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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called on the European Commission to scrutinise Spain’s plan to legalise the status of 600,000 irregular migrants, directly challenging Madrid’s migration policy during the EU leaders’ summit.
“I have asked the European Commission to examine what happens when a country does almost the exact opposite of what the rest of us are doing,” Frederiksen said on Friday at the start of the summit’s second day.
Her comments put her at odds with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, despite both leaders belonging to the same broad Socialist political family, which has traditionally taken a more liberal stance on migration.
Spain approved a decree in January last year to regularise the status of around 500,000 undocumented migrants, in a move to uphold what Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described at the time as a migration model “based on human rights, integration, coexistence and compatible with economic growth and social cohesion”.
“I believe this runs counter to the migration policy supported by a large majority in Europe today,” Frederiksen said, criticising Spain’s move.
EU leaders are expected to face a heated debate on migration over lunch on Friday.
The latest draft makes no mention of Spain’s plan, which Denmark views as a potential “pull factor” that could attract more irregular migrants to Europe.
“Denmark tried to introduce outlandish amendments to the summit conclusions,” a diplomat from another EU country told Euronews.
This is not the first migration-related clash between Sánchez and Frederiksen. The Danish prime minister has long advocated a tough approach to migration.
At the previous EU summit in June, the two leaders reportedly exchanged heated words, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni backing Frederiksen, according to a diplomat.
Frederiksen and Meloni are now part of a group of countries pushing for tougher measures to curb irregular arrivals.
Denmark is also working with Germany, Austria, Greece and the Netherlands to establish the first return hub outside the EU for rejected asylum seekers.