EU leaders failed to reach a consensus at a European summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday on European asylum policy due to Poland and Hungary’s opposition to redistributing migrants, so the summit ended without a final statement. referring to plans to reform the European asylum system.

The European Pact on Migration and Asylum was an important topic on the agenda of the European Summit after the agreement on the review of the European asylum policy was adopted by a qualified majority of EU states in the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JAI). at the beginning of the month. The agreement tightens rules on the right to asylum, but also provides for mandatory refugee quotas for member states or, alternatively, a contribution of around 20,000 euros for each rejected migrant, DPA and ANSA said on Friday. over Agerpres.

Poland, which along with Hungary voted against the agreement, called this contribution effectively a fine and threatened to block the application of this new mechanism for the redistribution of refugees in all ways, including looking for allies among the EU states, which, although they voted for the agreement in the JAI Council, they have reservations regarding this approach.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose country is at the forefront of landing migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Africa, had a meeting on the sidelines of the summit with Polish and Hungarian Prime Ministers Mateusz Morawiecki and Viktor Orbán, but apparently the discussion did not allowed to break the deadlock caused by the objections of the last two regarding refugee quotas and the imposition of financial contributions to states that refuse to accept migrants through a new resettlement mechanism proposed by the European Commission.

Objections were formulated by Poland and Hungary

Therefore, the final declaration of the summit does not contain specific commitments regarding the EU asylum policy. Noting that “migration is a European problem that requires a European response,” the statement elaborates on the objections formulated by Poland and Hungary. These countries, the conclusions state, believe that “it is necessary to find a consensus on an effective migration and asylum policy in which, in the context of solidarity measures, resettlement should be carried out on a voluntary basis (…) and not serve as a potential factor in encouraging illegal migration “.

The statement expressed “the deep sense of sadness expressed by the European Council after the loss of life” while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, and mentioned that EU countries remain “committed to combating the business model of human traffickers” as well as “addressing the root cause of illegal migration, to better manage migrant flows and prevent them from embarking on dangerous journeys.”

European Council President Charles Michel, who presented the findings, said at a post-summit press conference that Poland and Hungary “do not approve of the pact (on migration) and the decision-making process” regarding the pact, decisions taken by the EU Council through a qualified majority procedure. and not by consensus, reports EFE. Thus, Michel emphasized that there is an “overwhelming majority” of governments in the EU that support the European Pact on Migration and Asylum in the form proposed by the European Commission.