Rome, 24 February 2026. Spain, Italy and Greece have strengthened their migration cooperation with Pakistan during a multilateral meeting held in the Italian capital. The talks were chaired by Italy’s Minister of the Interior and brought together the Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Pakistan’s Interior Minister and Greece’s Minister for Migration and Asylum. The meeting focused on addressing irregular migration, improving return procedures and enhancing the training of security forces in the fight against human smuggling.
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Spain, Italy and Greece strengthen migration cooperation with Pakistan at the Rome meeting
In his remarks, the Spanish minister underlined the importance of a preventive migration policy as the most effective way to reduce irregular arrivals. He highlighted that cooperation with countries of origin and transit has played a key role in significantly lowering migration pressure on Spain, with a marked decrease in irregular arrivals throughout 2025 and during the first weeks of 2026.
Participants examined in detail the relationship between Mediterranean countries and Pakistan, a country with limited direct impact on migration routes to Spain but of growing importance from a preventive and strategic perspective. The discussions emphasised that decisions taken on one migration route can influence others, making continuous coordination and information sharing essential.
The meeting also reviewed the implementation of the EU–Pakistan Readmission Agreement, a mechanism designed to ensure the effectiveness of return procedures. The agreement was described as a positive instrument, provided that close and ongoing coordination is maintained in areas such as identification processes, travel documentation and compliance with established deadlines.
Ministers agreed on the need to further strengthen bilateral cooperation through permanent contact points, operational information exchange and the promotion of joint training programmes, particularly in border management and the fight against organised crime linked to irregular migration.
As an example of existing cooperation, the Spanish minister referred to previous joint training initiatives with Pakistan on document fraud detection carried out in 2023 and 2025. These initiatives were presented as a response to key risks associated with border control, including document falsification, facilitation of irregular movements and certain forms of organised crime.
Spain maintains close bilateral police cooperation with Pakistan. In this context, recent high-level meetings between both countries were recalled, held within international forums and bilateral settings, aimed at strengthening coordination to address shared challenges in security and migration management.