World
EU members seek fewer ‘Solidarity Pool’ relocations of asylum seekers
Relocations of asylum seekers across the EU from countries under the most pressure from migration are set to be fewer than previously expected in 2026.
At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, the 27 EU Home Affairs Ministers are set to discuss the size of the “solidarity pool”, a mechanism to determine the total number of asylum seekers to be relocated the following year and the amount each country should allocate, or to compensate for by paying.
The European Commission proposed to relocate a certain number of asylum seekers from four countries considered “under migratory pressure”: Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus.
The details of the proposal are classified, but according to sources, the pool amounts to 30,000 individuals. However, EU member states are expected to try and reduce this number, as national governments are not keen either to take more migrants in or to pay out compensation to other states for doing so.
“It will be less than 30,000”
According to EU rules, countries labelled as “under migratory pressure” should benefit the following year from the mandatory solidarity of other EU member states, who will either relocate asylum seekers to their own territory or provide financial contribution to those under the most pressure.
It falls to the European Commission to propose the size of this solidarity mechanism, with a legal minimum of 30,000 relocations and €600 million in financial contributions. Member states can then decide which way they want to contribute.
According to a EU source who saw the classified document, the Commission chose the highest possible minimum level of relocations.
In practice, this would mean 30,000 asylum seekers would be relocated from the four southern EU member states to the other 23, distributed in different numbers. They will be relocated according to quotas based on the states’ populations and GDP.
According to the person who saw the document, in the Commission proposal, the shares are expressed as percentages, not real numbers, with Germany taking the largest share. Some 42 per cent of the relocations proposed are to cover people rescued at sea and disembarked in one of the four countries under pressure.
However, member states are keen to reduce this overall number, arguing that the first solidarity cycle should be shortened, as the new migration rules will enter into force only in June 2026.
“States want to adapt the size,” one diplomat said. “It will be lower than what the Commission proposed.”
Despite this reduction not being explicitly provided for in the law, the Commission seems open to the possibility for next year.
“The Commission’s proposal for the annual solidarity pool covers a full year, but the reduced period of implementation is an element that the Council may consider in the process leading up to adoption of the solidarity pool,” a Commission spokesperson said during a press briefing on Friday.
Member states say no
Besides the possible reduction in the pool’s size, the number of member states contributing could also shrink.
According to the Commission’s proposal, another group of countries classified as “facing a significant migratory situation” could ask for a total or partial exemption from their quotas, which must be approved by other member states.
Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Croatia, Austria, and Poland have this option, and most of them have requested the exemption, several EU sources told Euronews.
In the case of Poland, the request was announced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk a few hours after the proposal.
“Poland will not be accepting migrants under the Migration Pact. Nor will we pay for it,” he wrote on X.
Any exemption will need to be approved by EU ministers through a qualified majority. This means that 15 out of 27 member states, representing at least 65% of the total EU population, have to support it.
Any exempted country’s share of relocations and financial contribution is not reassigned to other states, meaning that countries “under migratory pressure” will receive less help in the overall package.
“Exemptions and reductions should be as low as possible and truly motivated,” one diplomat said, suggesting this would be a particularly contentious point at the meeting.
No exemption or reduction can be granted to Hungary, for instance, despite Prime Minister Viktor Orbán insisting he will not apply the rules.
According to sources familiar with the matter, most of the EU countries would rather pay a financial contribution, which amounts to €20,000 per person not relocated, than host migrants. Some, like Germany or Sweden, would probably profit from the “responsibility offset”, a mechanism foreseen by the law which could reduce even more the effective relocations.
Several member states in Central and Northern Europe are currently hosting people who should have asked for asylum in their first country of arrival, and have instead irregularly moved through the EU (the so-called “secondary movements”).
According to the offset mechanism, any country could deduct these people from its solidarity quota, instead of sending them back to frontline countries, which has proved very complicated up to now.
“Italy and Greece have not been accepting transfers under the previous system. So this mechanism will be a concrete opportunity”, a diplomat said.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices rose in early trading Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the U.S. prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies.
The price of U.S. crude oil increased 6.4% to $87.90 per barrel an hour after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 5.8% to $95.64 per barrel.
The market reaction followed more than two days of lifted hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait. Crude prices plunged more than 9% Friday after Iran said it would fully reopen the strait, which it effectively controls, to commercial traffic.
Tehran reversed that decision and fired on several vessels Saturday after President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect. On Sunday, Trump said the U.S. attacked and forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that allegedly tried to get around the blockade. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond.
Sunday’s higher prices wiped out much of the declines seen Friday, signaling renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East.
The US-Israeli war against Iran, now in its eighth week, has created one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Countries in Asia and Europe that import much of their oil from the Gulf have felt the most impact of halted supplies and production cuts, although rapidly rising gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices are affecting businesses and consumers worldwide.
