Spain, Italy, and Greece strengthen migration cooperation with Pakistan

The Diplomat The Interior Ministers of Spain, Italy, and Greece met in Rome on Tuesday, February 24, to discuss irregular migration and the fight against human trafficking with their Pakistani counterpart. According to a press release from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska participated in a meeting organized by his Italian counterpart, Matteo Piantedosi. Also in attendance were the Pakistani Interior Minister, Seyed Mohsin Raza, and the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, Tano Plevris. The meeting focused on irregular migration, returns, and the training of security forces in combating human trafficking. During the meeting, Grande-Marlaska advocated for a preventative migration policy as “the best and only possible way” to reduce irregular arrivals. “Collaboration with our partners in the Western Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast has prevented nearly 25,300 arrivals in Spain in 2025. Without this support, the number would have been 70 percent higher,” he stated. In this context, the minister highlighted the “positive results” on migration achieved last year in Spain, with a reduction of more than 42 percent in irregular arrivals compared to 2024, a downward trend that has continued in the first weeks of 2026, with a 59 percent decrease compared to the previous year, “thanks, above all, to cooperation with countries of origin and transit.” Despite the low impact of arrivals from Pakistan, Grande-Marlaska warned of the need to be prepared and to share experiences “because decisions on one route affect the others.” Migrant trafficking networks adapt very quickly to new realities “and we must do the same,” he added. The debate also addressed the functioning of the EU-Pakistan Readmission Agreement, the EU tool created to ensure the effectiveness of return procedures, “a very positive instrument,” in the minister's words, which requires “constant coordination” regarding identification, travel documents, and compliance with deadlines. During the meeting, Grande-Marlaska emphasized the importance of strengthening bilateral migration cooperation by establishing permanent contact points, exchanging information and experiences, and promoting joint training programs, especially in border management. The minister also cited two previous joint training programs with Pakistan on document forgery, in 2023 and 2025, as examples of collaboration. “Border policy involves significant risks, such as document forgery, support for irregular migration, and certain forms of organized crime that we must confront,” Grande-Marlaska stated. Spain maintains close bilateral cooperation with Pakistan on policing matters. The minister met on March 31, 2025, at a summit on organized crime held in London, with the Minister of State for Home Affairs and Narcotics Control of Pakistan, Tallal Chaudry, with whom he held an interview in June of the same year at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, in Madrid.

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