The EU summit, all the attention on immigration

The issue of immigration returns again, even with alarming tones, at the summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

How will undocumented migrants, mainly Africans, who continue to risk their lives in the Mediterranean, hoping to start a new life in the EU, be treated? This will be the central theme of the summit.

The flow of migrants continues, despite the fact that it is not a crisis of the proportions of 2015. The European Council says that the number of people entering the EU illegally has fallen by 96 percent since October 2015.

But the tensions regarding immigrants, who are now being banned from entering Italian ports, have put the issue back under the spotlight. The Dublin Regulation, according to which asylum seekers must stay in the EU country of entry, is not working.

Italy and Greece demand that the burden be shared with other countries. The right-wing government of Austria, which also takes over the next presidency of the EU from July 1, also has a tough attitude towards immigrants. Likewise, the Visegrad group, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, rejects the EU refugee quota scheme.

But, a lot of attention will also be focused on the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. Her coalition partner the CSU has threatened to close the borders if no deal is reached, challenging Merkel's policies.

Without the CSU, she loses her parliamentary majority. “The challenge of immigration will make or break European unity,” Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag before the summit. According to her, the fate of the EU depends on the union’s ability to meet this challenge. If we fail to reach a comprehensive agreement, she says, we should consider coalitions of the willing.