Asked when he thought U.S. motorists would again see gas cost less than $3 a gallon on average, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said prices at the pump might not go down that much until next year.
“But prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down,” Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
The price of crude oil — the main ingredient in gasoline — has fluctated dramatically since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and as Iran retaliated with airstrikes on other Gulf states. Crude traded at roughly $70 a barrel before the conflict, spiked to more than $119 at times, and previously closed Friday at $82.59 for U.S. oil and $90.38 for Brent.
Industry analysts have repeatedly warned that the longer the strait is closed, the worse prices could get.
A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz puts the fate of new talks to end the war into question.
Even if a lasting deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz emerges, analysts say it could take months for oil shipments to return to normal levels and for fuel prices to go down. Backed-up tanker traffic, shipowners concerned about another sudden escalation, and energy infrastructure damaged during the war are factors that could impede production and shipment volumes from returning to pre-war levels.
A gallon of regular gas cost an average of nearly $4.05 a gallon in the U.S. on Sunday, according to motor club federation AAA. That’s about 8 cents lower than a week ago, but far higher than $2.98 before the war.
Trump warns Iran it ‘can’t blackmail’ US with Hormuz closure
Fox News reports on heightened tensions in the Middle East as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reaffirms strict control over the Strait of Hormuz and fires on passing ships. President Donald Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, states the US naval blockade will remain in full force. White House correspondent Alex Hogan provides updates on the escalating diplomatic and military standoff.
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Hundreds of commercial tankers are stranded on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran shut the critical chokepoint on April 18, halting traffic and leaving crews trapped amid reports of gunfire and “traumatic experiences” on board.
The Strait of Hormuz is considered an international waterway under international law, through which ships have the right of transit passage, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making it a critical chokepoint for global energy markets, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Iranian gunboats opened fire on a tanker the same day, while a projectile struck a container vessel, damaging cargo.
STARMER AND MACRON ACCUSED OF ‘PLAYING AT BEING RELEVANT’ WITH STRAIT OF HORMUZ PLAN
U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that “U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports.” (CENTCOM)
Audio released by maritime monitoring group TankerTrackers appears to capture the moment a vessel and its crew came under fire while approaching the strait, including a distress call from a crew member.
“Sepah Navy! Motor tanker Sanmar Herald! You gave me clearance to go… you are firing now. Let me turn back!” the crew member can be heard saying in the recording, according to TankerTrackers.
Iranian state media confirmed that shots were fired near vessels to force them to turn back, while the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India said the foreign secretary was deeply concerned.
Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping line, told Fox News Digital that it had activated a crisis team as its crews remain stuck on board vessels in the region.
“We have been working from Friday afternoon until today with the entire crisis team to bring the vessels out — in vain, unfortunately,” said Nils Haupt, senior director of group communications at Hapag-Lloyd AG.
“These events can easily lead to traumatic experiences. There is also a significant risk from sea mines, which has made insuring vessels for passage through the Strait nearly impossible.”
LISA DAFTARI: HORMUZ WHIPLASH PROVES TEHRAN CAN’T HONOR ANY DEAL IT SIGNS
“The crews are well, but they are becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated. It is very unfortunate that we could not leave today,” he added. “Many ships are still stuck in the Persian Gulf.”
“Our six ships are anchored near the port of Dubai, and all crews hope for an improvement in the situation,” Haupt said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on April 18 that the strait would remain closed until the U.S. lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, warning ships not to move from anchorage or risk being treated as “enemy” collaborators.
Iran has previously argued that restrictions on its oil exports and shipping amount to “economic warfare,” framing actions in the Strait of Hormuz as a response to foreign pressure on its economy, according to statements from Iranian officials and state media in past incidents.
“Approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any violating vessel will be targeted,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
TRUMP ORDERS A BLOCKADE IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS TENSIONS WITH IRAN SOAR
Fishing boats dot the sea as cargo ships, in the background, sail through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz off the United Arab Emirates, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo)
The United States imposed the blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait, with U.S. Central Command saying the measures are being enforced “impartially against all vessels.”
Hapag-Lloyd said its vessels have been stuck for weeks following the initial closure after the outbreak of war with Iran on Feb. 28.
“For us, it is critical that our vessels can pass through the strait soon,” Haupt said.
“We offer all crew members unlimited data so they can video call loved ones and access entertainment. Crews are strong, but after weeks on board there is growing monotony and frustration.”
“One crew experienced a fire on board from bomb fragments. Others have seen missiles or drones near their vessels,” he added.
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“They are resilient, but each additional day makes the situation more difficult, more monotonous, and more stressful.”
President Donald Trump said Iran had agreed not to close the strait again but after the closure, Trump called the situation “blackmail” and said the U.S. would not back down.
Shops and schools shut in northern Israel as residents protested a 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon that took effect on April 16, saying “nothing was achieved”. Israeli officials say operations may continue, with forces still deployed inside southern Lebanon.
Published On 19 Apr 2026
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