Europe has begun shifting from tighter control of migration policies to an erosion of migrant rights, under pressure from an emboldened radical right and a segment of the Nordic left. On Thursday, May 22, nine European countries, led by Italy under post-fascist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Denmark under Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen – the nations that have taken the toughest stance against immigration in recent years – signed an open letter to rethink the "interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights."

More broadly, this marked an unprecedented attack on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the 1950 Convention, which the judges based in Strasbourg interpret and apply in their rulings. "We want to open a political debate on certain European conventions to which we are bound, and on the ability of those conventions today, obviously decades after they were written, to be able to address the major issues of our time, starting precisely from the migration phenomenon," Meloni said on Thursday.

In their letter, the leaders of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic all said they shared "a firm belief in our European values, the rule of law and human rights," but questioned whether the European Court of Human Rights "in some cases, has extended the scope of the Convention too far as compared with the original intentions behind the Convention, thus shifting the balance between the interests which should be protected."

You have 71% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.