BRUSSELS: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took part in a meeting of EU immigration hawks in Brussels on Thursday, participants confirmed, in a sign of Berlin’s hardening stance on migration.

It marked the first time a German leader has attended the gathering, which has beco­­me a stable fixture on the sidelines of EU su­­mmits of the bloc’s leaders over the past year.

“We’re delighted that Germany is on board for the first time,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said ahead of the meeting he described as a “pressure group” pushing to make the European Union’s migration policy “much stricter”.

Co-organised by Italy, Denmark and The Netherlands, the migration talks were attended by more than a dozen of the bloc’s 27 leaders as well as European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Funding for sea rescue of migrants scrapped

Crystallising the growing influence of the hard right within the bloc, it has served as a platform for hardliners to push the commission to pass new rules to reduce arrivals and boost deportations.

Germany’s conservative-led government, which took power in May, has pursued a crackdown on irregular immigration, seeking to combat the growing appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

No funding for sea rescues

Germany is cutting financial support for cha­­rities that rescue migrants at risk of dro­wning in the Mediterranean, saying it will redirect resources to addressing conditions in source countries that spur people to leave.

For decades, migrants driven by war and poverty have made perilous crossings to reach Europe’s southern borders, with thousands estimated to die every year in their bid to reach a continent grown increasingly hostile to migration.

“Germany is committed to being humane and will help where people suffer but I don’t think it’s the foreign office’s job to finance this kind of sea rescue,” Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told a news conference.

“We need to be active where the need is greatest,” he added, mentioning the humanitarian emergency in war-shattered Sudan. Under the previous left-leaning government, Germany began paying around two million euros ($2.34 million) annually to non-governmental organisations carrying out rescues of migrant-laden boats in trouble at sea.

For them, it has been a key source of funds: Germany’s Sea-Eye, which said rescue charities have saved 175,000 lives since 2015, received around 10pc of its total income of around 3.2 million euros from the German government.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives won February’s national election after a campaign promising to curb irregular migration, which some voters in Europe’s largest economy see as being out of control.

Even though the overall numbers have been falling for several years, many Germans blame migration-related fears for the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), now the second largest party in parliament.

Many experts say that migration levels are mainly driven by economic and humanitarian emergencies in the source countries, with the official cold shoulder in destination countries having had little impact in deterring migrants. Despite this, German officials suggest that sea rescues only incentivise people to risk the sometimes deadly crossings.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2025