Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleNine EU countries, led by Italy and Denmark, urge the EU to simplify deporting foreign criminals, challenging current court interpretations.
By Louise Rasmussen and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Nine European countries, led by Italy and Denmark, will on Thursday call on the European Union to make it simpler for member states to expel foreign criminals, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
European governments have expressed frustration with how the European Court of Human Rights uses the European Convention on Human Rights to block deportations and they want to see it revised.
The letter, which was prepared ahead of a meeting on Thursday between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Denmark's Mette Frederiksen, urges the EU to review how courts interpret the convention.
"We have seen cases concerning the expulsion of criminal foreign nationals, where the interpretation of the Convention has resulted in the protection of the wrong people and posed too many limitations on the states' ability to decide whom to expel from their territories," the letter said.
Member states should "have more room nationally to decide on when to expel criminal foreign nationals," it said.
The letter was signed by the leaders of Denmark, Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Meloni and Frederiksen are scheduled to hold a joint press conference in Rome on Thursday.
Meloni's conservative bloc won power in 2022, vowing to crack down on migration. Denmark has introduced increasingly harsh immigration policies over the past decade.
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Alexandra Hudson)
European leaders are calling on the EU to simplify the process for member states to expel foreign criminals.
Italy and Denmark are leading the initiative, supported by seven other European countries.
They are frustrated with the European Court of Human Rights' interpretations of the European Convention on Human Rights, which they believe block necessary deportations.
The letter was prepared ahead of a meeting between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Denmark's Mette Frederiksen, highlighting the need for national discretion in expulsion decisions.
Italy's conservative government, led by Meloni, and Denmark have both adopted increasingly strict immigration policies in recent years.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
