Irregular border crossings into the European Union dropped by 31 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 to 33,600. The figures, released by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, appear to show that the EU is getting a grip on illegal immigration.
But figures can be misleading. The biggest fall in irregular entries was the Western Balkan route, down 64 per cent on the same period in 2024. This is largely attributable to the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Zone on 1 January this year. As a result, more border police have been deployed and evidently they’ve been successful in controlling the frontiers. Frontex also said that there was a ‘significant’ drop in migrants crossing the Central Mediterranean in March. That was because of the storms that swept Italy in the second half of the month.
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