In Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Spain, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, and Malta gathered this Saturday to push for what they termed an immediate conclusion to negotiations on the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum. They also urged the European Commission to strengthen measures aimed at curbing irregular migration and to move with speed on practical, enforceable steps that can be trusted by communities across Europe.
The sixteenth edition of the Med5 summit produced a shared statement emphasizing the urgency for a robust and efficient system that can manage migration challenges while offering realistic, sustainable solutions. The ministers of interior or immigration from those five countries reaffirmed the need for concrete action to stabilize irregular flows and to improve protection and integration where possible.
Their joint declaration calls on the European Commission to negotiate strategic partnerships and mutually beneficial agreements with the migrants’ countries of origin and transit. It also stresses the importance of ensuring that existing agreements with non-EU states are carried through without delay, and that cooperation with these partners is aligned with the Union’s broader security and humanitarian objectives.
So far this year, data from the International Organization for Migration indicate that about 194,000 migrants and refugees arrived by sea to Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus. This figure marks a substantial rise from the same period last year, when arrivals stood at roughly 112,000, underscoring the scale and persistence of migratory pressures across the central and southern Mediterranean.
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska highlighted that Spain maintains solid cooperation with Morocco, yet noted recent developments in bilateral dynamics. The document also points to a pronounced rise in migration flows from Senegal toward the Canary Islands, signaling shifting routes and the need for adaptive responses to evolving patterns of movement.
Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, observed that a significant share of arrivals to Italy originate from Tunisia, a country that has increasingly become a transit point for West Africa and the Sahel. This reality adds complexity to screening, asylum processing, and repatriation efforts, while highlighting the importance of regional cooperation with North Africa and West Africa to manage routes and share responsibility.
The five Mediterranean partners reiterated in their declaration that preventing irregular migration and increasing the rate of legitimate repatriations must go hand in hand with safeguarding asylum rights. They stressed the need for precise criteria, timely decisions, and humane handling of those who are not eligible for protection, accompanied by effective reintegration options where feasible.
The conference followed a day after Poland and Hungary opposed the EU migration and asylum agreement, blocking the final declaration on migration that had support from most member states at an informal summit in Granada, southern Spain. The rift underscored the political sensitivities surrounding asylum policy and the varying national priorities across the Union.
On the preceding Wednesday, EU ministers reached a qualified majority agreement on the Crisis Directive, a long-disputed component of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum. While this marked progress, negotiations still require consent from the European Parliament to achieve a definitive, comprehensive package. Officials indicated that the immigration package has in principle been accepted and could take effect once all parliamentary approvals are secured, providing a framework for more unified handling of asylum procedures, border control, and return policies across member states, alongside mechanisms for managing irregular migration more efficiently.