Greece has proposed that the European Union create an emergency mechanism for sudden migration surges that would let a country suspend asylum processing for 30 days and speed up deportations, but only if strict numerical and qualitative conditions are met, according to Migration Ministry sources.
Migration Minister Thanos Plevris presented the plan at an EU interior ministers' meeting last week. It has not been approved, and no decision has been made.
The ministry says European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has accepted the idea, and Mr. Plevris said many countries backed it and that the EU migration commissioner will bring a Commission proposal to the next council meeting.
The mechanism would require two numerical triggers: weekly or fortnightly arrivals in a border zone more than doubling the three-month average, and local reception capacity exhausted within 48 to 72 hours.
t would also require qualitative evidence, including proof that migration is being coordinated or "instrumentalized" by a third country, or that state actors are complicit with smuggling networks, and flows not linked to war or natural disaster.
Once triggered, the measures would include stronger border guarding, automatic deployment of Frontex rapid border intervention teams, suspension of asylum claims for those entering illegally, detention in closed facilities, and quick returns using EU travel documents.
The EU would also press countries that enable irregular migration.
The idea was prompted by the situation in Ceuta, Spain, and by Greece's 2021 Evros border crisis.
It echoes Greece's own 2025 decision to suspend asylum claims for three months for arrivals from North Africa.
The UN refugee agency expressed "deep concern" then, saying border controls must follow international law. Critics are likely to raise the same objections now.
Mr. Plevris has also said Greece plans its first agreement for a return hub in Africa after Christmas.