UPDATED: More needs to be done on returns, EU migration commissioner says
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EU internal affairs and migration commissioner Magnus Brunner said that while the EU has changed its migration and asylum policy last year, there is still more to be done on returns.
“Nobody understands why people [who] are not allowed to, cannot stay in the European Union are not going to be returned, and that is why are are working on new, tigher rules also on returns,” he said.
Asked specifically about the German motion passed last night, he said the EU needed to have a look at what was actually in the proposal.
On Wednesday, The German parliament has narrowly passed a motion calling for radical tightening of the country’s immigration and asylum rules after a series of recent knife attacks. The non-binding motion , proposed by the main opposition party CDU/CSU which is on course to win the next month’s parliamentary election, was backed by the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party. It was the first time in the history of the federal German parliament that a motion backed by the far-right was adopted, breaking a longstanding taboo (“firewall”) on cooperation with the anti-immigration party. AfD leader Alice Weidel called it a “historic day for Germany”
Earlier, Greece’s migration minister said the European Union is poised to take stricter measures on migration in 2025, with a focus on expanded deportations, but would not adopt the hard-line methods used by the Trump administration.
“Sending migrants back shackled on military planes is very different from using regular commercial flights,” Nikos Panagiotopoulos told state-run ERT television. However, he also said that for Europeans: “Migration has evolved from primarily a humanitarian issue to fundamentally a security matter.”
On Thursday, EU migration and home affairs ministers will meet in the Polish capital, Warsaw, to examine more stringent efforts against migration, backed by the current Polish presidency of the bloc.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has taken a markedly tougher approach to immigration, restricting asylum access, sending troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, and increasing immigration raids and fast-track deportations.
Greece is a key entry point for irregular migration, particularly those fleeing wars or seeking a better life. Last year, it recorded a rise in sea arrivals, fueled by wars in the Middle East. Athens strongly supports calls by many European Union member states for direct EU funding to expand border walls.
Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez is not happy with the German proposals, which include calls for restoring border controls:
Asked what will the EU do if Germany goes ahead with its proposals, he said that “I think it is not going to be possible. I would like to think so.”
