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Nine EU countries have signed an open letter calling for the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to be reinterpreted to allow for policy changes on migration.
The document was published on Thursday as part of an effort led by Italy and Denmark. It was also signed by leaders from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
The signatories, who believe it should be easier to expel migrants who commit crimes, said the ECHR’s interpretation of the convention should be examined.
“It is important to assess whether, in some cases, the court has over-extended the scope of the convention compared to its original intentions, thus altering the balance between the interests to be protected,” they wrote.
“We believe that the development of the court’s interpretation has, in some cases, limited our ability to make political decisions in our democracies,” they added.
Their message comes as anti-immigration parties across Europe have surged in popularity in recent months.
During a press conference on Thursday with her Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the letter sought to “open a political debate on some European conventions and on the capacity of those conventions to deal with the great issues of our time, starting precisely with the issue of migration.”
In the letter, Meloni, Frederiksen and their co-signatories outlined some concrete changes they would like to see.
The proposals included having greater freedom to decide when to expel foreign nationals and having the ability to take effective action against “hostile states that seek to use our values and rights against us…by instrumentalising migrants at our borders”.
Signed in 1950 by the Council of Europe, the convention is an international treaty designed to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe.
All 46 countries that comprise the Council of Europe are party to the convention, including the 27 EU member states.
Any person whose rights have been violated under the convention by a state party may bring an action before the court.
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