Where migration agreements make the EU v • Table.Briefings

Syrian refugees in a refugee camp south of Beirut.

The EU has pledged almost €20 billion to third countries to stop refugees and migrants on their way to Europe. The effect of the migration agreements is controversial, and Brussels is also making itself dependent on the short-term interests of authoritarian regimes.

Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah makes no secret of his plan: in mid-May, he called on the government in Beirut to invite Syrian refugees in the country to travel by boat to the nearby EU republic of Cyprus. „If we do that, the EU will not give us one billion, but 20 billion, and maybe 30,“ he said. This would prompt the Europeans to „lift the embargo on Syria,“ added the close ally of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Nasrallah thus indirectly highlighted a crucial weakness of the European migration agreements: they encourage the recipient countries to blackmail.

Where migration agreements make the EU vulnerable to blackmail

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