Plans for a Rapid-Response Structure
This week the EU border agency Frontex is reportedly in discussions with several Member States – including Poland, Germany, and Estonia – regarding the potential location of a headquarters for a new rapid-response force. The initiative aims to enable the swift deployment of personnel and technical assets to external EU borders during sudden migration pressures.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen indicated, according to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, that the agency’s personnel strength could ultimately rise to around 30,000 staff.
2025 Annual Overview and Declining Irregular Crossings
The working paper also provides a broad overview of the activities of Frontex in 2025, highlighting a notable expansion of return operations and new technical initiatives. In total, the agency supported 63,493 returns during the year, of which approximately 23,000 were categorised as forced removals, representing an overall increase of about 50 per cent compared with 2023, when 39,231 returns were recorded. The resumption of operations involving Syrian nationals on 17 March contributed to 5,911 individuals being described as having ‘voluntarily’ returned with Frontex assistance, with more than three quarters of these cases carried out by Cyprus and Germany alone. By 24 November 2025, a further ten individuals had been returned ‘voluntarily’ to Afghanistan. Alongside these operational developments, the agency also launched two new projects – the ‘Vulnerability Check Application’ and ‘RECAPP’ – aimed at strengthening procedural and technical capacities within its activities.
Parallel analyses by Statewatch suggest that return and deportation activities linked to the agency are also expanding, intensifying debates around externalisation, readmission agreements, and human rights safeguards. Frontex is systematically expanding its deportation activities. A distinction is made between voluntary and involuntary deportations. The spokesperson for refugee policy for Germany’s Left Party told the German newspaper “nd” that she considers the distinction between voluntary and involuntary to be purely statistical: “Many are under enormous pressure even without handcuffs: loss of residence rights, work bans, reduced benefits, constant fear of arrest.”
Sources: Portal Polskiego Radia SA, Council of the European Union, Statewatch, nd
