Italy and Denmark are calling for the closure of European external borders if a new migration crisis were to arise because of the war in Iran. In a joint letter reported by the FAZ, Prime Ministers Giorgia Meloni and Mette Frederiksen urge the European Commission to “examine mechanisms that could serve as an emergency brake and be triggered as a force majeure in the event of large migration movements toward the Union”. The letter, sent on Wednesday evening, was discussed the next morning by a group of 14 heads of government in Brussels, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU).
The ministers warn that a repeat of the 2015‑16 exodus is unacceptable. “It would not only be a humanitarian catastrophe for those directly affected, but it would also endanger the Union’s security and cohesion” they write. They call for all available tools to be used – from humanitarian aid to border protection – to reduce such a risk. “This means further strengthening our borders so that all Member States are adequately equipped to ensure the EU maintains full control over its external borders” the letter adds.
As examples of potential border closures, Meloni and Frederiksen point to Greece’s actions against Turkey in early 2020 and Poland’s measures toward Belarus from late 2021. In both cases the governments shut their crossings, forcibly rejected entrants or returned them without assessing their protection claims, sending them back to their places of origin. The EU Commission, in late 2024, had indicated that Member States could, in extreme cases, refuse asylum seekers at the borders, but that provision was tied to “hybrid attacks” in which migration is weaponised.
