Liberal Alliance (LA) and the Danish Democrats have announced their migration proposals ahead of the upcoming EU elections. Both parties aim to increase the number of employees at the EU’s coast and border agency Frontex, but LA is taking it a step further with a comprehensive reform. Henrik Dahl, lead candidate for Liberal Alliance, believes Frontex currently functions as a “taxi service for human smugglers,” demanding that the agency be reformed and expanded to 30,000 employees. According to Dahl, the current goal of 10,000 employees by 2027 is insufficient to handle the increasing pressure from migrants. “There were a million asylum seekers last year,” he says, emphasizing the need for a significant upgrade in Frontex’s capacity.
A key part of LA’s proposal is that migrants intercepted in the Mediterranean should be sent back to their country of embarkation rather than to an EU country, which goes against Frontex’s current practice. Dahl acknowledges the risk of legal complications regarding international conventions, but he believes solutions can be found through bilateral agreements, as the UK has done with Rwanda and Italy with Albania.
Inger Støjberg (leader of the Danish Democrats), also supports an increased staffing of Frontex, but stresses that the number of employees should vary according to needs. During a visit to the Danish-German border with the party’s lead candidate Kristoffer Storm, she presented the idea of a dedicated border police force of around 100 officers, focusing solely on border control and cross-border crime. Støjberg envisions that this new border police force will receive specialized training, different from the current police training. She is not worried about recruiting the necessary personnel, despite reports of lack of interest in border officer positions. The plan also includes a permanent border control at the Danish-German border, which was recently extended in April.
Both parties’ proposals come in the wake of growing concerns about migration and border control in Europe, and it is clear that both Liberal Alliance and the Danish Democrats want a more robust and effective solution to the challenges that the EU faces in this area.