How many European countries voted against the Global Compact for Migration?
During December 19th UN General Assembly adoption of the UN’s global compact on safe, orderly and regular migration, five States voted against, among which three European countries: Israel, the USA, Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland. Five other States abstained or decided not to take part in the vote: Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia. Belgium voted yes, causing the government coalition to collapse as the Flemish nationalist party N-VA firmly opposed the non-binding agreement.
A few months before, following the negotiation process initiated by September 2016 New York Declaration, several EU States already voiced their refusal. The UN’s global compact on migration crystallized renewed tensions on migration related issues on both sides of the Atlantic. By contrast, the UNHCR-led global compact on refugees, less publicized, was almost unanimously adopted. Only Hungary and the USA voted against, while Eritrea, Libya and Dominican Republic abstained.