An increasing number of countries view the influx of migrants as a threat to Europe’s security and identity. Berlin has implemented new border controls, and Spain’s prime minister has reached agreements with the leaders of African countries in an effort to stem the flow of people. Almost 140,000 illegal border crossings into the European Union took place during the first eight months of this year. As a result, some MPs are calling for the reinforcement of Frontex, the EU’s border and coastguard agency.
“People smuggling into the European Union is now the world’s biggest criminal enterprise. It’s time to put an end to this, so we’re going to propose a wider range of powers for Frontex, including enforcement powers,” says Jadwiga Wiśniewska, a member of the European Parliament from the Law and Justice party, in an interview with Newseria Biznes. “Currently, Frontex is in a very difficult situation because, under existing law, it’s more responsible for protecting the rights of illegal migrants than for protecting the EU from illegal migration,” she adds.
European policymakers increasingly regard the unprecedented influx of migrants as a threat to Europe’s security and identity. Berlin has introduced new controls at all terrestrial borders, a move that other countries have also implemented – eight Schengen zone countries currently carry out checks. Since 2015, EU member states have submitted around 400 notifications to reinstate border controls.
According to the German Ministry of the Interior, since October 16, 2023, federal police have recorded approximately 52,000 attempts at illegal border crossings and conducted nearly 30,000 deportations as part of temporary checks. However, lawmakers believe that Germany shutting its borders is not a solution to the issue.
“Germany unilaterally abandoned the Schengen agreement, tightened controls to protect itself from illegal migrants it warmly invited in 2014 and 2015. To assure Europeans’ safety, we need to discard all documents legalising illegal migration and fortify the external borders,” argues Anna Zalewska, Member of the European Parliament.
Budapest has already threatened to ship buses full of migrants to Brussels to demonstrate the urgent need for a solution to the EU, and Spain’s prime minister has reached agreements with African leaders to curb the flow of immigrants. Italy has gone the furthest, signing an agreement with Albania whereby lone male asylum seekers would wait for Rome’s decision in the Balkans.
“We need a thought-out migration policy, strengthening of the European Union’s external borders, and support for frontline countries, which are in the first line of defense against people smuggling into the EU,” emphasizes Wiśniewska.
Official data shows that illegal migration to the EU fell during the first eight months of this year. According to the International Organization for Migration, the number of illegal crossings of the EU’s southern borders – which usually make up the majority of migration of this type – fell by around 35% from January to August. Almost 115,000 illegal migrants arrived in the EU via the Mediterranean or the Atlantic this year. In 2015, during the peak of the migration crisis, over a million people arrived in the EU by this route. Frontex data show a similar trend. According to the agency, unauthorized crossings were down by 39% this year compared to 2023, with around 140,000 recorded in the first eight months of 2024.
“There are many routes for people to be smuggled into the EU. The most active one used to be via the Mediterranean, through the Balkans. Today, we know that there’s a difficult situation in Spain and the ongoing one on the Polish-Belarusian border, and a route through Slovakia has also opened,” the Law and Justice MEP lists.
In 2023, Polish services reported approximately 26,000 attempts at illegal border crossings via Belarus. This year, several dozen people are trying to enter every day. Around 46,000 illegal immigrants entered Slovakia during the first 10 months of 2023.
“The situation is difficult in the eastern part of the Schengen zone and the European Union, but the problems raised, for example, concern migrants from North Africa. Greece, Spain and Portugal have reported that the migration problem is gigantic. Illegal immigrants and invaders must be ousted if they fail to respect the law,” points out Jacek Ozdoba, a Member of the European Parliament from Suwerenna Polska.
Migrants most often use the route from North Africa through the central Mediterranean to Italy. This route saw a 64% decrease in usage this year compared to 2023. The second most frequently used route is the eastern part of the Mediterranean, from where migrants arrive in Greece. The number of migrants here increased by 57% during the first eight months of the year. The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Spanish Canary Islands is the third most popular; this year it is being used almost twice as frequently as last year.
“Southern countries are currently virtually helpless. Illegal immigrants often arrive on ships funded partly by the German budget. The European Union here needs to be united, especially Germany, which at present has abandoned the Schengen zone to Europeans,” says Anna Zalewska.
Frontex, the EU border and coast guard agency, is supposed to protect the Schengen zone’s borders. However, the experiences of recent years show that the agency can be completely powerless.
“Frontex undoubtedly needs to increase staffing, because it failed to pass the test, especially during the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border,” comments Ozdoba.
The agency is now building its own, permanent, armed border guard and is purchasing equipment for border control and patrols. Until now, it had been completely dependent on EU member states regarding this. Strengthening Frontex, especially in the context of the pact on migration and asylum, has become essential.
“It cannot be that countries, like Poland, are deprived of the ability to protect their borders because a bureaucrat other than the one in Warsaw will make the decision. In addition to supporting national forces, it is important to have an independent institution that will internally support the European Union, send additional reinforcements where help is needed,” says the MEP.
The budget for Frontex increases each year. When the agency’s task was to coordinate and improve the efforts of member countries regarding border security in 2005, its budget was 5.5 million euros. With the “refugee crisis” in 2015, its budget grew quickly and halting migration remained one of the political priorities for the EU. This year’s budget is 922 million euros and will increase to 1.27 billion euros by 2027, with a large part of the new funds set to be used for technology development.
“We want Frontex to become a service that is perfectly equipped with all possible instruments for tracking criminal groups, navigating, finding places where these are located. These are operational measures where artificial intelligence is also used,” announces Wiśniewska. “We will also demand that Frontex be strengthened, working closely with Europol, because we are dealing here with the illegal activities of smuggling groups.”
In January 2024, Frontex and Europol signed a joint statement on strengthening cooperation. In practice, the role of Frontex is to provide intelligence information from surveillance and border monitoring. On the other hand, Europol’s role is to ensure a response by law enforcement to organized cross-border crime and terrorism in the EU. Close and effective cooperation between the two agencies is essential in this context. According to MEPs, the system’s protection against illegal migration also needs to be strengthened.
“We also need to build hotspots outside EU borders, where migrants would need to wait for permission to enter the European Union. Legalizing illegal criminal activities, as is de facto possible thanks to the adoption of the migration pact, is the worst of all possible solutions,” argues the MEP.
