GRANADA, Spain, Oct  6, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A furious row over planned changes 
to Europe's migration rules overshadowed an EU summit Friday, although 
supporters of the reform vowed opposition from Poland and Hungary would not 
derail it.

       The Polish and Hungarian leaders did prevent the leaders from including 
migration in a joint statement of the summit's conclusions, forcing the meeting 
to end on a sour note of division.

       But European Council president Charles Michel issued a separate statement 
about asylum policy and border protection in his own name, and the French and 
German leaders said the legislative process would continue as planned.

       "The most important thing is what our interior ministers achieved a few 
weeks ago with the agreement on crisis regulation, because that is what is 
really relevant in political terms," said Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, 
who hosted the summit, dismissing concerns about the clash. 

       But the gathering in the southern city of Granada did hand Polish Prime 
Minister Mateusz Morawiecki -- who is facing a general election this weekend -- 
and Hungary's Viktor Orban a stage on which to brandish their populist 
credentials for their domestic audiences. 

       "I officially REJECT the entire paragraph of the summit conclusions 
regarding migration," Morawiecki posted on social media as the summit came to 
an end. 

       Earlier, Orban courted outrage by comparing the EU's "forcing through" of 
migration legislation -- which was approved by a majority of member states -- 
to Hungary being "legally raped". 

       France's President Emmanuel Macron said that although their opposition had 
blocked any mention of migration in the final declaration, it would have no 
effect on the proposed bill, which was approved in outline by member states on 
Wednesday. 

       "The text has caused disagreements between several member states," Macron 
said, dismissing it as  "a secondary issue because the matter is moving forward 
as it should after being passed by majority".

       Member states, he added, had agreed to strengthen "joint action regarding 
transit countries and countries of origin". 
       
       - 'Current approach not working' -
    
       
       Migration surged to the top of Brussels' agenda after thousands of asylum 
seekers landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa, highlighting the urgency of 
consolidating a unified European response. 

       On Thursday, leaders from across the continent had met under the auspices 
of the European Political Community (EPC), a forum to develop a joint 
geopolitical strategy. 

       But Spain, which hosted both meetings, failed to put the crisis on the 
agenda of that summit, frustrating several members, notably Italy and Britain 
who convened a side meeting on the issue. 

       During those sideline talks, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and 
Britain's Rishi Sunak, backed by France and the Netherlands, pushed for more 
work with third countries to prevent boats carrying asylum seekers from even 
setting off for Europe.

       In an op-ed published on Friday in Britain's Times newspaper and Italy's 
Corrierre della Sera, the pair said European nations were "recognising that the 
current approach is not working". 

       Insisting their aggressive approach was "already delivering results," they 
urged other leaders to "act with the same sense of urgency" against 
people-smuggling gangs to break the back of irregular immigration across Europe.

       Wednesday's vote saw member states approving the final part of an overhaul 
of the rules on handling asylum seekers and irregular migrants, setting up a 
push for the European Parliament to make it law before elections next year. 

       The new Pact on Migration and Asylum will seek to relieve pressure on 
so-called frontline countries like Italy and Greece by relocating some arrivals 
to other EU states. 

       Those opposed to hosting asylum seekers would be required to pay those that 
do. 

       Meloni, who had clashed with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the run up 
to the summit, said she was now "satisfied" with the direction Europe was 
heading, seeing it as "more pragmatic" in its approach to halting human 
trafficking and illegal immigration.

       EU figures published on Friday showed there was a 29-percent rise in 
irregular migrant returns in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same 
period a year earlier.

       A total of 26,600 people were sent back, while the number ordered to leave 
rose by 9.0 percent to 105,865.

       By August 31, EU nations were hosting almost 4.2 million Ukrainian refugees 
from Russia's war, half of whom were in Germany and Poland.