A leading figure in the European Union has claimed the bloc needs a million more migrants per annum to account for people leaving the workforce.
European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, who previously served as Sweden’s Employment Minister, called for an influx of migrants during a conference in Greece.
She said: “That means that legal migration should grow more or less with one million per year and that is really a challenge to do that in an orderly way
Johansson added: “Legal migration works very well, but it’s not enough.”
European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson claimed legal migration to the EU is not enough
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The EU official also claimed the bloc’s workforce is shrinking by around one million people per year.
Migration to the EU hit 3.5 million last year, including over 300,000 irregular entries.
Johansson encouraged member states to crack down on illegal migration, with hundreds of thousands of people arriving in Europe via deadly routes from Africa and the Middle East.
Irregular arrivals to the bloc peaked at over one million in 2015.
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EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson spoke during a conference in Greece
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However, the number has steadily increased since the coronavirus pandemic, reaching more than 260,000 last year.
More than half of irregular arrivals crossed the Mediterranean from Africa to Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta.
She said: “We have to avoid those people that use the smugglers often risking their lives with the irregular arrivals. This need to be prevented.”
Johansson also stressed there is a need for a “global alliance” to thwart smuggling networks.
The EU has already agreed to share the cost of hosting migrants more evenly.
An image of migrants in the Mediterranean SeaGETTYIt also vowed to limit the number of people arriving on continental shores via smuggling routes.
Problems with migration have helped propel the populist right to all-time highs across the bloc.
Populist politicians have garnered significant traction across Europe, with Dutchman Geert Wilders becoming the latest figure to come out on top.
Wilders, who leads the Freedom Party, increased his number of MPs from 17 to 37 as centrist parties failed to retain support.
Opinion polls also suggest Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian premier Viktor Orban could be in the ascendancy.
