Dobrindt plans to expand the Frontex mandate at the migration conference in Munich

At the upcoming migration conference in Munich, discussions will also be held about expanding the mandate of the EU border protection agency Frontex. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) plans to make Frontex “a border protection and real repatriation agency,” said a spokeswoman for his ministry when asked by the AFP news agency.

As the Munich Merkur reported, Dobrindt wants Frontex to be responsible for the return of migrants directly after border procedures as well as for deportations from transit states that are not EU members, for example Serbia or Albania. In addition, Frontex should also help organize returns to deportation centers in third countries outside the EU in the future, it said.

Meeting for “common impulses for migration change”

At the so-called Munich Migration Meeting, 17 European interior ministers and the EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner are scheduled to meet on Saturday at Dobrindt's invitation to discuss migration policy. The aim is to provide “central common impulses for the European migration transition,” Dobrindt told the Munich Merkur.

Frontex is primarily responsible for protecting the EU’s external borders. The authority supports member states with deportations, but the national authorities are generally responsible.