Sweden says EU migrant 'return hub' plan could be pitched in March

The European Union could submit a proposal as soon as March on the creation of so-called “return hubs” to expedite the removal of illegal migrants, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday.

According to Reuters, Kristersson sketched out the potential timetable during a meeting in Vienna with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, a fellow conservative, in which both men urged the European Union to step up efforts to counter illegal immigration.

Growing support for hard and far-right parties across Europe has pushed immigration up the political agenda. EU leaders said in October that they were considering a scheme under which migrants with no right to stay in the bloc could be sent to hubs in countries considered safe outside the EU.

Kristersson said that he had discussed the scheme with the EU Commissioner for Migration, Austria’s Magnus Brunner, who had assured him that a proposal would be forthcoming this spring. That, Kristersson said, presumably meant sometime in March, according to the interpreter’s translation of his remarks during a joint press conference with Nehammer. “There is some momentum right now,” said the Swedish prime minister.

Nehammer praised Kristersson for keeping immigration on the EU agenda, and argued that there are now 18 countries within Europe’s Schengen free travel area, including Switzerland and Norway, whose interests are aligned on curbing migrant flows.

The Austrian chancellor said that concerned governments had managed to “completely change” discussion around immigration so that countries with no external EU border, such as Austria, are now more involved in addressing the issue.

“Only when we recognise that the problem must be solved together do we have a chance of making progress,” he added.

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