As soon as March the EU could formally propose the creation of ‘return hubs’ to accelerate the deportation of illegal immigrants from Europe, the Prime Minister of Sweden has said.
Speaking earlier today at a meeting in Vienna with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Sweden’s Ulf Kristersson said that there was currently “some momentum” in Europe behind the restriction of immigration into the continent.
In October, there were rumblings from EU officials that the bloc was considering a scheme wherein illegal immigrants within EU territory could be sent to hubs in designated safe countries outside the EU.
Kristersson said that he had discussed this idea with the EU Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, who told him that a proposal in this area would be put forward in spring 2025, which Kristersson said he interpreted to mean March.
He also praised Austria for agreeing with Sweden that illegal immigration was a subject that needed to be tackled, saying: “We share the desire to think outside the box now, not to settle and say things are complicated – these things are meant to be solved, not only discussed.”
Meanwhile, at the same press conference, Austrian Chancellor Nehammer lauded Kristersson for emphasising immigration and keeping it on the EU’s agenda, calling Sweden “an ally in the fight against illegal migration”. He further claimed that there were now 18 States within the European Schengen free travel area who were in agreement that the flow of immigration into Europe needed to be reduced.
He said that governments concerned about immigration had succeeded in managing to “completely change” the immigration conversation, so that now even countries with no external EU border like Austria were engaging with the issue.
“Only when we recognize that the problem must be solved together do we have a chance of making progress,” he said.
The meeting in question was to mark 30 years of EU membership for the two countries.