FROM THE ENvoy IN BRUSSELS. Roberta Metsola immediately glimpsed the risk: “The agreement on the migration and asylum pact must arrive before the European elections to prevent the issue from being exploited in the electoral campaign”. Time is running out and the agreement signed between the governments must be negotiated with the European Parliament. But the reality is that some countries are already in rally mode. Poland, for example, whose prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki last night forced his colleagues to work overtime by threatening to veto the conclusions. The summit closed shortly after 1 in the morning without an agreement on the immigration chapter precisely because of the resistance from Poland and Hungary. Leaders will return to discuss this today.
Warsaw opposes the agreement reached by the EU interior ministers on the new system which provides for the obligation to pay 20,000 euros per migrant for those who refuse to welcome them. “Unacceptable. We will hold a referendum.” And he brought a counter-proposal to the table. “Europe of borders”: this is the name of the plan drawn up by the conservative prime minister. And what does it predict? “No to illegal immigration, no to the imposition of fines or various sanctions” for those who refuse to participate in the redistribution.
A clear “no” to the solidarity instruments introduced precisely to meet first port countries such as Italy. “We have excellent relations with the Italian prime minister”, he tried to put his hands on the conservative prime minister referring to the ally. But in the Europe of nations everyone has their own interests. So if Italy asks for solidarity with its European partners to manage the flows, Poland closes its doors in the name of “security”. “We know very well what solidarity is – Morawiecki blurted out – and we don’t need to be taught it. We have taken in over three million refugees. One and a half million are still in our country, we have opened our homes”.
This is why he asked to reopen the agreement signed on the Migration and Asylum Pact. An agreement considered “illegal” because it was reached with a qualified majority, with the opposite vote of Poland and Hungary (and the abstention of four other countries). The Polish delegation, supported by the Hungarian one led by Viktor Orban, insisted on asking to “return to unanimity” on decisions relating to asylum and immigration policies, in the light of the conclusions adopted during the European summits “of December 2016, June 2018 and June 2019”.
The survey: four out of ten in favor of the Mes, landings are not among the emergencies alessandra ghisleri June 29 2023
Czech premier Petr Fiala, another member of the conservative trio at the European Council, has tried to propose a compromise through “innovative solutions”. Prague wants asylum applications to be processed in third countries, outside the EU borders, and supports the Italian idea of ”accelerated repatriations to transit states”. However, a solution that comes from an agreement with Tunisia, even if at the moment the EU has not yet managed to sign the memorandum of understanding with Tunis which provides for financial assistance, conditional on the agreement with the International Monetary Fund, and a 100 million euro aid plan to manage migratory flows. The signing was scheduled for Tuesday, but Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi was forced to postpone his visit to Tunis. Maybe he’ll try again on Monday.
Among the obstacles is certainly the intransigence of President Kais Saied, but also the doubts of some EU countries. Above all Germany, which has raised questions relating to the lack of respect for human rights. Also for this reason, Berlin does not intend to let go of the issue of rescues at sea, especially in the light of the tragedies of Cutro and off Pylos. “We all have a responsibility to ensure that people in distress do not drown – Scholz recalled -. This has always been my position, but also that of the European Union. The great task that awaits us is to take our humanitarian obligations very seriously and to assume our responsibilities towards others”. Scholz did not point the finger at any of his colleagues in particular, even if his message seemed not too indirect a message to the governments of Italy and Greece.