• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

European Council: Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell before the informal meeting in Granada

European External Action Service (EEAS)

06.10.2023
Granada
EEAS Press Team

Check against delivery!

Well, today [is] the [Informal] European Council. Leaders will discuss strategic issues, the strategic agenda, and I think that the focus will be put on two big issues: enlargement and migration.

On enlargement, we have to work in a tailored approach. There are ten candidates and each one needs a specific approach. So, we have to work in a tailored approach, with a clear mind for pushing for accession much quicker than in the past.

Ukraine has become a candidate. It is coming the last, it is pushing all the ones who were waiting before. So, the queue will start moving, and moving quickly. But each one will need a tailored approach. That is very important.

Secondly, migration. On migration, there is this 10-point action plan that President [of the European Commission, Ursula] von der Leyen presented at the last meeting in Malta. For me, there is one specific tasking which is to use our CSDP capacities, missions - navy missions and in-land missions - in order to fight against [people] smuggling, to fight against human trafficking and to avoid human beings being weaponised. Because we have seen that. We have seen people being pushed against the borders in order to create problems.

I will have to think about an offer in order to use - maybe - [EU NAVFOR MED] IRINI Operation capacities because IRINI has also the tasking of fighting against smugglers, in order to provide information and in order to try to control the traffic of human beings. But for that, I need certainly the agreement of Tunisia, because it has to be done in the territorial waters of Tunisia. The mission was conceived for Libya and now, if we have to shift to another territorial scenario, we need certainly the agreement of this country.

Secondly, we can think about the deployment of advisory border controls. We have it in several parts of the world. We could imagine to organise it also in order to support the control of the borders, not only in the Mediterranean, but also in the South - "in the South", it means in the Sahel.

This is going to be a difficult task but certainly, as responsible for the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), I am ready to consider this possibility.

On migration, we have to attack the root causes of migration. People move because they have to move. They have to move because they are in danger. In this case, they are asylum seekers, and they move because they look for better opportunities. The European Union has to offer a common position. It seems that now, finally, there is an agreement on that. So, let's see if today, certainly, we can agree on a Common Foreign and Security Policy and do our best to implement it.