On 10 and 11 October, the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union held its regular meeting in Luxembourg to discuss the challenges faced in strengthening the resilience of the external borders of the EU, as well as the need to improve the return policy of the EU. Latvia was represented at the meeting by Dimitrijs Trofimovs, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior.
At the meeting, the ministers also discussed the general state of play of the Schengen area and agreed on further operational measures to strengthen the resilience of the external borders.
D. Trofimovs pointed out at the meeting that Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is the main threat factor and that the instrumentalization of migrants by Russia and Belarus continues. Therefore, the entry of Russian and Belarusian citizens into the Schengen area must be assessed with the highest level of scrutiny and without in any way facilitating their entry into the Schengen area.
The Ministers of the Interior also discussed improving the effectiveness of the EU return policy, expressing their support for further work on EU-level measures to ensure more effective return of persons who have no legal right to stay in the EU.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the Council also discussed external conflicts and their impact on the internal security of the EU. D.Trofimovs stressed that the most important impact on the security of the EU is still the war launched by Russia in Ukraine, which is why the EU should continue to pay the utmost attention to this issue and continue to support Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor. It was also underlined that, in general, the EU has the necessary instruments at its disposal to prepare for and mitigate the potential impact of external conflicts on the internal security of the EU, hence the emphasis on tailored and as effective as possible practical implementation of these instruments.
The Council also briefed ministers on the state of play regarding the implementation of the Entry/Exit System, the current situation regarding the proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat sexual abuse of children, as well as the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis in Bulgaria and Romania.