Border Control – Tusk Wants the EU to Withhold Some Asylum Rights

Donald Tusk and Petr Fiala called on the EU to do more to tackle unauthorised migration on its borders last week. Tusk will now present a new migration policy on 15 October, seeking legal grounds for member states to suspend asylum rights.

In these ways, the pair shows Viktor Orbán the real meaning of European security. The Hungarian PM says he wants stronger borders – but instead lets Belarusian and Russian citizens into the EU and then threatens to send them to Brussels.

Upcoming on Visegrad Insight:

• ​​EVENT: State of Moldova, Join us on 17 October for an online discussion on Moldova’s position ahead of the presidential elections and EU referendum. Click here to register.
• Eva Mihočková analyses Central European strategic communication and argues for more emotive narratives.
• Radu Albu-Comănescu asks if the EU and NATO can align their goals, or if Europe’s divisions undermine collective defence.
• Viktória Serdült argues why the necessity of widening the EU may catalyse long-awaited institutional reforms.
• Riga Conference. Visegrad Insight will be there, and our Editor will moderate the plenary session: Under Whose Umbrella? The Future Dilemmas of European Security

EU leaders push for tougher deportation rules as border spending backfires on Turkey

GLOBAL

• EU leaders plan to push the European Commission (EC) to write new guidelines for deportations to third countries – according to an outline of a non-paper floated by Austria and the Netherlands and backed by 15 other Schengen-area countries, ahead of the 17-18 October European Council (EUCO) summit. This is rumoured to include the restorationturn of ‘return hubs’ or ‘hotspots.’
• More on what Donald Tusk, Viktor Orbán and Petr Fiala have to say on migration in the coming sections.

• The EU has spent close to €1 billion on border infrastructure and migration control in Turkey to reduce asylum-seeker arrivals – only for Turkey to use this EU-funded infrastructure to forcibly deport Syrians and Afghans in violation of international law, according to this Politico report.

• Beijing has said it will start collecting tariffs on brandy – and potentially imported gasoline cars with large engines – in response to EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The EU said it would take the brandy tariffs to the World Trade Organisation, and European shares slumped amid fears of an incoming trade war.
• Both powers have nonetheless pledged to keep working on an alternative to tariffs.
• Click here to learn more about the unusual disunity among EU states on China.

• Taiwanese ex-President Tsai Ing-wen, one of Beijing‘s top nemeses, is set to visit Brussels this week – and become the first former Taiwanese leader to do so.
• It’s unclear whether Tsai will meet any senior EU officials, but the trip to Brussels follows a stop in Prague, where she will speak at the Forum 2000 on 14 October before visiting France.
• While still president, Tsai held a telephone call with Czech then-President-elect Petr Pavel in 2023, a mere two days after his electoral victory – which was seen as a major example of Czechia ‘breaking taboos’ amid its expansion of ties with Taiwan.

• The EUCO established a new framework to allow the EU to address hybrid threats and target individuals and entities connected to the Russian government on 8 October. 
• The EU’s High Representative also released a statement condemning Russia’s intensifying hybrid campaign against the EU, member states and partners.
• Czech FM Jan Lipavský last week said Russia is responsible for 80% of all foreign influence operations in the world – amid upcoming elections in Moldova, Georgia, Bulgaria and Romania.
• Senior US intelligence officials also issued a new assessment on 7 October, saying that American voters will likely face a surge in misinformation and influence campaigns over the next month – especially against VP Kamala Harris.
• Click here to learn about another form of Russian influence: wheat crops!

• Germany aims to launch the Common Regional Market (CRM) II on the tenth anniversary of the Berlin Process on 14 October.
• CRM – an initiative of Western Balkan countries that aims to eventually integrate the region with the EU Single Market – is structured around the free movement of goods, capital, services and people. CRM II would focus on human capital and skills development, digital transformation, business and competitiveness.
• The draft proposal also seeks to revisit and push for Kosovo’s representation in the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).
• Click here to learn why only a firm political will can save enlargement.

• EU countries will have to stick to far more stringent conditions in order to access EU funds in the future – as per an internal document on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plans for the next EU budget, seen by Politico.
• The move to pressure countries to implement key economic reforms, if they want to access the EU’s €1.2 trillion seven-year cash pot, has been seen by some as a Von der Leyen power grab – a fear that was heightened by the (remarkably brief) screening process for the next college of commissioners.

• Shalva Papuashvili, Georgia‘s parliament speaker and ruling Georgian Dream party member, has said that lawmakers will move to impeach President Salome Zourabichvili ahead of parliamentary elections on 26 October – in response to unauthorised visits the pro-Western president made overseas.

Zelenskyy tours Europe in search of military support – after Biden cancels Ramstein trip on account of US floods

UKRAINE