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The clash between France and Italy over immigrants, the meeting of EU interior ministers

2022-11-25 20:44:19Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The clash between France and Italy over immigrants, the meeting of EU interior
Ship with immigrants

EU interior ministers gathered in an emergency meeting on Friday to try to ease tensions over illegal migration, as the fate of migrants entering Europe via the Mediterranean fueled fierce debate between Paris and Rome.

The issue of who should take responsibility for those who arrive in the wealthy European bloc in small boats to escape poverty or war has long plagued relations within the bloc.

This issue was revived in November after the clash between Paris and Rome after France accepted on its shores the "Ocean Viking" ship that had rescued 234 migrants on the Mediterranean, a ship that Italy had turned back.

"We cannot and should not handle crises one by one, from one ship to another, incident by incident. We need a single framework based on EU law," European Commissioner Margaritis Schinas said after arriving at the meeting, urging member states to adopt new migration legislation that works across the European bloc.

Ahead of the talks, the EU's Executive Commission set out a 20-point action plan designed to tackle rising migration in the central Mediterranean.

One of the points of the plan was to strengthen cooperation with third countries, including steps to prevent departures from North Africa.

The plan also aims for greater EU coordination on search and rescue, including coordination between coastal states and countries of origin of ships rescuing migrants.

Over 90,000 migrants and refugees have arrived this year in the bloc of 27 European countries through the central Mediterranean route. One of the routes used was that from North Africa to Italy or Malta, which marked an increase of 50% from 2021.

"Only as Europeans can we tackle these very difficult issues of irregular immigration," said French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who had called for the emergency meeting after calling Italy "selfish" for not allowing the Ocean Viking ” to anchor on its shores.

With immigration raising domestic tensions in both France and Italy, Mr Darmanin said at the time that France would no longer accept around 3,000 migrants who had arrived in Italy and whom Paris had previously pledged to accept.

He said Friday that the position will not change unless everyone agrees to do more for immigrants.

Southern EU countries, including Italy, Spain and Greece, where most migrants arrive, say there is too much pressure on them and northern EU states are not helping them enough.

"The issue of irregular immigration is not only for the countries of arrival, but for the whole EU," said Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

While most of the attention is on the arrival of migrants from the Mediterranean, illegal entries into the EU through the Western Balkans have also seen an increase and EC Vice President Schinas said the EC will also prepare proposals on this front.

"In particular, we are planning to present another action plan for the Western Balkans road, which will be ready and on the table before the summit of the EU and the Balkan leaders to be held in Tirana", said the EC vice president -'s, Schinas.

Migrants come to Serbia from North Macedonia and Bulgaria before trying to cross into European Union member states Hungary and Croatia.

Most migrants passing through the Balkans come from Afghanistan and Syria, while others come from countries in the Middle East, Africa or Asia. Serbia, Hungary and Austria have recently announced a joint effort to curb migration across the region.

The EU's border agency, Frontex, says migration routes through the Western Balkans have been the most active, with more than 22,000 border stops there in October alone, nearly three times the number in the same month in 2021.


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