FT reported on the dissatisfaction of the countries of the southern EU with the negotiations between Paris and London on migrants

The southern member states of the European Union (EU) opposed the negotiations between France and the United Kingdom related to the agreement on the exchange of migrants. The Financial Times (FT) newspaper reported this on June 27.

According to the publication, the exact terms of the Franco-British agreement are still unclear, but the principle is to return illegal migrants to France.

Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus have criticized the Franco-British migration agreement. In their opinion, the document may lead to the fact that they will have to take back people who have returned from the UK to the continent.

"We are somewhat surprised to take note of the announcement of France's intention to sign a bilateral readmission agreement. <...> If confirmed, such an initiative causes us serious concern both from the point of view of procedure and from the point of view of possible consequences for other member states, especially for countries that have joined the EU for the first time," the FT quoted the letter that the states sent to the European Commission.

It is specified that earlier similar exchanges within the framework of the migration agreement were undertaken by the European Union (EU) and Turkey. Such measures were resorted to in order to stop boat crossings to Greece.

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Earlier, on May 8, the Daily Mail newspaper reported that the UK government plans to introduce stricter requirements for migrants' knowledge of English in order to ensure their integration into society. It was noted that migrants now have to demonstrate only a basic command of the language.