By Penelope Galliou

With the renewed flare-up in the Middle East threatening Europe and the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean with new increased waves of migrants, the 27 EU leaders are raising the burning issue of immigration again today and tomorrow at the summit in Brussels, seeking methods of prevention and treatment.

This is the first Summit of the new season with a “heavy” agenda, while the climate, as it has already been formed for months, reflects the need and also the intention on the part of the EU member states to tighten the policies regarding migration flows .

After all, member states have already imposed controls at the EU’s internal borders.

Fourteen EU member states are already asking for faster procedures for returns, including Germany, France, Italy, Greece, in a letter to the European Commission.

They point out that those who do not have the right to stay must be held accountable and that there must be a new legal basis defining their obligations and duties, while non-cooperation must have consequences and be punished.

The Greek prime minister, as he has already emphasized repeatedly, is expected in front of his European counterparts to underline the importance of guarding the EU’s external borders, which is a key and first pillar of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, and of supporting the countries of first reception by all means, and with further Community funding.

It is also expected to highlight the importance of speeding up returns and cooperation with third countries for this purpose.

For Athens, the solution lies in an overall European approach to the problem, in a European solution.

“Proposals at the level of bilateral agreements will lead nowhere” government sources emphasize, adding that “no one can deal with the problem alone».

The European Council is also reportedly expected to call for decisive action at all levels to increase and speed up returns from the EU, as well as call on the Commission and the Council to swiftly come up with a new common approach on returns.

Already, moreover, Ursula von der Leyen, in her letter to the European leaders, recently proposed the acceleration of returns and the opening of detention centers in third countries.

In this way, the president of the Commission aligned with the request of the member states to transfer the asylum seekers to safe third countries.

An intention that however creates questions and possible obstacles as expert analysts estimate that with the return centers or otherwise pre-departure centers, a key question is whether the EU member states will find partners willing to create these centers. And even more so if they find ways to convince the countries of origin and transit to comply with the terms of readmission.

This model was implemented by Italy with Albania and its effectiveness or not remains to be proven.

“Let’s wait and see how this model of Italy’s agreement with Albania will work to create a structure on Albanian soil where illegal entrants will be transferred from Italy” said the Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, speaking on SKAI television, noting that the structure in question is expected to accommodate less than 1000 people.

“So it’s not the super project given when we’re talking about hundreds of thousands in total across Europe».

Mr. Panagiotopoulos, however, appeared modestly optimistic about the European approach to immigration, under the new circumstances, arguing that “the migration policy of the European Union seems to be changing. At its core is the European Pact on Migration and Asylum which has been negotiated for about 3 years and is to be implemented from next year».