In order to combat illegal immigration, Rishi Sunak plans to utilize a meeting of European leaders to call for intercontinental cooperation.
The Prime Minister will attend a summit of the European Political Community with other world leaders in Moldova, where he is anticipated to emphasize the need of addressing the problem.
A new returns deal with Moldova is scheduled to be started while he is there, allowing the UK to send back foreign citizens who have been found to have broken immigration laws.
It occurs as a comparable agreement with Georgia goes into effect.
“Europe is facing unprecedented threats at our borders. From (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s utter contempt of other countries’ sovereignty to the rise in organised immigration crime across our continent,” Mr Sunak said.
“We cannot address these problems without Europe’s governments and institutions working closely together. In every meeting, every summit, every international gathering like this, the security of our borders must be top of the agenda.
“The UK will be at the heart of this international effort to stop the boats and defend our national security.”
Mr. Sunak is following in the footsteps of his predecessor Liz Truss, who found time to go to the inaugural summit in the Czech Republic last October during her brief stint as prime minister.
The UK will host the European Political Community in 2024 under the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron.
On Thursday, Mr. Sunak will meet with the prime ministers of Spain and Poland. He is also anticipated to announce an expansion of bilateral intelligence cooperation with Bulgaria to combat criminal organizations responsible for illegal immigration.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, Moldova, which will host over 50 European leaders for the summit, has taken in thousands of refugees from that country.
With Mr. Sunak and Mr. Morawiecki scheduled to participate in a roundtable discussion on security at the summit, support for Ukraine and Moldova in the face of Russian aggression is expected to be on the agenda.
In March, UK investment of £10 million for Moldova was announced by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. This funding is intended to support economic and governance changes, notably those in the energy sector.
