EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson has announced that 13 EU countries are ready for the relocation of migrants, with over 8,000 relocations already agreed upon and others ready to provide financial aid. She said that this was a positive result.
The EU's 27 interior ministers and EU Commissioner for Home Affairs met in Prague on Monday (July 11) to take stock of the EU immigration pact, a voluntary pact proposed two years ago.
Thirteen countries in the bloc have reportedly said they are willing to begin with the voluntary relocations immediately foreseen by the pact's solidarity mechanism. Over 8,000 relocations were agreed upon; and other states have announced they are willing to provide financial aid.
EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson called it a positive result of the pact. The idea, Johansson said, is to try out the voluntary solidarity mechanism and then take stock of the situation on the basis of the results in order to reform EU immigration regulations.
Detailing the timeline was Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who said that the 6-month presidency of Spain in 2023 will be the 'bridge' towards the end of the mandate of the European Parliament and a good time to approve future regulations.
EU support hub in Moldova
The ministers also discussed arms trafficking in light of recent developments in Ukraine. "We already have indications of this sort, in addition to the experience in Yugoslavia," said Johansson. In this context, a new EU support hub has been created for internal security and border management in Moldava.
The commissioner said that the hub would "enhance our joint operational action with Moldova to address the challenges posed by organised crime, including the trafficking of firearms or trafficking in human beings."
It will reportedly include Europol for the sharing of information and analysis, Frontex for the fight against arms trafficking, and the EU mission for border assistance EUBAM for the fight against human trafficking.
SOURCE: InfoMigrants
