The EU’s new migration pact is intended to neutralise the far right – it risks empowering it
The Guardian
With a heavy focus on deterrence, the agreement shows how far Europe’s centre has shifted to the right. (...)
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A scene from the film Io Capitano (2023), which dramatises the plight of Senegalese migrants. Photograph: Greta De Lazzaris.
Seen in this light, the EU’s long-awaited pact on asylum and migration, which passed a knife-edge series of votes in the European parliament last week, continues an established trend towards deterrence. Ahead of European elections in June, in which rightwing populist parties are predicted to make significant gains, the pact’s centrist supporters have hailed the legislative package as a victory for the traditional EU values of compromise and moderation. Yet with a heavy focus on security screening and the removal of migrants deemed undeserving, the pact highlights how far Europe’s centre has already shifted to the right on migration – and risks further empowering the radical right it aims to neutralise. (...)
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