Italy and Denmark have called on the European Union to prepare for a potential rise in migration as tensions escalate in the Middle East, warning against a repeat of the 2015–2016 refugee crisis.
"We cannot risk a repeat of the refugee and migratory flows to the EU which we saw unfold in 2015-2016," write Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a letter.
The letter, dated Wednesday – the day before a summit of EU leaders in Brussels – is addressed to the heads of the European Commission and European Council, and the leaders of EU countries.
In it, Frederiksen and Meloni call on the European Commission to examine mechanisms that could act as an "emergency brake" in the event of large-scale migration movements.
Speaking on Danish television, Frederiksen cited a rule allowing asylum seekers to be turned away at the border as an example of a possible measure.
In the mid-2010s, millions of people fled to Europe, particularly from Syria, which was in the throes of a civil war, amid the Assad regime's human rights violations, which included attacks using chemical weapons.
International organizations and the European Commission have said they currently see no signs of major refugee movements from the Middle East toward Europe. However, the ongoing conflict has displaced millions of people in the region, whose humanitarian situation is deteriorating.
Frederiksen and Meloni advocate providing more aid on the ground to prevent mass migration movements toward Europe, stating in their letter: "We can help more people better and more efficiently by providing support directly to their regions of origin."
Meloni is known for her tough stance against migration, while Frederiksen is in the midst of an election campaign ahead of polls next week. Denmark's political parties have long tried to outdo one another with calls for an increasingly strict migration policy.
