European foreign ministers meeting in Chisinau, Moldova, agreed on Friday on a non-binding political declaration that sets out what they call a new interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights in migration cases, including situations involving deportation arrangements in third countries.
The Council of Europe said the declaration was adopted by all 46 members’ foreign ministers and described it as underlining states’ sovereign right to control the entry and residence of foreign nationals while still complying with the convention.
The Council of Europe said nations that are “exposed to mass arrivals” can pursue new approaches to deter irregular migration, including “third country ‘return hubs’, and cooperation with countries of transit.” The Council said the declaration is meant to guide its own work and also the work of domestic authorities and courts.
Rights groups criticized the move, saying the declaration could loosen prohibitions on torture and weaken protections for migrants under Europe’s human-rights framework. Chiara Catelli of the Brussels-based rights group PICUM said the declaration “could weaken both the court and convention,” arguing that governments were seeking to influence an independent court to reduce protections in a way that could affect deportations.
Catelli said: “Governments are effectively seeking to pressure an independent Court into weakening long-established human rights protections in order to facilitate deportations, with the risk of deporting people where they could face torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, or where they would stop receiving life-saving medical care.” Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office, said: “A two-tier human rights system based on migration status is an affront to the basic principle that human rights are universal.”
Supporters of tougher migration controls had pushed for an approach they say helps limit irregular migration and supports deportations. The declaration came after calls from some member states for stricter measures to fight irregular migration and facilitate deportations.
The Council of Europe said the interpretation is grounded in how the Convention applies in migration cases, and it is meant to inform domestic authorities and courts. The Council oversees the European Court of Human Rights, the top court that protects the continent’s rights convention.
The political declaration follows wider debate in Europe about whether “return hubs” and other third-country arrangements conflict with human-rights safeguards. Rights campaigners have cited European and U.S. policies as comparable, and the cluster report includes an example from Italy: the country sent “several dozen migrants” to a “return hub” in Albania last year. The Council of Europe said the declaration allows states to consider cooperation with countries of transit as part of efforts to deter irregular migration.
The European Union has tightened migration policies in recent years after right-wing parties took power in some countries in 2024. The cluster report also notes that leaders of nine EU countries signed an open letter claiming the Convention prevented them from expelling certain foreign criminals, arguing that European Court of Human Rights interpretations had protected “wrong people” and placed too many limits on who could be expelled.
EU migration commission Magnus Brunner hailed the declaration as “an important step” toward a more unified migration approach, saying: “It strengthens our approach to a fair and firm migration policy in Europe. Migration is a shared challenge that requires shared solutions.” After the declaration was signed, the Council’s Secretary General Alain Berset said it would “help to guide our own work as well as that of national authorities and domestic courts.”