In view of the escalating situation in the Middle East, EU leaders said they do not want to be caught off guard by a potential migration crisis.
“We will not let there be a repeat of 2015,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said following a Thursday summit in Brussels, stressing that “so far, we have not seen migratory movements towards Europe, but we must be prepared.”

“We have learned the lessons of the past, and today we are better equipped,” Ms Von der Leyen added.
The topic of migration played a greater role at the summit in Brussels than originally anticipated, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for the EU to prepare for an uptick in migration amid the escalating situation in the Middle East.

In the mid-2010s, millions of people fled to Europe, particularly from Syria, which was in the throes of a civil war. In 2015 alone, well over 1 million people applied for asylum in the EU.
EU leaders said in a joint statement published at the end of Thursday’s summit that “the EU is ready to fully mobilise its diplomatic, legal, operational and financial tools to prevent uncontrolled migratory movements to the EU and preserve security in Europe”.

“We cannot risk a repeat of the refugee and migratory flows to the EU which we saw unfold in 2015-2016,” Frederiksen and Meloni had said in a Wednesday letter to the heads of the European Commission and European Council, and fellow leaders of EU countries.
Mses Frederiksen and Meloni called on the European Commission to examine mechanisms that could serve as an “emergency brake” in the event of large-scale migration.

Speaking on Danish television, Ms Frederiksen cited a rule allowing asylum seekers to be turned away at the border as a possible measure.
International organisations and the European Commission have said they currently see no signs of major refugee movements from the Middle East towards Europe.
However, the ongoing conflict has displaced millions of people in the region.

Mses Frederiksen and Meloni advocate providing more aid on the ground to prevent mass migration movements towards Europe.
“We can help more people better and more efficiently by providing support directly to their regions of origin,” they stated in their letter.
Ms Meloni is known for her tough stance against migration, while Ms Frederiksen is in the midst of an election campaign ahead of polls next week.

Denmark’s political parties have long tried to outdo one another with calls for an increasingly strict migration policy.
In June, tighter rules are due to take effect under the bloc’s common asylum system, known as CEAS.

The aim is to distribute asylum seekers between member states more equally and to process asylum procedures more quickly.
In addition, the EU has expanded its cooperation with several third countries in recent years in order to prevent unwanted migration.

(dpa/NAN)