Council of Europe Chief Rejects Calls to Make ECHR More Flexible on Immigration

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is leading calls for a change in EU law to make it easier to deport criminal foreign nationals.

Illegal immigrants from various detention centers across Italy are escorted by police as they disembark an Italian Navy vessel at the port of Shengjin, Albania, on April 11, 2025. Adnan Beci/AFP via Getty Images

The Council of Europe’s secretary-general, Alain Berset, has rejected calls from EU leaders to make the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) more flexible on immigration.

Nine EU countries signed an open letter regarding immigration on May 22, calling for the ECHR to be reinterpreted because it is limiting their “ability to make political decisions” in their “own democracies.”