A ‘cayuco’ boat from Mauritania with 78 migrants onboard arrives after being rescued at sea by the Spanish Salvamento Maritimo’s Salvamar Acrux vessel, at La Restinga port on the Canary island of El Hierro, on November 23, 2024.
António Sempere / AFP
Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus stand to benefit most from Brussels’ new migrant redistribution scheme.
The European Pact on Migration and Asylum, set to take effect in June 2026, is being hailed in southern Europe as a long-awaited relief measure. After years of bearing the brunt of irregular arrivals, countries like Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus see the agreement as a mechanism to share what they call the “common European responsibility” for migration.
For Brussels, the new system represents a step toward “solidarity in action.” For southern capitals, it is a lifeline designed to ease pressure on overcrowded reception centers and strained welfare systems. The plan, promoted by Internal Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner, introduces a mandatory solidarity mechanism that will oblige all EU member states either to accept asylum seekers or to contribute financially to those that do.
Under the pact, southern European nations will receive direct logistical, financial, and administrative assistance. Countries opting out of relocation will be required to pay €20,000 for each migrant they refuse to host or to finance operations in “frontline” states. In practice, this means Brussels will funnel significant resources toward those countries most exposed to migration flows across the Mediterranean.
Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus have been designated as the main recipients of this “solidarity support.” According to Commission figures, nearly 60% of irregular entries to Europe in 2025 occurred through their borders. These nations argue that a binding system was necessary to ensure that the rest of the Union shares the costs of managing what has become a structural challenge.
While the southern states welcome the plan, the new mechanism has exposed deep rifts within the EU. Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and most recently, the Czech Republic have flatly rejected the idea of compulsory relocation, denouncing it as a violation of national sovereignty. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared, “Poland will not accept migrants under the Migration Pact. Nor will we pay for it.” In Budapest, Viktor Orbán warned that Brussels is “redistributing the problem instead of solving it.” Karel Havlíček, deputy leader of the sovereignist ANO party, set to lead the new coalition government of Czechia, confirmed that Prague would refuse to participate in the pact’s ‘solidarity mechanism.’
For the southern members, however, this is not about ideology but about survival. Italian officials describe the agreement as “a pragmatic solution to an unsustainable situation.” In Athens and Nicosia, the expectation is that shared responsibility will finally bring tangible support, allowing them to modernize border infrastructure and accelerate asylum procedures.
The numbers behind
According to Eurostat data, Spain alone registered over 160,000 irregular arrivals between 2023 and 2025. Italy exceeded 250,000 in the same period. The European Commission estimates that the Pact could reduce the administrative burden on these nations by up to 40%, provided the financial transfers are implemented as planned.
The Commission also reports a 35% decline in illegal entries between July 2024 and June 2025, although migration routes through the central and eastern Mediterranean remain under “significant pressure.”
Supporters of the plan argue that the Pact finally introduces a structured and predictable system to manage migration. Critics, however, warn that it risks creating dependency on EU funds while failing to address the root causes of migration—namely instability in Africa and the Middle East.
Javier Villamor is a Spanish journalist and analyst. Based in Brussels, he covers NATO and EU affairs at europeanconservative.com. Javier has over 17 years of experience in international politics, defense, and security. He also works as a consultant providing strategic insights into global affairs and geopolitical dynamics.
