Austria and Four Partners Agree Steps Toward Return Hubs Outside the EU
EU justice and home affairs ministers met in Luxembourg on 1 October 2026. Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris told the meeting the EU should build an emergency mechanism that could temporarily suspend asylum applications during a major migration crisis. Austria was among the frontline states taking part in the debate.
Plevris pointed to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta as an example of the scale involved. Spain estimates more than 72,000 people entered the North African enclave in late July; most have returned, but around 10,000 remain there. He said the EU migration pact had helped curb arrivals and increase returns, but was not enough for such emergencies.
Greece, Germany, Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands, known as the Group of Five, said they had agreed concrete steps toward setting up return hubs in a non-EU country for people whose asylum claims have been rejected. Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner is a core member of the group, and Vienna has long pressed for faster returns and less irregular migration.
Greece stood on the front line of the 2015-16 crisis, when more than a million people crossed into Europe. Arrivals on the Aegean islands from Libya have risen in recent years. Athens last year paused processing applications from people arriving by sea from North Africa for a few months and passed legislation to fast-track deportations. The five countries have yet to publish a location or timetable for the hubs.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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