European Union member states have demanded Brussels investigate the possibility of introducing a Rwanda-style offshore processing centre for migrants, ahead of a major summit expected to be dominated by the asylum crisis.
The European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, was asked to put together a plan by interior ministers from each of the 27 member states, during a meeting in Luxembourg.
An EU diplomat told The Telegraph: “Offshore hubs were widely mentioned as the most feasible innovative solution currently on the table.
“So the Commission is now tasked to work on them. Quite a big step forward,” the source added, before noting that the hubs would be up for discussion during the leaders’ talk on Thursday and Friday.
This comes as Giorgia Meloni’s plan to handle the crisis is about to start in earnest. Italy’s Prime Minister secured a deal with Albania to process migrants there, and now the country’s first off-shore processing centre in the Balkan country is to open on Monday.
Earlier this year, the EU reformed its asylum policies, which saw increased border procedures and demanded refugees were shared across countries or pay €20,000 (£16,700) for each asylum seeker they reject.
And yet, the package, which will be brought in in June 2026, is too limited according to more than half of the EU’s 27 member states.
The move is a huge victory for Viktor Orban – a long-term backer of the UK’s Rwanda policy – who said “immigration hotspots” were “the only solution” and demanded the bloc boosted deportations during a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday.
“Any other solutions are an illusion,” the strongman Hungarian PM told MEPs in Strasbourg.
In a bizarre move, left-wing MEPs began singing the anti-fascist song Bella Ciao, which saw European Parliament president Roberta Metsola remind them: “This is not the Eurovision.”
