Germany backs wider Frontex role before EU migration talks

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has called for an expanded role for the European Union’s Frontex border agency in deporting migrants. Speaking ahead of an EU interior ministers’ meeting in Munich, Dobrindt said Frontex should be able to operate in transit countries outside the bloc, with those countries’ consent. He also proposed a larger role for the agency in cases covered by the Dublin rules, which determine responsibility for asylum applications.

Dobrindt said a new European migration mechanism was needed. The supplied material did not indicate whether other EU ministers supported the proposal. The meeting came as hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in German cities against planned government spending cuts and for a stronger welfare state.

Trade unions estimated that 175,000 people took part, including protests in Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Hanover, Essen and Berlin. German Trade Union Confederation leader Yasmin Fahimi criticised Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition government over proposed reforms to working hours and pensions. IG Metall leader Christiane Benner warned against reducing social protections during industrial restructuring and job cuts.

Employers accused unions of resisting reform. BDA chief executive Steffen Kampeter said unions rejected almost every change. Other events reported in Germany included Munich’s selection as the country’s candidate for a future Summer Olympics and Paralympics, and disruption to rail services after suspected damage to railway signal cables near Gelsenkirchen.