It’s not all about Italy! 3 EU countries call for change to migration focus

Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria want more attention on eastern Mediterranean route.

The EU’s migration plans should focus on the eastern Mediterranean, not just Italy and Malta, three EU countries will say this week.

In a document, seen by POLITICO, that will be presented at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria complain that “in recent months the attention of EU Member States has been mainly focused on the Central Mediterranean, which has been thoroughly discussed at three ministerial meetings [in Helsinki, Paris and Valletta].”

They add that “the Eastern Mediterranean route was not properly addressed despite the fact that all relevant reports confirm the increasing, persisting trend of arrivals in this region.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, the interior ministers will discuss a deal reached last month by Germany, France, Italy and Malta for a voluntary temporary relocation mechanism for asylum seekers rescued in the Central Mediterranean. Those four countries would like other member states to sign up to the scheme they drew up in Malta, and see it as first step toward a more comprehensive EU migration pact.

While they don’t mention the Malta deal in their document, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria say the “latest figures verify that the biggest challenge Europe is faced with comes from the Eastern Mediterranean route.” They call for “an effective mechanism for relocation of persons arriving to front-line Member States along all migratory routes, when their capacity is either exhausted or overstretched.”

They quote figures from the European Commission and the European External Action Service showing that between August 19 and September 1 there were “1,369 [arrivals] through the Central Mediterranean route and 4,879 from the Eastern Mediterranean route. Similarly, between 2 and 9 September there were 736 arrivals through the Western Mediterranean/Atlantic route, 480 in the Central Mediterranean route and 2,707 through the Eastern Mediterranean route.”

Geopolitical factors, “including conflicts in the broader area, particularly in Syria, entail that we will most likely see a continuation of this alarming trend in the short to medium term,” they write, just as Turkey was given the green light by the U.S. to launch an offensive into northern Syria, which EU officials fear could further destabilize the region.

In March 2016 the EU reached a deal with Turkey to stem the flow of Syrian asylum seekers crossing into Europe, but the €6 billion envisaged in the deal has already been allocated and a discussion among the EU has started on further financing.

Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria stress that more money is needed as the deal with Turkey “is essential for managing effectively migratory flows towards the EU and its Member States, and in particular towards Turkey’s immediate neighbours.”

They add that the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean “should be given special attention when negotiating the relevant budget lines in the context of the next Multiannual Financial Framework [the EU’s long-term budget].”

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