Xinhua News Agency, Stockholm, January 26 (Reporter Fu Yiming) The European Union's informal meeting of justice and interior ministers opened in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, on January 26.
The participating ministers said that the current immigration situation in the EU is tense, and there is an urgent need to strengthen the control of the EU's external borders, increase repatriation efforts, and prevent irregular immigration.
A meeting statement issued by Sweden, the EU's rotating presidency, said that the difficulty of repatriating third-country citizens who have no right to remain in the EU is a major challenge for many member states.
Ministers at the meeting agreed on the need to work more effectively with countries of origin and to develop comprehensive migration partnerships and effective readmission agreements with these countries to prevent irregular migration and increase deportation rates.
The EU should adopt active incentives and restrictions at the same time, and use all relevant policy areas, including visa policy, development cooperation, trade and foreign relations, to improve the immigration situation, the statement said.
EU member states support restrictive visa measures for countries of origin that do not cooperate with repatriation.
The participating ministers also discussed issues such as combating organized crime in the digital age.
The two-day meeting will end on the 27th.