A Belgian Minister Wants To Link Migration And Trade Cooperation

Forbes

4 hours ago

Belgium's Minister of Asylum and Migration, Anneleen Van Bossuyt in Brussels, on June 5, 2025. ... More (Photo by NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / Belga / AFP) / Belgium OUT (Photo by NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/Belga/AFP via Getty Images)
A Belgian nationalist politician has said the European Union should try to coerce countries, particularly those in the developing world, to cooperate more with the bloc's deportation agenda, by threatening to take away tariff exemptions or expedited visa procedures if they don't. The suggestion - linking trade and asylum policy - is just the latest in a series of similar statements, as the EU, as well as the U.K., look to deport more people back to their countries of origin.
Speaking to the U.K.'s Financial Times newspaper, Belgium's minister for migration, Anneleen Van Bossuyt (described by the FT as a 'rightwing nationalist politician') said the EU should 'make more use of the leverage' it has. By this she means that the EU should threaten developing countries - very often the countries of origin of people seeking shelter in Europe - with taking away favorable trade arrangements or other cooperations, if those countries do not help to reduce the amount of irregular migrants in Europe.
The statement, while slightly more transactional than the language typically used by European ministers, sits neatly with the dominant trend in Europe when it comes to irregular migration. Pressure has been building for years to reduce the number of irregular migrants on the continent, as right-wing parties gain electoral support and other anti-immigration groups dominate the political conversation. Earlier in 2025, the European Commission, in apparent deference to these concerns, announced it is developing a framework for the creation of 'return hubs' or reception facilities outside the EU where people can be deported. Such a system would be a radical step, as it would see people removed to countries they have no connection to or support in, and likely falls afoul of the EU's own obligations not to remove people to a situation they may face harm or danger.
From the point of view of deportation-minded politicians, the obvious solution is to send more people to their countries of origin. This is complicated, however, as many countries refuse to accept people returned against their will, while still others lack capacity or infrastructure to receive people back. In this context, Anneleen Van Bossuyt's comments are unsurprising, as there has been considerable focus on the EU's perceived 'inability' to send people away, and policymakers are scrambling around for other levers to pull.
Earlier in June, the EU announced plans to reform the bloc's visa system, wherein around 60 foreign countries benefit from visa-free travel. The idea is to make it easier to suspend or cancel that 'benefit' if a country falls afoul of the EU, including if that country is the source of an increased number of asylum seekers.
Likewise, the government of the United Kingdom has announced it intends to review its own visa system, with an eye to tying it to the issue of irregular migration, thereby pressuring foreign countries to accept more deportation flights.
With all this in mind, the comments in the FT from Anneleen Van Bossuyt - while made by a 'right-winger' - are very much in keeping with the political approach of the U.K. and EU's leadership overall.