The Dutch are calling on the European Union to temporarily suspend visa benefits as part of efforts to compel countries to deport migrants who do not meet EU requirements. EU justice and home affairs ministers are set to meet in Sweden today to discuss rising irregular migration to the bloc.
Copenhagen has halted talks with Rwanda over its controversial asylum plan as it calls for Europe-wide support in establishing a migrant reception center outside of the EU where it can transfer people applying for asylum.
Austria's chancellor has said he would lobby the European Union for €2 billion in funding for Bulgaria to strengthen its border with Turkey. Despite pushback, Bulgaria's president says he's hopeful his country would join the Schengen group of countries in the foreseeable future.
Greece has announced a further extension of its border fence with Turkey, aimed at stopping migrants. The government also repeated a call for Europe to show "solidarity and a fair sharing of duties."
Almost half of the 2022 irregular border crossings were made overland through the Western Balkans region, EU border agency Frontex said. The preliminary figures do not include Ukrainian refugees.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on January 11 issued a statement urging Sweden’s rotating presidency of the European Union to safeguard those who are forced to flee their home countries.
The foreign ministers of Hungary and Serbia, Peter Szijjarto and Ivica Dacic, have met in Budapest to discuss ways to work together against new migrant flows.
Serbia's increasingly restrictive border policies are having an overall impact on the Balkan migration route. Austrian authorities say they have noted a significant drop of about 70% of people being intercepted while trying to enter the country using irregular means since mid-December.
Bulgaria has detained 70 people suspected of having entered the country as migrants using irregular means. Some had to be rushed to hospital having suffered exhaustion, according to regional police forces.
Croatia will join the unrestricted movement arrangement from January 1. However, an EU official confirmed the bids from Bulgaria and Romania to join the Schengen Area have been blocked.
Sweden takes over the rotating EU Presidency at the beginning of the new year. After a new government took power in October promising to get tougher on immigration, could those attitudes spill over into European policy next year?
Italian President Sergio Mattarella has attended the opening ceremony of the Rome MED Dialogue over the weekend, urging Europe to make its voice heard on its "southern front".