forced by law to accept something against their will.”
In parallel, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki complained about the “dominance of the European Commission and Germany” and their influence over decisions. Permanent representatives of member states in Brussels reached an agreement last Wednesday on the final remaining provisions of the migration pact. This pact includes a set of measures that impose strict restrictions on entry into EU countries and asylum applications, as well as quotas for member states to receive immigrants or pay 20,000 euros for each immigrant they refuse to accept.
Both Hungary and Poland have conditioned their acceptance of the summit’s final statement on the inclusion of a reference to not making any immigration-related decisions without the unanimous consent of member states.
The immigration issue was not originally on the agenda of the European Political Group summit due to the sharp differences it stirs among member states and its political sensitivity during election campaigns. However, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, pushed for a sextet meeting to discuss this issue on the sidelines of the summit. This move sparked clear displeasure from the Spanish presidency and Germany, both of which were intentionally excluded from the meeting, underscoring the depth of the disagreements and differences of opinion among EU member states on this matter.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had called for the EU to conduct maritime patrols to prevent the arrival of immigrant boats on European shores. Meanwhile, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, who has adopted a more conservative stance on immigration, surprised many with her statements after visiting the island of Lampedusa with Meloni. She stated that she is prepared to consider the proposal for European maritime patrols in the Mediterranean. Human rights circles cautioned, after these statements, that conducting maritime patrols in international waters to monitor the movement of ships and boats with the aim of intercepting or chasing them may conflict with international law, in addition to the complexities and security risks involved.
