EU talks migration as Italy and Germany worry over increased arrivals.

In light of Italy’s and Germany’s concerns over rising immigration and Berlin’s introduction of border restrictions within Europe’s zone of free travel, the European Union’s migration ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss how to manage migrants coming by sea.

The 27-nation union will discuss whether it should establish a deal with Egypt to stop additional people from setting sail from the southern coasts of the Mediterranean as the ministers attempt once more to achieve agreement on a long-stalled method to split out asylum seekers who reach Europe outside of normal border ports.

Critics claim a recent agreement of this kind with Tunisia is inadequate regarding human rights. Still, other agreements may be in the works as Rome expresses concern over Lampedusa arrivals surpassing those in 2022, the year Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy won national elections on an anti-immigration platform.

One senior EU ambassador stated, “There is a lot of unrest in (the) direct neighborhood of Europe.” “A majority at the table is likely to say “yes” when asked whether we should or shouldn’t have additional agreements of this nature.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser’s ability to broker a coalition agreement and deliver it to Brussels would allow Berlin to support the so-called “crisis mechanism” for dispersing refugees and migrants among the EU to prevent overcrowding in Italy and other countries of first entry.

After Germany observed a roughly 80% increase in asylum requests this year, Faeser ordered border checks with neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic on Wednesday. This announcement comes as the center-left ruling coalition faces a challenge from the far-right in municipal elections in Bavaria next month.

These restrictions within what ought to be the EU’s open travel zone underscore how managing individuals escaping violence and poverty in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia poses challenges to collaboration within the bloc.

Since more than a million migrants unexpectedly arrived on the southern borders of the EU in 2015, shocking the bloc and exceeding security and reception capacity in nations like Italy, the EU has pushed for stricter anti-immigration laws.

Since then, the 27 member states have found it difficult to modernize their common asylum and migration policies, including the “crisis mechanism,” particularly since they want to seem in charge to their constituents before a pan-EU legislative election in 2024.