The extreme right, the melonization of the immigration debate, advances and prevails in the European Union. Shortly before the official summit of the Twenty-Seven, a mini-summit of leaders from several community partners, led by the Italian Giorgia Meloni, and with the participation of countries of diverse political color and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, made it clear this Thursday in Brussels that the extreme right is leading the debate about the deportations of asylum seekers and that he wants to stage it. The Union is moving towards an increasingly armored model, which includes for the first time the opening of centers outside community territory to expel those who want to reach the EU, like the one the Italian leader has opened in Albania.
The intention of the extreme right is clear: to set the tone in the debate on an issue that will dominate the agenda in the coming months and that is already divisive.
Although irregular arrivals of asylum seekers to the EU have been reduced in recent months, immigration marks all discussions. National and European. And in the mini-summit organized by Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands, and which also included the leaders of Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, these 11 countries somehow pre-prepared their position for the meeting to 27. They hope to repeat the format, even with more participants, before the next meeting of heads of State and Government in December, say diplomatic sources.
The far-right Meloni, who after the European elections in June had left isolated from the decision-making process on the high positions of the European leadership, agreed upon by the popular, socialists and liberals, now sticks out his chest and rides the populist wave against immigration and tries to recover political capital in Europe. In reality, the substance of his messages is not too different from that of the Hungarian national populist Viktor Orbán, but the packaging is less sonorous.
On the other side of this current, already in a formal summit with all European leaders in which immigration has focused the discussions, the Spanish Pedro Sánchez has faced the concept of deportation centers and has spoken of favoring regular immigration. The Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, has stated along the same lines, for whom these expulsion camps are not a “magic solution,” diplomatic sources point out.
Other leaders have also expressed doubts about the deportation center model, but they are mainly logistical and economic. “If we look at the figures, (non-EU deportation centers) are not really the solution for a country as large as Germany,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pragmatically. Meanwhile, the Greek Prime Minister, the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has been open to the idea, but is very skeptical. He has insisted that they do not seem to be the solution to the European migration challenge. Like most leaders, he believes that more clarity is still needed in this specific debate, which has been discussed in a very collateral way at the summit.
As a conclusion to the meeting, the leaders urged Von der Leyen this Thursday to work on a modification of the regulation on deportations to toughen it — where the German believes the concept of deportation centers at the European level can fit. They have also agreed to continue deepening the path of agreements with countries outside the EU to stop arrivals, such as those that have been signed with Egypt, Mauritania or Tunisia. “In addition, new ways to prevent and counter irregular immigration must be considered, in line with European and international law,” the summit conclusions say. There is, and was not expected, therefore, any mention of the controversial expulsion camps – a red line for Spain – nor of those innovative solutions, the euphemism behind which this idea is hidden in Brussels.
“New winds are blowing in Europe,” launched the Dutch far-right Geert Wilders, whose party heads the coalition government in the Netherlands. That’s how it is. It is not just that the idea of opening deportation camps outside the EU is gaining weight among member states. In fact, it has been led by Denmark, governed by the social democrat Mette Frederiksen, in coalition. The debate goes further, so much so that Poland and Finland are already questioning the right to asylum to confront what they consider an attempt to destabilize Russia by sending migrants from its territory or Belarus. In fact, leaders have agreed that “exceptional situations” require “appropriate measures,” in response to the particular reality of Warsaw and the instrumentalization of immigration.
And more: a group of countries, led again by the ultra Meloni, advocate reviewing relations with Bashar al-Assad’s Syria broken since 2012. A maneuver that would open the door to declaring parts of that country, or even all of its territory, safe zones, which would facilitate the return of Syrians who fled the civil war. The underlying debate is to rethink the concept of a “safe third country” and reform the list of those States to guarantee more deportations there or open the door to pacts with their leaders, diplomatic sources say.
The head of the community Executive, Von der Leyen, plans to review this concept of a safe country. “There are migrants who need protection, we are perfectly aware of this, but it is not necessary that this protection be in Europe but rather it can be in safe third countries,” said the German in a press conference after the summit, in which she stressed that the debate on deportation camps is not “simple” and that it is still very open.
The conservative, who at the beginning of her first term had been perceived as very close to social democratic or more social positions, has thus begun to follow the path marked by her political family, the European People’s Party, which in turn is being dragged by the extreme right. The traditional right has leaned in and also supports the expulsion centers.
“Now we are talking about things that were previously taboo,” said the Czech Prime Minister, the conservative Petr Fiala, in Brussels. “The return policy does not work, the number of people without the right to stay in the EU deported is only 20%; “That has to change,” he stressed.
