EU Parliaments Largest Faction Proposes Building Walls On External Borders

The European People's Party, the largest group in the European Parliament, proposed on Wednesday building walls on the bloc's external borders to ease the burden of unregulated immigration.

"The European Commission should not refuse to finance such measures. Fences are always the last resort, but we need them wherever smuggling gangs successfully try to circumvent European law," Manfred Weber, the group's chairman, said.

The People's Party suggested that the EU should also allow asylum seekers to apply outside the EU's territory.

The EPP published its position paper ahead of a parliamentary session on migration. It was called after Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson admitted last week that many member states were under growing pressure to deal with migrants from Ukraine and beyond.

Some 330,000 people crossed into the European Union illegally in 2022. Simultaneously, the number of asylum applicants spiked to 924,000. Johansson said about 60% of those asylum bids were from people who did not need international protection.