Published 06.15
We will fix it, said Angela Merkel and opened for hundreds of thousands in the refugee crisis Europe.
Ten years later, completely different winds are blowing.
“Too many foreigners in Europe”, according to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
The Dane’s words must have been expressed behind closed doors at the EU leaders’ latest summit in Brussels, but have nevertheless quickly leaked out, including to the French conservative magazine Le Point.
They came after she and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni got 17 other EU countries with them on a letter urging the European Commission not only to help the EU countries set up camps for deportees outside Europe, but also to contribute financially.
Frederiksen also followed up in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper.
– Are we solving the problem of mass migration within or outside Europe? Now, for the first time, we believe that it should take place outside. That is the biggest change, said the Dane.
Uzbekistan and Uganda?
The deportation camps – known as return hubs in EU language – have been approved by both the EU countries and the EU Parliament. Now only a final formal go-ahead from the Council of Ministers awaits before one or a few member states can sign a first agreement with a suitable country outside the EU to test whether it works.
Uzbekistan, Rwanda and Uganda are mentioned in the context, according to information to the news site Politico Europe. It will hardly happen without criticism. The three countries are politically best known for authoritarian rule, suppressed opposition and questionable credentials on the human rights side.
Mette Frederiksen is already talking about going ahead with managing asylum outside the EU as well. The supporters behind the idea point out that in that case refugees and migrants will not have to risk their lives in life-threatening small boats, in the hands of unscrupulous people smugglers.
Criticism of Spain
The political upheaval in the EU is almost complete. When previously a clear majority of the countries were on the same side as German Chancellor Merkel, it is now instead the supporters of her line who are in the minority and are criticized.
Not least this applies to Spain, whose Prime Minister Pédro Sanchez is banned for his amnesty to hundreds of thousands who arrived in the country without permission.
– Many countries are very concerned about this. We are doing everything we can to reduce the migration pressure on Europe. . . That a country in that situation does exactly the opposite also increases the risks for other countries, said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M), for example, at his press conference after the EU summit on Midsummer Eve.
EU camps for deportees
In March 2025, the European Commission presented its proposal for a new Return Regulation to replace the Return Directive from 2008.
The regulation includes an opening for centers in countries outside the EU where people who have not been granted the right to stay in the EU can be taken while waiting to be deported to their home countries. The centers – known as return hubs in EU language – are only meant for people who have already had their asylum application rejected or been deported for other reasons.
The EU member states and the EU Parliament agreed at the beginning of June on the details. The regulation will then come into force when the last formal go-ahead has been given by the Council of Ministers, tentatively, however, only this autumn.
