European interior ministers are currently debating exceptions to asylum procedures, particularly focusing on situations where massive migration movements are intentionally created and employed as political leverage. According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper’s Tuesday edition, this discussion stems from a confidential contingency plan that was part of the Munich Migration Summit last Saturday, an event organized by German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) for EU colleagues.
The plan suggests that restricting access to asylum applications could be a viable response to external pressure situations that are deliberately instigated. This proposal aligns with a push from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who announced on September 16 that she was introducing a “new emergency framework for exceptional situations at EU borders.” This framework is specifically targeted at scenarios where migratory movements are being “deliberately created and used as a weapon.”
The “Bild” newspaper further reports that Dobrindt and his counterparts are now aiming to clearly define these “exceptional situations at the external borders.” In the event of such a crisis, the agreement could enable “robust” push-backs at the frontiers.
This issue is expected to be addressed by European institutions in the near future. Furthermore, key steps are scheduled: interior and justice ministers will gather in Luxembourg in early October, followed two weeks later by the meeting of Heads of State and Government at the EU summit in Brussels.
