Putting aside their ideological differences, Denmark’s social democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen joined her Italian counterpart, the far-right Giorgia Meloni, in linking “uncontrolled immigration to Europe” with crime and supporting the creation of deportation centers in third countries following the Ceuta crisis, which involved the massive entry of more than 70,000 people into the Spanish autonomous city from Morocco.
“We understand that many may question our collaboration. We come from very different political positions and, of course, we do not agree on everything. We are the only two women heads of government in the EU. One of us leads a large southern country; the other, a small northern country. But we are united by our desire to defend Europe,” they argue in the note signed by both leaders and posted on social media this Monday.
Meloni and Frederiksen maintain that “no one can deny the negative effects of illegal immigration on our societies.” Without providing sources, statistics, or studies to support their theses, among these effects they cite the increase in crime rates, pressure on public services, and the loss of citizens’ trust in institutions, highlighted the Spanish newspaper El País.
“It is particularly serious when illegal migrants, deprived of the right to stay in our countries, commit violent crimes, traffic drugs, or become responsible for sexual violence,” both heads of government of Italy and Denmark reiterate without providing any figures or statistics linking illegal immigration to increased crime. Instead, both assert that citizens expect “concrete actions.”
That is why both leaders advocate for the implementation of “a rigorous migration policy” at the community level, and call for “increasing expulsions” of people in illegal situations and the establishment of “repatriation centers in third countries, as well as other innovative solutions outside Europe,” without specifying which ones.
Both European leaders place special emphasis on irregular immigrants, “who lack the right to remain in our countries” and who “commit violent crimes, traffic drugs, or are perpetrators of sexual assaults,” and call on Europe for “concrete responses” to “ensure greater security and protection for our communities.”
Meloni and Frederiksen do not see the management of illegal immigration as sufficient. Both lash out against “the millions of foreign citizens who live legally in Europe,” whom they attribute a supposed interest in “imposing lifestyles alien to the common values shared by millions of Europeans.”
“We are both proud of Europe’s Christian cultural heritage and want to protect it. We hope that those who come to our countries and choose to make Europe their home respect our values and do not try to impose lifestyles we do not share,” they warned.
“We believe this is the right way to protect Europe and our common values. And we believe millions of Europeans share this conviction,” they concluded.
The alliance of Meloni and Frederiksen comes amid the escalation of the diplomatic confrontation between Spain and Italy, with the Schengen area suspended between them. After the surge in Ceuta, Meloni’s government decided to establish controls at its customs for visitors coming from Spanish territory. The measure will remain, in principle, until August 15 due to the possibility of another surge of migrants in Ceuta.
Meloni ignored the ultimatum from Pedro Sánchez’s Executive demanding to end it or face “proportional measures.” In response, the Spanish government decided to temporarily reinstate controls at the internal borders of ports and airports for travelers coming from the Italian country starting Saturday.
Italy again criticized Sánchez’s government’s migration policy this Monday, insisting on placing the mass regularization process launched in Spain as the cause of the surge in the autonomous city on July 30 and 31. “Ceuta has been a testing ground and a lesson: the fight against illegal immigration is a common task. Unilateral decisions by individual countries cannot offload their consequences onto partner countries,” wrote Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on social media.
The Italian Deputy Prime Minister also defended the creation of “hubs for repatriations in Africa” and said he shares the proposals that the President of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, published in a German newspaper, to “strengthen Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency) as a true European border guard agency with adequate personnel, resources, and powers.”
Brussels wanted to close the matter last Tuesday, at an extraordinary meeting of the EU Interior Ministers Council that ended with a declaration of support for Spain. The final declaration expressed “firm solidarity with Spain” and praised the “quick and effective response” of the Spanish authorities to the Ceuta crisis. At the same time, the ministers agreed on the need to “continue fighting tirelessly against migrant trafficking networks,” strengthen external borders, and deepen cooperation with third countries. “But that was a false closure,” commented the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.
This is not the first time Meloni and Frederiksen have worked together on migration matters. In May 2025, they already led a joint initiative to demand greater autonomy in the expulsion of irregular foreigners who had committed serious crimes. Both countries questioned the limits imposed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and advocated reviewing the existing international conventions.
It is worth remembering that Italy has had deportation centers in Albania since 2024, which have practically not been used due to logistical and legal problems. The EU Court of Justice still has to rule on the legality of this measure, which, in any case, has largely become obsolete after the recent entry into force of the Migration and Asylum Pact, which allows sending an asylum seeker to another safe country.
Denmark, despite having a government of social democrats and liberals, applies one of the strictest asylum policies in northern Europe, seeking to discourage the arrival of new applicants and advocating outsourcing refugee assessments to centers in Rwanda.
