The European Commission has dismissed as "false" media reports that it is considering opening deportation camps for illegal migrants in EU candidate countries such as Moldova.
Recent reports in international media claimed that a number of European Union countries would encourage the hosting of migrants who are intercepted in international waters in candidate states outside the borders of the 27-member bloc in so-called "deportation hubs," citing the model of such a center opened by EU member Italy in Albania this week.
The reports claimed that EU home affairs ministers discussed the issue at a meeting in Luxembourg on October 10 ahead of a summit of the bloc's leaders later this month.
However, the center in Albania has come under scathing criticism from human rights watchdogs, prompting Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who inked the deal with his Italian counterpart, Georgia Meloni, to make it clear that there will be no new such centers in his country.
After the Luxembourg meeting, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told a news conference that there was currently no proposal to establish deportation hubs.
"Claims that the EU intends to create deportation camps for migrants in the Republic of Moldova and other countries that want to join the EU are false," Anita Hipper, a spokeswoman on internal affairs for the commission, said in response to a request for comment from RFE/RL.
"There is no such proposal in relation to the Republic of Moldova or any other country," Hipper added.
The Moldovan government has also strongly denied the reports, which have been picked up by the Russian press, saying it was a "fake" invented by the Kremlin.
The government has been grappling with a Russian-backed disinformation campaign before a make-or-break double election on October 20, when pro-Western President Maia Sandu is running for a second term in parallel with a referendum on EU membership.
"A new fabrication has appeared claiming that Moldova would host a hub for rejected asylum seekers subject to deportation procedures," government spokesman Daniel Voda told The Times of London. "Let it be clear: the government is not discussing such a proposal and will not accept such ideas."
Sandu steered Moldova firmly toward the West after defeating a Moscow-backed incumbent in 2020 and moved to curb Russia's influence in one of Europe's poorest countries more than three decades after it declared independence from the Soviet Union.
Under Sandu's government, Moldova secured EU candidate status in June 2022 and opened membership negotiations with the bloc earlier this year.
The moves prompted Russia to step up a disinformation campaign to undermine the credibility of Moldova's government and portray Moscow as a better alternative for Chisinau's future.