EU countries agree to tighten asylum policy
The EU wants to introduce standardised asylum rules for all member states. The bloc's interior ministers have now agreed on a simplified process for rejecting asylum applications and a common list of 'safe countries' to speed up deportations. In addition, there are plans for 'relocations' within the EU and the possibility of setting up 'return hubs' in 'safe third countries'. The press response is divided.
Acceptable level of migration needed
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung regards the decisions as long overdue:
“Anyone who claims this is intended to 'seal off' all immigration has misunderstood the aim of this policy. It will be easier to justify and integrate regular immigration if there is less irregular immigration. That is the aim: to reduce the excess to an acceptable level. While the EU interior ministers are now setting the tone, they did not create the situation that made this necessary; rather, it is due to an interpretation of refugee law that seeks to appease everyone.”
Controlled recruitment instead of risky migration
Pravda breathes a sigh of relief:
“Under the pact, which comes into force in June 2026, migration will finally be brought under control. Repatriation centres for asylum seekers will be set up outside the EU. ... This is a warning signal for migrants. Is it really still worth risking your life on a dangerous journey that in many cases costs you all your possessions, which then end up in the pockets of criminal gangs? Migration cannot be stopped; it is a human need. And Europe undoubtedly needs workers. It just requires a smart and targeted approach. And the 'adepts' in question will be happier if they no longer have to risk their lives but can obtain a work permit through legal channels.”
Out of sight, out of mind?
The Süddeutsche Zeitung considers whether the new regulation is really what society is striving for:
“In theory, European policy is moving closer to what many voters want: dealing with the asylum problem once and for all. But is it really possible: out of sight, out of mind? The German government would have to send people who have risked their lives fleeing to Europe in the hope of finding safety and a better life to another country, probably in Africa. The question is whether German society really wants such hard-heartedness.”
Welcome to the police state
The EU is turning into an inhumane machine, La Stampa rages:
“Can you hear it? The sound of the police pounding on the doors of houses, reception centres, dormitories and emergency shelters? This is the power that the EU Council has given to European police forces with its new regulation on returns, or rather deportations. ... The core aim of the reform is to deport more people, more quickly and further away. ... The EU is now using the language of mistrust: interoperable databases, automatic alerts, European repatriation orders. This is not just about administrative efficiency: it is a transition to a technocratic police state in which control takes precedence over law and order.”
An unsubstantiated threat
Avvenire contradicts the replacement narrative cultivated by far-right parties:
“This bleak vision of the future can be refuted. First, the figures: only around 38 million of the EU's 450 million inhabitants are immigrants, 13 million of whom are citizens of other EU countries. We are well below 10 percent. ... Even if one wanted to see this as a problem, it can hardly be described as posing a threat to European civilisation. ... No constitutive element of the European institutional framework or its traditions has been disrupted by immigration. ... None of the major cultural changes can be attributed to immigrants.”