European Union Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner has called Pakistan’s nearly 50% Schengen visa rejection rate “too much,” saying both Pakistan and the EU need to address the issue.
In an interview with The Express Tribune during his first visit to Pakistan, Brunner said the quality of documents submitted by Pakistani applicants needed to improve, while the EU also had to do more to facilitate legal travel.
“We have to do a better job there as a European Union,” Brunner said, referring to visa access. He added that the quality of visa application documents was a factor contributing to Pakistan’s high refusal rate and stressed that both sides needed to work on the issue.
Brunner also acknowledged the difficulties Pakistanis face in securing visa appointments, saying the process could be frustrating for people seeking to travel legally to the EU. He said visa decisions largely remained the responsibility of individual member states, but the European Commission was working to improve coordination and speed up the process through its visa strategy.
Brunner said irregular migration from Pakistan to the EU had fallen by more than 50% through bilateral cooperation. Pakistani officials separately reported a 64% decline over the past 18 months.
The commissioner warned young Pakistanis against relying on human smugglers, describing routes through the Gulf countries, Egypt, and Libya toward Italy and Greece as particularly dangerous. He urged them to pursue education, develop relevant skills, and seek legal routes to Europe.
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