Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group

In the document, the Ministers presented their position that the solidarity mechanism should remain open and be governed by the principle of sovereign discretion. While support in the face of migratory pressure is necessary, it must be flexible and allow the freedom to choose measures matching the possibilities of the Member States. The Ministers also agreed that future solutions should ensure actual control over migration flows in the European Union, which is crucial for the proper functioning of the Schengen area, so as to adequately respond to possible migration crises – both in the Mediterranean region and in the Eastern part of the EU. It is indispensable for the European Union to have tools to exert political pressure on third countries that do not cooperate in the field of migration. International organizations operating in Southern Europe, including those involved in maritime rescue operations, must follow a strict procedure preventing the creation of channels for illegal migration to the EU.

The document was drawn up as a result of the work of the Polish presidency of the V4 group and is the result of an agreement reached between a wider group of States during the videoconference convened on December 4 this year. Through the document, the outgoing German presidency, and Portugal taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union as of 1 January 2021, are presented with the confirmation of the designated limits of acceptable compromise by the countries of our region as part of further work on the EU migration and asylum policy.