Rishi Sunak has joined forced with Italy’s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni to demand EU leaders show the “same sense of urgency” in trying to crack down illegal migration.
The pair are believed to be angry at Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez for refusing to put illegal immigrantion on the agenda for the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Granada on Thursday.
Despite the European leaders agreeing an eight-point plan on the issue at the sidelines of the summit, Mr Sunak and Ms Meloni said the EU had to understand that “now is the time for action”.
In a joint letter to The Times, the pair warned that failing to stop illegal migration into European even threatened the UK and Italy’s “historic role as places of asylum and sanctuary”.
They wrote: “How can we take care of those who really need our help, when our resources are so overstretched?”
Mr Sunak and Ms Meloni added: “Only by stopping the flow of illegal migrants can we restore the trust of the British and Italian people, not just in our domestic borders, but in European and international co-operation.”
Ms Meloni, the 45-year-old first female prime minister who leads the Brothers of Italy party, was once a youth activist in the post-fascist Italian Social Movement.
It comes after Mr Sunak ducked questions on the rhetoric of his home secretary Suella Braverman on immigration – who warned a “hurricane” of migrants were on the way. He appeared to say he was “absolutely” happy with her language on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Meanwhile, Mr Sunak said Britain was making progress in its bid to secure a deal with the EU’s border agency, Frontext, to get access to the bloc’s intelligence on migration.
Rishi Sunak has ducked questions on Suella Braverman’s language
The PM talks are ongoing after it was reported officials in London and Brussels have concluded the substance of an agreement allowing agencies to monitor the entirety of the EU’s external borders rather than just shared frontiers, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Sunak also announced bilateral initiatives with Belgium, Bulgaria and Serbia to increase intelligence-sharing and operational co-operation.
Under the plan, the UK would work with Belgium to try to disrupt organised immigration crime and clandestine entry to Britain and seek to co-operate further with Serbia on prosecuting and disrupting criminal networks.
Downing Street said an eight-point plan on illegal migration was agreed by those taking part at meeting on the sidelines of the EPC.
It includes a commitment to “tackle migrant smuggling along the routes and at external borders”, supporting partner countries to “strengthen border protection” as well as search and rescue capacities, and strengthening cooperation on visa policy.
Speaking at the EPC summit, Mr Sunak told broadcasters: “Tackling illegal migration is a shared European challenge, numbers are up everywhere and I believe, as do other European leaders, that it should be us who decide who comes to our countries and not criminal gangs.”
Asked if there will be an agreement on Frontex, Mr Sunak replied: “We’ve been working with the European Union, making progress on those talks. Those talks are ongoing.”
Home Office figures show more than 25,000 people have been detected crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year. The total number of small boat arrivals so far this year is about 23 per cent below the equivalent number at this point last year.
Elsewhere, support for Ukraine was discussed at the summit with Mr Sunak confirming allocations of UK humanitarian aid to help the war-torn country over the winter.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian rocket has hit a village cafe and store in eastern Ukraine and killed at least 51 civilians in one of the deadliest attacks in months.
Mr Sunak said the pair discussed the “horrific attack” and noted the UK’s support for Ukraine has been “steadfast” and will continue.
