Interior Minister Ioannou to attend first JHA Council following his appointment

Minister of the Interior Constantinos Ioannou will be in Brussels to take part in the EU Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs meeting from 9-10 March.

It will be the first formal Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council during the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Items on the Council agenda include political governance of the Schengen area, the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, and the need for additional measures to strengthen Ukraine’s and the EU’s internal security in light of Russia’s aggression.

The JHA Council will discuss the internal and external dimensions of asylum and migration policy. For the internal dimension, a progress report will be presented on the Dublin roadmap and challenges involved with maritime rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. For the external dimension, the need for enhanced coordination between Member States and with EU institutions will be in focus.

An official press release notes that the Minister of Interior will present to the 27 the serious problems that Cyprus has been facing in recent years regarding the prevention, deterrence, and management of clearly disproportionate migratory pressures that the island is experiencing.

Considering that in 2022 migratory flows have exceeded all previous ones and the response capabilities of the competent ministry services have been exhausted, Ioannou will call on partners to move from a theoretical approach of solidarity to more practical solutions.

In this context, the statement notes, he will table the evaluation of the voluntary relocation mechanism, which has not been successful, and propose it is replaced with a more effective and primarily binding system that will provide significant relief to frontline member states.

Ioannou will reiterate the urgent need to develop a targeted Action Plan for the Eastern Mediterranean region, with emphasis on the role and responsibilities of Turkey, while calling for measures to be taken by the EU to significantly limit the systematic promotion of flows through the Turkish occupied areas of the island.

Minister Ioannou will emphasize the need for EU action to expedite conclusion of new and effective implementation of existing Readmission Agreements, combining migration with a wider policy of economic assistance to third countries within the framework of European neighborhood policy. He returns home on Friday.

(Source: CNA)