A new important step on the path to reform of the European Union (EU) system regulating migration was symbolically accompanied by a significant move by the German Interior Ministry. As the meeting of EU interior ministers began in Copenhagen, where one of the main issues was the expulsion of foreigners who do not have the right to reside in the EU, another charter plane with deported migrants took off from Leipzig. This time for Iraq.
Last week, when German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrint (CSU) hosted colleagues from neighboring countries to discuss migration, a charter flight also took off from Leipzig, but this time to Afghanistan. The departure times of the two planes were certainly not chosen by chance. After all, the message from both meetings is: The European Union must do something about illegal migration, and one of the most important elements of that policy is to increase the number of expulsions, that is, those who do not have the right to stay in the EU.
Increase the number of expulsions
The host of the Copenhagen meeting, one of the first major gatherings under the Danish presidency of the European Union, Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration Kare Dibvad Bek, is very clear when it comes to asylum and the European Union.
"The EU asylum system is not working. Half of the applications are rejected, and only one in four of those rejected actually leaves the EU. We need to change that and that's why we need to find a solution," said Dibvad Bek. After the meeting, he explained that looking for partners outside the European Union would be one of the priorities of the Danish presidency of the Union.
Finding countries that would agree to receive the deportees is clearly the biggest obstacle to achieving the goal of increased deportations. However, German Minister Dobrint says: "Our impression is that there are countries outside the European Union that could be partners for organizing 'Return Hubs' and we want to make this goal concrete and achieve it together, within the EU."
What the German minister wants is more pressure when it comes to deportations, finding partners in third countries to which those who do not have the right to stay should be expelled, as well as fighting people smugglers.
There is unity, but not everyone has to be "in favor"
Dobrint believes that such an agreement does not have to be reached at the level of all European Union members, but could be "a group of countries" working on it.
These countries obviously include Croatia, whose Interior Minister Davor Božinović made it clear in Copenhagen that "a solution needs to be found" so that those who are not allowed to remain in the EU can, if necessary, be expelled to countries with which they have no ties.
Božinović, he said, is keen to spare numerous migrants in the future the long journey and exposure to criminal gangs. "That's why I think 'hubs' outside the European Union would be a good solution," the Croatian minister concluded.
Money is not a problem.
The European Commission also cares about the implementation of reforms, confirmed the EU's Home Affairs Commissioner, Austrian Magnus Bruner. He said that the Commission will do everything to find funds for the reform.
"We have prepared 12 billion for migration management, 15,4 billion for border protection, and that doesn't even include the 12 billion we have allocated for Frontex. These sums show that migration is at the top of the European Union's priorities," Bruner concluded.
He did not, however, answer a journalist's question about how many people they plan to expel from the EU in the coming period: "Anything more than what is happening now, any increase in that number can be considered a success," Bruner said.
"Innovative solutions"
The Commissioner also addressed a journalist's remark that now suddenly - as was also seen at the previous meeting in Germany - there is relative agreement that migration policy should be fundamentally changed.
"All member states agree on this issue. Of course, there are some details that not everyone agrees on, but in principle we are in agreement. This gives me hope that we will have a solution by the end of the process, because citizens expect it from us," Bruner said.
The magic word that dominated the Copenhagen meeting was "innovative solutions". That is, solutions such as expulsions to countries that have nothing to do with those being expelled. Which countries are we talking about – no one in Copenhagen said that. Libya has been mentioned for a long time, but also Uganda, with which the Netherlands is allegedly already negotiating bilaterally.
Denmark: Angela Merkel's "We will succeed" did no good to anyone
The host country, Denmark, has been implementing one of the most restrictive policies towards migrants for years. And while its EU partners once ignored it, the Danish approach now seems to be a lifesaver for most in the Union. "We have been talking about this for years and no one has listened to us. But now there is a great deal of consensus," said Dibvad Beck.
The Danish minister praised the current German initiative by Minister Dobrint, but did not forget to criticize German policy so far: "I think that 'We will make it' has not brought anyone anything good on the European continent," concluded the Danish minister, recalling the statement "We will make it" (Wir schaffen das) by former Chancellor Angela Merkel at the beginning of the refugee crisis.
That Denmark has long had a different approach to the problem of irregular migration was also evident in the speech of the Danish Minister of Justice, Social Democrat Peter Humelgaard. He called crime related to illegal border crossings a "cancer" of the European Union. Such language has rarely been used by members of center-left parties.
Meanwhile, some countries, such as Greece, are already resorting to drastic measures. As Interior Minister Anastanasios Plevris explained in Copenhagen, Athens is preparing a law that would punish anyone whose asylum application has been rejected and who has not left the country with a prison sentence of two to five years.
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