Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta call on the EU to step up cooperation with countries of origin and transit of migrants

Family photo from the MED5 Group Summit

In a joint declaration adopted after the MED5 summit, the five Mediterranean countries called for ensuring the full implementation of agreements already signed with third countries, under the understanding that there is "considerable room for improvement" to ensure that cooperation leads to "orderly and safe migration".

The meeting, the seventh held face-to-face since the creation of the group in 2021 and the second organised in Spain, was attended by the Spanish Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, his counterparts from Italy and Malta, Matteo Piantedosi and Byron Camilleri, respectively, the Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum, Dimitris Kairidis, and the Director of the Cyprus Asylum Service, Andreas Georgiades.

"We are absolutely convinced that the key to migration management lies in cooperation, both bilaterally and by the EU as a whole, with the countries of origin and transit of migrants," said Grande-Marlaska at the press conference following the meeting. "This is the policy we have applied in Spain and that we have been promoting from this Mediterranean forum in the EU," he added.

The joint statement also called for improved funding to cover all the procedures foreseen in the migration pact, "from prevention at the source of illegal flows to solidarity measures", including infrastructure, equipment, personnel and training. "The EU must increase European funding and flexible financing instruments for cooperation," insisted Grande-Marlaska.

In the text approved this Saturday, the ministers also called for the greater involvement of European agencies in prevention in the countries of origin, "paying special attention to Frontex, which can contribute enormously to the fight at source against the mafia groups that traffic people and take advantage of the vulnerability and desperation of thousands of people", the Spanish minister specified.

Full commitment to the new European migration pact

The five countries, meeting for the first time following the adoption of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, expressed their "full commitment" to the "effective and efficient" implementation of the agreement. They recognised the importance of the new legal framework, based on the principles of "shared responsibility and tangible and effective solidarity", the very principles the MED5 has defended throughout the negotiation process, as the minister recalled during his speech.

"It is a historic pact, coming after decades of discrepancies and providing us for the first time with a single, common and effective legislative framework, aimed at the management of orderly and regular immigration", declared Grande-Marlaska. The minister also underlined the agreement's commitment "to the values of the EU, to international law and to the protection of human rights and the right to asylum".

The Spanish Minister for Home Affairs drew attention to the choice of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria as the venue for this summit of Mediterranean countries, which for the first time is being held on the Atlantic coast. "The chosen place is a clear message of support for the Canary Islands, for its constant efforts in terms of the migratory challenge and for the solidarity it has shown in times of great difficulty", he pointed out, recalling that this determined commitment "involves Spain, the Mediterranean countries and the EU".

Non official translation