Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called on the European Union to significantly strengthen its migration policy. He proposed introducing a special “emergency regime” for situations of mass migratory pressure, like the recent events in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta.
In an article published in Politico, Mitsotakis stressed that migration is increasingly being used as a tool of geopolitical pressure. As examples, he cited the events in Ceuta, the mass influx of migrants at Greece’s Evros river border in 2020, and the hybrid attacks on the borders of Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia from Belarus in 2021.
According to the Greek leader, the recently adopted EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is insufficient. Existing tools are designed for “manageable” situations, whereas under conditions of extreme and disproportionate pressure, standard asylum and reception procedures become practically unfeasible.
Mitsotakis proposed creating a dedicated European mechanism. Under the emergency regime, member states would be able to temporarily suspend the acceptance of asylum applications from newly arrived persons and swiftly return those who are not entitled to remain in the EU. All actions would still have to fully comply with the European Union’s legal obligations. Immediate financial and technical assistance from the EU would also be provided.
The Greek prime minister noted that mass arrivals erode public trust and place a strain on the Schengen area. He urged Europe to acknowledge that in some cases migration has become an instrument of hybrid pressure by state and non-state actors.