Home affairs ministers to discuss migration and organised crime

The EU home affairs ministers will gather in Antwerp and Brussels in Belgium on 24 and 25 January for an informal meeting of ministers. The ministers will discuss migration and organised crime related to drugs.

The ministers will discuss the continuation of temporary protection for Ukrainians fleeing Russia's war of aggression and complementary and alternative means to provide protection.

“Russia's war of aggression has forced millions of Ukrainians to flee their homes. We need common European solutions and a common approach to support Ukrainians,” says Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen. 

"Russia has also used instrumentalised migration to target EU Member States, including Finland. In order to better respond to these situations, we need an EU-level mechanism that allows us to temporarily suspend the reception of asylum applications in the event of instrumentalised migration, if we think that was necessary,” Rantanen says. 

Organised crime is one of the priorities of the Belgian Presidency

The home affairs ministers will also discuss organised drug-related crime. Drug trafficking by organised criminal groups is one of the most serious security threats in today's Europe. Drugs are often trafficked between countries through ports.  

At the meeting, the Belgian Presidency will introduce the European Ports Alliance, which seeks to strengthen the capacity of logistics centres to prevent drug-related crime. The Alliance will enhance cooperation between the public and private sectors, for example by establishing partnerships between the authorities and large shipping companies. Another aim is to involve customs more closely in law enforcement at ports across Europe. In Finland, Finnish Customs is already closely involved in this work.

Inquiries:
Laura Yli-Vakkuri, Director General, tel. +358 40 720 22 16, [email protected] 
Communications Unit, Ministry of the Interior, [email protected] (requests for interviews with the Minister)