The European Union faces "no burning crisis" right now over migrant arrivals, but more people from Africa are trying to enter Europe through Spain from Morocco, the head of the EU's border and coast guard agency said Wednesday.
The EU has been plunged into a severe political crisis due to differences over how to handle the arrival of people seeking sanctuary or jobs. It was sparked by the entry of well over a million migrants — many fleeing conflict in Syria and Iraq — in 2015. Greece and Italy were overwhelmed by the large number of arrivals, while their EU partners balked at sharing the load.
"Right now, we are not in the middle of a migration crisis at the external borders but, of course, we do see that there is still a pressure," Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri told reporters in Brussels.
FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 21, 2018 file photo, a baby is loaded into the rescue vessel of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, after being rescued in the Central Mediterranean Sea at 45 miles (72 kilometers) from Al Khums, Libya. Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri said Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019 that there is "no burning crisis" right now in Europe due to migrant arrivals, but that more and more African people are trying to enter Spain from Morocco. (AP PhotoOlmo Calvo, File)
Leggeri said that unauthorized migrant crossings of the Mediterranean Sea dropped by more than a quarter last year, to 150,000 arrivals. The number of people leaving Libya and Tunisia on the central Mediterranean route for Europe plunged by 80 percent in 2018, to around 23,500 arrivals, Leggeri said.
To ensure that nations can cope with any repeat of 2015, the EU's executive body, the European Commission, has encouraged the 28 member countries to adopt permanent refugee quotas, but the move has been rejected, notably in Eastern Europe.
The EU faces relatively few migrant arrivals compared to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. But the focus on migration — seen as a sure-fire vote winner for populists in the east — is increasing in the run up to EU-wide elections on May 23-26. The Hungarian government — which erected razor-wire fences in 2015 to keep migrants out — is funding election campaign posters that slam the Commission and "Brussels' plans to encourage immigration." The Commission rejects the campaign as "ludicrous" and "fake news."
FILE - In this Dec. 28, 2018 file photo, a migrant looks out as he approaches the port of Crinavis, in Algeciras, Spain, after being rescued in the Central Mediterranean Sea. Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri said Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019 that there is "no burning crisis" right now in Europe due to migrant arrivals, but that more and more African people are trying to enter Spain from Morocco. (AP PhotoOlmo Calvo, File)
The reality, according to Frontex figures, is that entries into Greece have slowed to a comparative trickle since the EU agreed to pay Turkey billions in refugee support money to encourage the Turkish coast guard to stop migrants from leaving. Arrivals through the central Mediterranean are now at their lowest levels since 2012, well before Europe's "crisis."
Most pressure is much further west. Unauthorized migrant entries into Spain rose by 160 percent, to 57,000 crossings, last year.
"It's in fact, in absolute figures, the route number one to the European Union in terms of illegal crossings," Leggeri said. "Morocco is the main departure point to Europe on that route."
Many of those crossing are Moroccans. Frontex reports that more Moroccans now arrive than Iraqis or Afghans, but that Syrian nationals are still entering in the biggest numbers. The number of Turkish citizens fleeing their country tripled in 2018, to more than 7,900, with most crossing the land border into Greece.
Despite the claims of migrant strain in Italy, Greece and elsewhere, only around 148,000 migrants not eligible to stay in Europe were actually sent back home last year, little more than half the number of return decisions, according to Frontex.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A top European Union military officer said that a frigate that’s part of an EU mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels on Thursday morning.
Austrian Gen. Robert Brieger, who is chair of the EU’s military committee, said that it would be crucial for the bloc to “conserve resources” over the long haul because the threat posed by Houthi attacks “will not disappear” due to its connection to the Israel-Hamas war.
“The task given to the military is simply to protect merchant ships and to show the public that the European Union is not willing to accept a terrorist organization will interrupt the freedom of movement at sea,” Brieger said.
Brieger said that he’s asking EU members to provide the necessary resources to the EU mission dubbed Aspides — Greek for “shields.”
He said that it’s the first time that the EU has launched a naval operation in a hostile environment that's twice the size of the 27-nation bloc, calling it a “litmus test” that the bloc will pass successfully.
The commander of an EU naval mission in the Red Sea, Greek Rear Adm. Vasilios Gryparis, wants to significantly increase its size to better defend against possible attacks by Houthi rebels based in Yemen. Nineteen of the 27 EU nations are involved in the mission, but only four frigates are patrolling an area twice the size of the bloc.
The EU mission was established in February to defend civilian vessels and doesn't take part in any military strikes. The southern part of the Red Sea is deemed a high-risk zone.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which control much of Yemen’s north and west, launched a campaign of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in November. They have also fired missiles toward Israel, although those have largely fallen short or been intercepted.
The attacks have hit maritime trade to Egypt and Europe, with only around half the usual number of ships moving through the area. It’s added up to two weeks of transit time for vessels that want to avoid the Suez Canal, hiking transport costs and shipping insurance.
The rebels have described their campaign as an effort to pressure Israel to end the wear. The ships targeted by the Houthis, however, largely have had little or no connection to Israel, the U.S. or other nations involved in the war.
Their campaign has continued despite more than two months of U.S.-led retaliatory airstrikes.
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
