Plevris: Send Rejected Asylum Seekers Out of EU Fast

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Greece is leading a five-country push to move rejected asylum seekers out of the EU as soon as possible.

Migration Minister Thanos Plevris told Politico that the Core Group — Denmark, Austria, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands — wants a pilot in the first half of 2027. Full operation would follow in the second half, when Greece holds the Council presidency.

This is not, he said, a plan to build locked centres in a third country. “If your asylum has been rejected, you will either return to your country of origin or to a third country outside the EU.”

Two EU diplomats said the first deal is with Rwanda. Uganda and Uzbekistan are also on the list. Plevris said those states already host large migrant populations and camps, and the five are open to camps or wider integration schemes if the host wants them.

The UK’s 2022 Rwanda processing deal collapsed after years in court. Plevris’s timetable is tight: monitoring with international organisations is still being designed. “The responsibility lies with the five countries, jointly.” The five would pay first and want the Commission in later. He does not expect huge numbers. The point, he said, is pressure that lifts voluntary returns. He called it the first attempt of this kind since the new EU regulation.

On Thursday he will also take Greece’s emergency plan to EU interior ministers: a temporary freeze on asylum claims for new arrivals. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis floated that after crossings into Spain’s Ceuta. “The EU migration will only work when Europe’s migration flows are managed.”

Asked about pushback accusations, Plevris said Greece protects its borders under international law “and it will not apologize to anyone.” He praised Donald Trump for shifting the politics of migration. He confirmed European prosecutors have asked for papers on how Greece spent EU money on camps; Athens has sent the files, he said, and there has been no further move.

Source: Nektaria Stamouli, Politico, 29 September 2026.

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