European Interior Ministers call for “physical barriers” | Twelve European Union countries demand tighter controls on immigrants

A group of European Union (EU) member countries have called on the bloc to fund the construction of “physical barriers” to protect the external borders. The 12 countries signed a letter to the European Commission as EU interior ministers meet in Luxembourg to address the migration situation amid complaints of express deportations in Greece and Croatia.

In a letter to the European Commission, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia they emphasized that “Physical barriers appear to be an effective measure of border protection, serving the interest of the entire EU, not just frontline Member States.” In this sense, they add, “This legitimate measure should be adequately and additionally funded as a priority from the EU budget”. European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said they had received the letter and “we will respond to it in due course”.

In the letter, all 12 countries refer to the instrumentalization of migration for political ends. “The EU must adapt the existing legal framework to the new realities, which will allow us to respond adequately to attempts to instrumentalize illegal migration for political ends and other hybrid threats,” they wrote.

The document circulated a few hours before the meeting of the interior ministers of the European bloc in which they made a balance on the limited progress they have made in negotiating reform of the common asylum and immigration policy. Part of the agenda was also to address the concern about the “instrumentalization” that countries make of migration to put pressure on the European Union.

Although there is no specific reference to a country in the letter, the text echoes complaints made by the EU about attempts to The Belarusian government of Alexandr Lukashenko weakens the bloc by allowing the irregular passage of migrants to the Schengen area. This year, the European Commission warned Morocco after the crisis in Ceuta in which thousands of migrants arrived at the Spanish border and also negotiated with Turkey to allow passage to Greece.

“No third country should be able to use our asylum system for political pressure and blackmail on the EU and its member states or to exploit the current situation in Afghanistan,” the letter said.

The Lithuanian Minister of the Interior, Agné BilotaitéHe said that “this is a hybrid attack and in these kinds of situations we need a strong response. We understand that without a physical barrier it is impossible to protect the Lithuanian and European border. For the moment we can finance a surveillance system but it is not efficient ”.

Divergent opinions

For its part European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson stressed that it is not up to the European Union to finance border protection. “I fully agree that we must do more to strengthen the protection of our external borders. I have nothing against the building of fences by Member States, but as to whether it is a good idea to use EU funds for this, I have to say I don’t think so ”, he remarked in reference to the letter sent by the 12 European countries.

While Ales Hojs, the Minister of the Interior of Slovenia, country which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, He was in favor of the letter and said that opinions on the subject are divergent. “We did not sign the letter, but we support it. After the catastrophe of 2015, Slovenia, as a member state, which has no external border, decided to erect fences and finance with our budget. We have closed parts with the border with Croatia and will continue to do so in the It is clear that if we detain every year up to 14,000 illegal immigrants at the internal European border, around 50 people per day , the protection of the external border is not effective and it is our duty to protect it, ”Hojs said.

Migration and Asylum Pact

In this sense, the European Pact on Migration and Asylum continues to stagnate in the middle express eviction complaints in several EU countries. Over the past week, journalistic investigations have been reported which point fingers at police in Greece and Croatia for participating in alleged “hot returns” of irregular migrants to their borders.

Johansson called the complaints “very worrying” and assured that this would be one of the issues to be addressed at the meeting of European ministers. “It seems to me essential that this information be the subject of a thorough investigation, there is a risk of damaging the reputation of the European Union”, he declared.

Ministers also supported Brussels’ proposals to improve checks and identification of people crossing the EU’s external borders, although they could not reach an agreement. For the MED5 countries (Spain, Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Greece), it is important that a global agreement is found on the Pact on Migration and Asylum and they do not want to move forward with an isolated agreement.