Finnish interior minister blasts Spain’s mass regularisation, warns of ‘Schengen risk’

Speaking to journalists after the JHA Council on 5 March 2026, Finland’s Interior Minister Mari Rantanen criticised Spain’s plan to grant residence and work permits to an estimated 500,000 undocumented migrants who arrived before 31 December 2025. In comments reported by Yahoo News, Rantanen said unilateral amnesties “create a pull factor” and could undermine trust among Schengen partners. Rantanen argued that when some countries “do the complete opposite of others” on migration, the external-border-free area is placed under strain. She called for a wider debate on whether member states should notify or coordinate large-scale regularisations in advance. Spain’s government insists the measure—approved by decree on 27 January—will ease labour shortages and regularise people already integrated, pointing out that similar schemes exist in Italy and Portugal. Spanish officials brushed off the criticism. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Inclusion retorted that the decree is “fully compatible” with EU law and does not affect entry controls because beneficiaries are already in Spain. The dust-up nevertheless highlights diverging philosophies inside the EU just three months before the migration pact enters into force. For employers, the political spat does not change eligibility rules: applicants must prove at least five months’ continuous residence before 31 December 2025 and a clean criminal record. However, it underscores the importance of tracking host-country politics that can quickly reshape mobility risk assessments—particularly for assignments that rely on national regularisation channels rather than harmonised EU permits.