EU interior ministers are set to gather in Warsaw on Thursday to hammer out tougher measures against irregular migration. The talks come on the heels of a Bundestag vote on a proposal from Germany’s CDU, calling for stricter asylum rejections at German borders.
Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) will represent Berlin at the meeting. She’s under fire after CDU leader Friedrich Merz’s push for tougher migration policies stirred tensions across the EU. Faeser dismissed Merz’s approach as “not feasible in reality” and warned it could strain Germany’s relationships with its neighbors.
Reaction across the EU has been mixed. Poland and Finland have already tightened asylum rules, Denmark sidesteps EU migration laws altogether, and the Netherlands is openly debating more rejections. In Austria, opinion is split—while ÖVP MEP Lukas Mandl supports Merz’s strict stance, he insists on an EU-wide approach. Meanwhile, FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl has unveiled his own hardline three-point asylum reform plan.
The ministers will also tackle the EU’s return directive, aiming to speed up deportations. A binding proposal, expected by March, would expand detention grounds, extend holding periods, and set clearer rules for deportations to third countries—particularly when migrants have already spent significant time there.
