Poland and Hungary blow up the EU declaration on migration at the Granada summit

2023-10-06 17:36:41

The unblocking of the Migration and Asylum pact last Wednesday suggested that the debate on migration at the informal summit in Granada would take place in a calmer and more fluid environment. Nothing is further from reality. Poland and Hungary have frustrated the declaration to the Twenty-seven on this issue due to their disagreement over the crisis management tool, approved with a qualified majority in the European Council.

Migratory pressure, especially on the Italian island of Lampedusa, has led the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, and the Italian President, Georgia Meloni, to sign an alliance to demand a “tough hand” against irregular migration. In parallel, the block must prepare for the entry of new members, with the date of 2030 as an indicative deadline.

The debate promises to be long. Although the Twenty-Seven announced on Wednesday a political agreement to unblock the negotiations of the Migration and Asylum Pact, the European Council must now begin the trilogues with the European Parliament and Brussels, with the aim of closing the pact before the end of the legislature. The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and the Italian President, Georgia Meloni, organized a debate on this issue on Thursday and signed a joint letter in which they celebrate that their alliance “has changed the pace” of the migration debate in the EU. . Both the United Kingdom and Italy defend a tough line against irregular entries and assure that other countries “are already recognizing that the current approach does not work” and that “stricter measures” are necessary. The two leaders believe that we must act “urgently” in the face of a problem that affects the entire bloc.

Immigration pressure has led the United Kingdom and Italy to sign an alliance to demand a “tough hand” against irregular migration

This Friday, another meeting is expected between Meloni and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The meeting will be of great relevance, since both Germany and Italy tense up until the last moment the negotiations on the crisis management tool of the migration regulation, the mechanism that establishes solidarity measures in the event of mass arrivals in a Member State.

The Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has shown his discomfort at the adoption of the immigration regulation, which went ahead with the vote against Hungary and Poland, and compared it to “a violation.” «It will not be possible to have an agreement on this issue because before it was decided unanimously and in the last meeting it was by qualified majority. They pushed Poland and Hungary. We have been legally violated and, after that, it will not be possible to agree in the coming years », he criticized.

Drive the strategic agenda

As the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, explained, upon arrival it is a “summit of extreme importance, since it represents the starting point of our strategic agenda.” European leaders will debate the EU’s priorities and “for the first time in many years, we will have a debate on enlargement at the highest level,” highlighted Michel, who called for “being prepared” to welcome the candidate countries by 2030. .

The head of the community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, assured that the EU has “many pending tasks” in this matter and highlighted that the European Commission “will work on the review of policies in different fields” to prepare for enlargement.