Council of EU approves initial agreement on solidarity pool

RIGA - The Council of the European Union (EU) on Monday approved the initial agreement on the solidarity pool of the Migration and Asylum Pact, but the Latvian Ministry of the Interior promises to continue negotiations in the hope of securing an exemption for Latvia.

On Monday, the Council of the EU adopted in a written procedure a decision establishing the first solidarity pool for 2026, which is one of the main elements of the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum and provides effective support to those member states that are under migratory pressure.

Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) stated that the Ministry of the Interior, acting on behalf of Latvia, abstained from voting on the agreement, "taking into account the national situation and existing security challenges at the EU's external borders".

The solidarity pool involves EU member states in the overall management of the migration situation, providing support to EU countries facing increased migratory pressures. Even though Latvia and five other member states did not support the decision, it was approved by a qualified majority.

The Ministry of the Interior will continue to negotiate an exemption for Latvia under the solidarity mechanism, basing the request on the fact that Latvia is already making a significant contribution to the EU's common security by protecting the external borders of the EU and NATO against hybrid attacks by the Russian and Belarusian authorities, including the instrumentalization of migrants, by investing significant resources in the construction of border infrastructure and by providing support to the people of Ukraine.

Latvia intends to contribute to the solidarity pool only through a third type of solidarity contribution - alternative support measures or other types of support that alleviate the migration burden in the main countries of arrival, such as expertise or technical assistance.

Latvia will not participate in the relocation of persons, the Ministry of the Interior stresses.

As reported, in November this year the European Commission (EC) presented a report on migration projections for 2026 and the categorization of member states according to migration pressure. The EC presented proposals for an annual solidarity pool.

Following this first EC proposal, Latvia, together with Lithuania and several other member states, was placed in the group of countries at "risk of migration pressure", which gives Latvia priority access to support provided by EU agencies.

No EU country has an automatic exemption from the solidarity pool, while all member states have the right to request an exemption.

The EC relies on comparable data compiled by Eurostat and EU agencies to categorize member states. Under the Regulation on Asylum and Migration Management, the main determinants for including member states in the categories are the proportion of asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection or temporary protection status in relation to the country's population and gross domestic product (GDP).