Global Compact

More than 150 UN member states signed the Global Compact for Safe and Orderly Migration on Monday in Marrakech, Morocco - which has caused controversy in Balkan countries as it has done elsewhere.

In a speech to a United Nations conference on migration in Marrakesh on Monday, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared that, "global challenges demand global solutions."

A majority of United Nations states adopted on Monday a non-binding global pact to better handle migrant flows, Morocco's foreign minister said, though fewer governments joined than had previously worked on the proposal.

Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita announced the decision as host of the UN conference in Marrakesh. There was no formal vote.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres sought to promote a global pact on migrant flows at a UN conference in Morocco on Monday, saying developed countries needed more migration due to their declining birth rates and aging populations. 

A United Nations conference adopted a migration pact in front of leaders and representatives from around 150 countries in Morocco on Monday, despite a string of withdrawals driven by anti-immigrant populism.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was due in Marrakesh on Monday for the launch of a two-day United Nations conference on migration.