European People's Party leader Manfred Weber has called for the rapid establishment of deportation centres in Africa, urging the European Commission to act without waiting for the slowest member states to agree.
The push follows a crisis in late July and early August when roughly 72,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, where at least 100 people died, according to Ceuta's government chief Juan Jesús Vivas. Weber noted that Morocco quickly took back the migrants and argued the EU-Tunisia deal has cut illegal migration on that route by over 90% since 2023.
Weber also demanded that Frontex be expanded to 50,000 personnel as a full European border protection agency. Separately, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen issued a joint statement opposing uncontrolled migration into Europe. Germany is advancing the return-hub proposal in a working group with the Netherlands, Austria, Greece and Denmark, a topic raised at an emergency video conference of EU interior ministers last Tuesday.