Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1214775
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 26 FEBRUARY 2020 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The matter had to be dealt with through both a focus on the external dimension – namely through cooperation with other countries and better border control – and an internal dimension, whereby the EU had to demonstrate that it learnt its les- sons from the past, he said. "This is a European problem, not Mal- ta's. We are discussing a European bor- der," he said. Abela noted that he was involved in dis- cussion within the European Council last week on cohesion, where the principles of solidarity and reducing disparity where underlined. "Unfortunately, these principles seem not to apply to irregular migration," he said, "Member states which face a dispro- portionate burden are left to themselves." "We cannot tolerate this any longer. No concrete action has been taken," Abela stressed, "I ask the European Commis- sion, to help us." 'Absolutely possible' to manage migra- tion Commissioner Johansson said that it was "absolutely possible" to manage ir- regular migration, but acknowledged that it was "very challenging" and that there was an issue of a lack of trust between member states when it came to the issue. Johansson said she had held dialogues with all member states – with her vis- it to Malta having been the last in the line of meetings – and that she now felt more optimistic that a solution could be reached than she did previously. "Governments are listening and try- ing to understand the way forward and search for a compromise," she said. She pointed out that it was "unaccept- able" that the Commission's proposed asylum reform has been blocked before the European Council for the last three and a half years. "My task is to unblock the situation, and I've reached out to all member states on this," she said. The matter of irregular migration had to be "de-escalated" and treated like a policy area, she said. "We have to be pragmatic and find pragmatic solutions." The Commissioner said that it had to be taken into account that member states were facing "very different geographical realities", and that those countries which were in a more difficult situation had to be supported. "This is my aim," she said. Johansson added, however, that any way forward would have to be accepted by all EU members. "It is difficult, but possible," she remarked. "Unfortunately, these principles seem not to apply to irregular migration... Member states which face a disproportionate burden are left to themselves" 'Absolutely possible' to manage migration, EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson says Ylva Johansson, EU commissioner for home affairs