Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called on the European Union to establish a dedicated emergency framework to respond to what he described as the “instrumentalization” of migration by state and nonstate actors seeking to create hybrid pressure on European countries.
In an opinion article, Mitsotakis argued that Europe’s security environment has fundamentally changed and that migration can no longer be treated solely as a humanitarian or border-management issue.
He pointed to recent developments at Europe’s borders, including the situation in Spain’s Ceuta enclave, as evidence that large and potentially coordinated movements of migrants can be used as a tool of geopolitical coercion.
The Greek prime minister said the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum has introduced important mechanisms for managing migratory pressure and sharing responsibility among member states. However, he argued that existing procedures were designed for manageable levels of migration and are insufficient when flows are deliberately engineered or amplified to overwhelm national systems.
Mitsotakis recalled Greece’s experience at its land border with Turkey in the Evros region in 2020, as well as similar pressure experienced by Lithuania, Poland and Latvia along their borders with Belarus in 2021.
“These cases are not a gradual increase in arrivals but the sudden, massive and often coordinated movements of people,” Mitsotakis wrote, warning that such situations can overwhelm national capacities, undermine public confidence and put pressure on the functioning of the Schengen area.
He proposed the creation of a dedicated EU framework for situations involving mass and instrumentalized migration, activated according to clearly defined criteria. These would include both the scale and speed of arrivals relative to a country’s capacity, as well as evidence of coordination or facilitation by third countries or organized criminal networks.
Under such an emergency regime, EU countries could temporarily introduce proportionate adjustments to standard asylum procedures, while maintaining accelerated processing mechanisms, particularly for applicants from countries with low recognition rates for international protection.
Mitsotakis also argued that, in exceptional situations involving extreme and disproportionate pressure, member states should be able to temporarily suspend the registration of asylum applications from newly arrived people under a specific EU emergency mechanism and swiftly return those who are not entitled to international protection.
He stressed that any such measures must remain temporary, proportionate and subject to strict safeguards, including full compliance with EU law, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the principle of non-refoulement.
“Safeguarding international obligations must go hand in hand with the EU’s ability to protect its borders and preserve its internal stability,” Mitsotakis argued.
The Greek leader also emphasized the need for stronger European solidarity, saying that frontline states facing extraordinary migratory pressure should not be left to manage the situation alone.
He called for automatic mobilization of operational support from EU agencies, coordinated return operations, and financial and technical assistance whenever an emergency mechanism is activated.
Mitsotakis warned that without such a framework, frontline countries would remain vulnerable, hostile actors could gain greater incentives to exploit migration for geopolitical purposes, and divisions within the EU could deepen.
“Recognizing that [migration] can be weaponized is not alarmism — it is realism,” he wrote, urging the EU to develop the legal and operational tools necessary to protect its external borders while responding to migration pressures “firmly, lawfully and collectively.”
