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<\/p>\nRishi Sunak\u00a0has arrived in Granada today to urge European leaders to follow Britain’s tough action on illegal migration.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister is attending a summit in the Spanish city and will point to his efforts to crackdown on small boat crossings in the Channel.<\/p>\n
The gathering of the European Political Community will be attended by the leaders of 47 countries.<\/p>\n
But there have already been tensions between those attending after the summit’s Spanish hosts refused to put migration on the official agenda for the meeting.<\/p>\n
Instead national leaders will formally discuss Artificial Intelligence, climate action and the Ukraine war, with talks on migration due to be held on the sidelines of the summit.<\/p>\n
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Rishi Sunak has arrived in Granada today to urge European leaders to follow Britain’s tough action on illegal migration<\/p>\n
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The Prime Minister is attending a summit in the Spanish city and will point to his efforts to crackdown on small boat crossings in the Channel<\/p>\n
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It previously emerged how Mr Sunak had been demanding a formal focus on illegal migration at this week’s EPC summit, but was rebuffed by Spain<\/p>\n
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A group of people (pictured in August) thought to be migrants crossing the Channel in a small boat travelling from the coast of France and heading in the direction of Dover, Kent<\/p>\n
The European Political Community – the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron – was formed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.<\/p>\n
It brings together both European Union member states and those European nations that are outside the Brussels-based bloc.<\/p>\n
Former PM Liz Truss attended the first EPC summit in Prague last October, while Mr Sunak made a trip to Moldova in June for its second gathering.<\/p>\n
It previously emerged how Mr Sunak had been demanding a formal focus on illegal migration at this week’s EPC summit, but was rebuffed by Spain.<\/p>\n
A European diplomat said the UK had ‘pushed’ for the agenda to be switched, but said the efforts were ‘not going to go anywhere’.<\/p>\n
Mr Sunak and right-wing Italian PM Giorgia Meloni will lead breakaway talks on illegal migration and organised crime on the sidelines of the Granada summit.<\/p>\n
The PM will use the talks to raise the need for more coordinated action – including intelligence sharing – to address rising levels of illegal migration to Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Government source told The Times: ‘The mood music on illegal immigration in the EU is changing, with many EU leaders now saying very similar things to Rishi Sunak.<\/p>\n
‘They want to know how UK action secured a 20 per cent drop [in small boat arrivals to Britain] and want to work with us. It’s very encouraging.’<\/p>\n
Ms Meloni recently welcomed European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, which has seen a recent surge in migrant arrivals.<\/p>\n
Speaking ahead of the EPC summit, Mr Sunak said: ‘Levels of illegal migration to mainland Europe are the highest they have been in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n
‘With thousands of people dying at sea, propelled by people smugglers, the situation is both immoral and unsustainable.<\/p>\n
‘We cannot allow criminal gangs to decide who comes to Europe\u2019s shores.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘When it comes to facing down the threat from Putin, confronting the risks and opportunities of AI or dealing with illegal migration, there is strength in unity.<\/p>\n
‘These issues transcend national borders and require creative Europe-wide solutions – that is what I will be discussing with my fellow leaders at the EPC summit in Spain today.’<\/p>\n
The EPC gathering today comes before an informal summit of EU leaders in the same city tomorrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bloc’s member states are then set to use a formal European Council summit towards the end of this month to discuss their growing challenges with illegal migration.<\/p>\n