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Leaders of the European Union (EU) member states gathered in Granada, Spain to discuss the migration and role of the EU. This declaration was about to shape “the Union's general political directions and priorities for the years to come, setting a strategic course of action to shape our common future for the benefit of all” – as defined in the declaration.

 Even though the EU Council already discussed this topic and President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen optimistically said that the New Pact is on its way, this time it came across divisions among Hungary and Poland. Prime minister of Hungary Viktor Orban and prime minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki joined forces once again strongly oppose the proposal that migrants arriving in member states on the periphery of the Union, such as Italy and Greece, be moved to other member states of the Union. 

Orban even said it is politically impossible to reach an agreement on migration for the coming years and commented “legally we are, how to say it, we are raped”. 

This statement made Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, to publish a statement saying that “the declaration on migration is broadly supported and contains what was contributed by myself and the (European) Commission on the external dimension of migration”. 

The topic of migration should be more on our agenda, especially if we take into consideration that there has been a notable increase in migrants arriving in the past few months and with all the new potential member states joining from the south, it is one of the burning questions for Europe. 

➡ This article was written as part of our participation in the Questioning Migrations program, which is a project under Key Action 2 and co-funded by Erasmus+ from the European Union. The program involves collaboration between the organisations Hellenic Youth Participation (GR), E-graine (FR), Babele odv (IT), SOS Racismo (ES), and Coconut Work Luxembourg (LUX).