Denmark and Italy rallied a coalition of EU member states to demand a political overhaul of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), urging a reassessment of how the Strasbourg-based court interprets human rights laws, according to Euractiv.
The move was formalised in an open letter unveiled during Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s visit to Rome on 22 May 2025.
The letter, co-signed by Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the Czech Republic, argues that the ECHR has overstepped its mandate by expanding the European Convention on Human Rights beyond its “original intent,” limiting states’ ability to deport criminal migrants.
We should have more room nationally to decide on when to expel criminal foreign nationals.
The text echoed Frederiksen’s assertion at a joint press conference with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni that “we need to have room for manoeuvre to decide who can stay in our countries.” Meloni framed the push as part of a broader strategy to counter “hostile states” weaponising migration, citing her controversial Italy-Albania migrant processing deal as evidence of “brave, new thinking.”
The initiative builds on months of pre-summit meetings among migration hardliners, though notably excludes Sweden and the Netherlands, regular participants in such talks.
The ECHR, which enforces the Convention across 46 Council of Europe members, has long angered conservative governments over rulings blocking migrant deportations to countries with poor human rights records.
The letter warns that current interpretations “upset the balance of protected interests” and calls for greater national discretion, asserting “what was once right might not be the answer of tomorrow.”
