Cyprus, along with Greece, Italy, and Spain, continues to be considered by the European Commission as facing migratory pressure, despite the improvement in the situation across the EU for the second consecutive year, according to the second European Annual Report on Asylum and Migration published on Friday by the European Commission.
This second annual report is the first since the full implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum on June 12, 2026, and notes, with regard to Cyprus, that irregular border crossings decreased by 34% between July 2025–June 2026, mainly due to the significant decrease in migrants from Syria and ongoing cooperation with the Lebanese authorities. However, relative to its GDP and population, Cyprus remains high on the list, ranking third in the EU for irregular arrivals and second for applications for international protection.
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The European Commission notes in the report that Cyprus faces disproportionate burdens due to registrations for temporary protection, irregular crossings, asylum applications, and a strained return system, recording, proportionally, by far the most return decisions in the EU. Cyprus also ranks first in terms of returns carried out and is among the five Member States that have carried out more than half of all returns at the EU level.
Cyprus is one of four Member States—along with Greece, Italy, and Spain—that, due to the significant pressure they face, have access to the Solidarity Pool. Regarding Italy, the report notes that solidarity measures in its favor will be implemented only after the Technical Solidarity Forum has been briefed on the monitoring results, as doubts remain regarding the effective resumption of Dublin transfers.
At the EU level, the report notes that irregular entries fell by 32% between July 2025 and June 2026, and applications for international protection by 16% (730,800 applications). The Commission forecasts a further decline in 2027. The return rate rose to 31% from 26%.
Greece, bucking the general trend, has the highest number of irregular crossings and asylum applications relative to GDP and population, with a 105% increase in arrivals in Crete. Migration Commissioner Magnus Bruner commented on this, stating that “Greece is extremely important for managing migration in Europe and plays a major role in our collective effort to keep irregular migration low,” noting that “while overall arrivals along the Eastern Mediterranean route have decreased, Greece still faces challenges, particularly due to arrivals from Libya.” As the Commissioner noted, “we are working with partner countries along the Eastern Corridor to prevent these dangerous journeys.”
In addition, Spain came under pressure due to the incident in Ceuta on July 30–31, when approximately 72,000 people entered illegally from Morocco. The decision also specified that Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Ireland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Finland have been designated as countries at risk of migratory pressure.
“Our new approach to migration is yielding significant results: irregular migration has decreased, asylum applications have decreased, irregular movements within the European Union have decreased, while returns are on the rise,” the Commissioner noted. “Irregular migration has fallen by 55% over the past two years, and already this year, the Western Balkans route—which used to be the biggest challenge— has decreased by 95% in recent years, while the West African route to the Central Mediterranean has decreased by 80% over the past year.”
Regarding the results in the Member States themselves, the Commissioner emphasized that “Sweden has the lowest numbers ever recorded, Denmark has the lowest figures in the last 40 years, Austria is returning more people than are applying for asylum—for the first time in over two decades, in fact—and in Germany, asylum applications have fallen by 80% compared to two years ago.”
As the next steps following the Commission’s presentation of its annual report, the Council of the EU must convene the High-Level Solidarity Forum within 15 days to agree on the size of the Solidarity Pool for 2027 and the contribution of each Member State. The Commission states that the 2027 review of the Pact will determine whether targeted adjustments are needed.
